The Corner | July 10, 2015 | Spanish business confidence increased by 2.4% in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the second quarter, according to official data. Sentiment improved in all industries for ten months in a row, especially in restaurants and hotels, with an increase of 3.8%.
The Corner | July 9, 2015 | Updating its World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund cut its world growth forecast (3.3 %from 3.5%) in 2015, downplayed the Greek drama and said it expects Spain to grow more than the US.
MADRID | July 5, 2014 | By Fernando González Urbaneja | It’s been one of the costs of the crisis: an internal wage devaluation. Over the last year and half of the economic recovery, with the country’ GDP growing more than one percentage point above the EU average, Spain managed to create almost a million new jobs, almost one-third of what was lost.
The Corner | June 21, 2015 | Rating agency Moody’s expects Spanish GDP to grow by 2.7% in 2015 and highlights the employment creation in the last quarter of 2014. But the country still “faces important challenges such as a public deficit that might hamper growth in the mid term.”
The Corner | June 15, 2015 | Spain’s yield spread soared as Greece talks have stalemated in recent weeks. The country’s 10-year bond yield rose 12 basis points to 2.37 percent at 11:21 a.m. London time.
MADRID | June 10, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Spanish unions and employers’ organisations signed a two-year-agreement this week to raise salaries, the first hike in three years. Both parties had been debating for months while the government, distant yet vigilant, recommended a raise combining purchasing power with productivity.
The Corner | June 8, 2015 | Spanish growth, well above the euro area average, has surprised the IMF on the upside (GDP growth is seen at 3.1% in 2015 and 2.5% in 2016). And reforms have boosted confidence, business investment and consumption. The main headwind for Mariano Rajoy’s government is now a hampering unemployment rate of almost 23.8%, the Washington-based institution says.
The Corner | June 3, 2015 | Good news for Spain’s economic recovery. The number of unemployed people in Spain saw a sharp drop in May, marking the largest fifth-month decline since records began in 1996.
MADRID | June 2, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Executions of unpaid mortgages currently play a preferential role in Spanish politics.
The Corner | June 1, 2015 | Spain Manufacturing PMI Index, designed to measure the performance of the manufacturing economy, rose to 55.8 in May from 54.2 in April: the strongest improvement in business conditions in the country in eight years, according to Markit.