Austria's economy still grew solidly in the second quarter, but sentiment indicators point to a slowdown in economic activity. Business expectations of domestic companies clouded over on a broad basis in July. According to the Weekly WIFO Economic Index (WWWI), GDP growth in July is also likely to have been weaker than in previous months.

Year-on-year economic growth based on the weekly GDP indicator (WWWI) is estimated to be +2.2 percent in July (calendar weeks 27 to 30, 4 to 31 July), about 0.5 percentage points lower than in June (calendar weeks 22 to 26).

In a current WIFO study, Rainer Eppel, Ulrike Huemer, Helmut Mahringer and Lukas Schmoigl analyse in such a comprehensive and differentiated way, which has not been possible in Austria so far, how which types of qualification measures of the Public Employment Service Austria affect the labour market opportunities of different groups of unemployed persons. The results were presented at a press conference on 28 July 2022 by Federal Minister of Labour and Economy Martin Kocher and WIFO Director Gabriel Felbermayr.

According to the latest WIFO Flash Estimate, Austria's economic output rose by 0.5 percent in the second quarter of 2022 compared with the previous quarter. In addition to increases in services, a solid development in industry also contributed to growth. On the demand side, both foreign trade and investment made a positive contribution to growth. By contrast, consumer spending by private households declined.