The National Institute of Statistics (INE) confirmed this Thursday that the Spanish economy grew by 0.8% in the first quarter of the year, one tenth more than the previous quarter, thanks to the boost in domestic demand and the rise in the 2% of the investment.
Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the data, released at the end of April, has also been confirmed, according to which the economic advance was 31Q3Q, which is explained by the contribution of domestic demand of 2.2 points, while the foreign sector added 0.8 points to growth.
Employment increased 2.5% year-on-year, a net increase of approximately 435,000 full-time equivalent jobs in one year, while in quarterly comparison the growth was 0.7%.
The advance of the economy was also produced thanks to household consumption and public spending, which showed quarterly increases of 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
With the growth recorded between January and March, fourteen quarters of progress have already been accumulated. In the first two quarters of last year, the Spanish economy also grew by 0.8%, while in the second half of the year it did so at a quarterly rate of 0.7%, one tenth less.
Although households increased their consumption spending by 0.4% in the first quarter, it slowed down its growth rate by three tenths, as it had just increased by 0.7% in the last quarter of 2016. Likewise, consumer spending of non-profit institutions serving households contracted by 0.3% between January and March, compared to the rebound of 0.8% registered in the previous quarter.
On the contrary, public spending picked up pace in the first quarter and increased by 0.3%, in contrast to the decrease of 0.2% experienced in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Source: http://www.eldiario.es/economia/PIB-avanza-marzo-impulsado-inversion_0_647435345.html
