- The increase in activity is the highest since the second quarter of 2008 and widens the differential with the euro area
- Domestic demand contributes 2.5 points, three tenths more, while external demand remains at -0.9 points
- Employment increases for the third consecutive quarter and 221,000 jobs are created in the last year
The Spanish economy grew 0.5% in the third quarter of the year compared to the second and thus accumulates five quarters in a positive state, according to what the National Institute of Statistics (INE) published today. In year-on-year terms, GDP accelerates three tenths, to 1.6%, which is the highest annual rate since the second quarter of 2008, in addition to widening the differential with the euro area. The acceleration of GDP in the annual rate is explained by the greater contribution of national demand (2.5 percentage points, three tenths more than in the second quarter), while that of external demand (-0.9 points) was maintained. These data are prepared in accordance with the new European System of National and Regional Accounts (SEC-2010), which replaces the previous SEC-1995 applied until now in the countries of the European Union.
Among the components of national demand, and in quarter-on-quarter terms, the rate of advance of final consumption consumption by households moderated one tenth to 0.8%. Gross fixed capital formation was less dynamic, registering a rate of 1%, seven tenths lower than that of the previous quarter. The slowdown in investment in fixed capital is explained by the less expansionary profile of both investment in equipment and investment in construction (increases of 1.7% and 0.6%, respectively, in the third quarter, compared to 3%). , 8% and 0.8% in the second. On the contrary, the component of intellectual property products accelerated seven tenths in the third quarter, to record a quarter-on-quarter rate of 0.9%. Final consumption expenditure of Public Administrations in volume grew 0.1% compared to the previous quarter, after the decrease of the same magnitude in the April-June period.
The negative contribution of net external demand to year-on-year GDP growth is explained by an increase in imports that is more pronounced than that of exports, with rates of 8.2% and 4.6%, respectively, higher by 3.4 and 3.1 points to that of the previous quarter. In quarter-on-quarter terms, imports grew 4.7% and exports 3.5%, rates more than two points higher than in the second quarter.
From the perspective of supply, the GVA in the services sector accelerated one tenth in the third quarter of the year, posting a quarter-on-quarter increase of 0.6%. The one for industry posted a zero variation, after the advance of the two previous quarters (0.5% in the second quarter) and the one for construction moderated its rate of increase by four tenths, to 0.1% quarter-on-quarter. The GVA of agriculture rebounded, to 4.4%, compared to the 3% fall of the previous quarter.
The year-on-year rate of job creation, in terms of full-time equivalent jobs, increased in the third quarter of the year by 0.6 points, to 1.4%, with the creation of 221,000 jobs. In quarter-on-quarter terms, employment increased for the third consecutive quarter, registering a rate of 0.5%, which meant the net creation of 75,400 full-time equivalent jobs. As a consequence of the evolution of GDP and employment, productivity per employed person decelerated two tenths in the interannual rate, to 0.3%. On the other hand, compensation per employee decreased 0.1%, after the 0.4% increase in the second quarter, so that unit labor costs fell by 0.4%, three tenths more than in the quarter previous.
