Benefiting from brisk external demand, Austria's manufacturing sector continued its recovery also in the autumn: in September, production was 11 percent higher than during the trough in May 2009, and the results of the WIFO business cycle survey suggest that production activity remained lively also in October and November. Driven by exports and manufacturing activity, real GDP rose by 0.9 percent quarter-on-quarter and by 2.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter. However, a self-sustaining pick-up in investment has not got off the ground as yet: it was possible to stop the decline in equipment investment in the spring of 2010, but construction investment continues to contract. Household consumption is benefiting from brisk employment growth not only in the services sectors but also in manufacturing industry. The number of unemployed, while still clearly exceeding pre-crisis levels, continues to fall. Consumer price inflation remains subdued, it is primarily determined by the rise in world market prices for crude oil and other commodities.