The Eurozone may be showing signs of dragging itself back into growth but Spain continues to disappoint economists as data released on Tuesday shows that the country could be left behind as other Euro nations show signs of improvement.
Industrial output in the country declined by 4% on a year-by-year basis, many Economists had been expecting the yearly figure to have fallen by -0.8%. On a calendar adjusted basis industrial output was down by 2%, a sharper fall than the 1.2% decline seen in the previous month. Demand for consumable durable goods production plummeted by 11.1% in August and the output of consumer goods fell by 1.9% and capital goods dropped by 2.3%.
Adding to the grim outlook for the country was the release of a survey compiled by Spanish think tank CIS. The poll showed that nearly a third of all Spaniards think that the nation’s economy will be in a worse state next year than it is now.
30.9% of those questioned said that they thought that the Spanish economy would decline whilst just one in five people believed that things will be better. A total of 40.3% of people in Spain also said the economy was in a “bad” way, while 45.6% said it was in “very bad” shape.
The CIS poll contradicts the view of the troubled Spanish government after it raised its economic growth forecast for next year to 0.7% from 0.5%. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told a newspaper that he believes the economy will grow by 0.1 to 0.2% in the third quarter of the year.
Going by the CIS poll many Spaniards do not agree as the national economy continues to dominate the worries of Spaniards. 77.3% of all Spaniards said that unemployment was one of the top issues affecting the country. In September unemployment increased by 25,572 taking the total to 4.72 million and still stands above 25%.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 10:45 am
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3574 >
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8444 >
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4369 <
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6344
