- The contribution of national demand to annual growth in the second quarter of 2018 increases by two tenths
- Employment maintains the expansive tone in the second quarter, with a growth of 0.8%, three tenths more than in the previous period, and the creation of more than 440,000 jobs in the last year
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) registered a 0.6% growth in the second quarter of the year, according to the National Accounting data published today by the National Statistics Institute (INE). This rate is identical to that recorded in the first quarter of 2018, after the INE has reviewed real GDP from 2015 to the second quarter of 2018. This review has meant that GDP growth in the first quarter has been reduced by a tenth, up to 0.6%.
With this review the Spanish economy grew 2.5% in the last year. The first quarter registered a growth of 2.8% year-on-year, two tenths less than what was reported in the previous INE estimate. Especially significant is the change in the sign of the contribution of the foreign sector in the first quarter, which is reduced by five tenths compared to the previous data, and stands at negative figures (-0.3 points).
The INE notes a slowdown in the economy in the first half, mainly due to international uncertainties. The growth differential is still favorable to Spain compared to the euro zone, with the quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year rates of the GDP of the euro zone at 0.4% and 2.1%, respectively.
The contribution of national demand to growth in the second quarter of 2018 increases by two tenths, reaching 3.3 percentage points (pp). By components, gross fixed capital formation accelerates to 7.7%, highlighting within it the significant increase in investment in capital goods, which rebounds to an interannual rate of 10.8%, the highest in recent years. two years and a half. On the other hand, the investment in construction grows 7%. Household consumption and public consumption moderate the growth rate to 2.3% and 1.9% respectively.
Net external demand subtracts eight tenths from year-on-year growth. This is due to a smaller increase in exports, which rose 2.3% year-on-year, and an acceleration of imports, with an increase of 5.2% in the last year.
Employment maintains the expansive tone in the second quarter, with a growth of 0.8% quarter-on-quarter, three tenths more than in the previous quarter. This good pace has allowed the creation of 440,814 full-time equivalent jobs in the last year, which represents a year-on-year increase of 2.5%, a rate similar to that registered in the previous quarter. Salary compensation increases 0.7% year-on-year, three tenths more than in the previous quarter, so unit labor costs accelerated four tenths, to 0.6% year-on-year.
Quarterly non-financial accounts of the institutional sectors
The Spanish economy registered a financing capacity against the rest of the world of 3,013 million euros in the second quarter of 2018, according to data published today by the INE. If seasonal and calendar effects are eliminated, financing capacity stands at 1.2% of GDP, four tenths less than in the previous quarter.
Gross national income is increased to 301,845 million euros in the second quarter, which represents an increase of 0.8% compared to the first quarter and 3.4% compared to the same period of the previous year. Gross disposable national income stands at 299,666 million euros, with a quarterly growth of 0.9%, with corrected series of seasonal and calendar effects.
The household savings rate reaches 12.5% of its disposable income, lower than that recorded in the second quarter of 2017 (14.5%). Once seasonal and calendar effects have been eliminated, the savings rate is 4.4% of your disposable income.
