The economic upswing continues, with the manufacturing index in April up by 12 percent from the year before. This development is due to a substantial stimulus of rising exports and investment activities. In accordance with the favourable economic situation, unemployment is declining noticeably, although employment growth has slowed down. The rate of inflation jumped to 2.7 percent in June, with a half percentage point being due to the increase of consumer taxes and 1 percentage point to high energy prices.