First Quarter: Economy Still Robust
The Austrian economy expanded at a seasonally and working day adjusted rate of 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2008, following +0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. On a year-on-year basis, growth accelerated to 3.5 percent in real terms. Economic activity is picking up once more on the back of strong value added growth in industry and construction. Trade and tourism also posted good results. Given the deterioration of the international environment, the outlook for activity in the coming months remains subdued. In the USA the economy grew hardly at all in the first quarter, and in Europe, too, the outlook is darkening further.