Portugal’s economic recovery “interrupted” in November
INE released on Wednesday the Monthly Economic Survey and the figures show that November was the worst month of the fourth quarter. However, in December there was an improvement.
The Portuguese economy registered in November, when the state of emergency was reintroduced, its worst month since the recovery started in May. However, the December festivities brought increased economic activity, which led to an improvement in the economy in the last month of the year, according to the Monthly Economic Survey released this Wednesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The statistics office begins by saying that “the information available for November and December reveals an interruption in the partial recovery of economic activity observed since May”. In other words, as a whole, these two months have seen an interruption in the national economy’s growth, following the deceleration felt in previous months.
However, December, compared with November – which was the worst month of the fourth quarter, according to INE – saw improvements, which should not be unrelated to the economic activity generated by the festivities. “Consumer confidence and economic climate indicators increased in December,” writes the statistics office, adding that “same happened with confidence indicators in the Manufacturing Industry, in Construction and Public Works and, slightly, in Trade”
The economic climate indicator “slightly increased” in December, after halting in November the recovery observed since May.
In the Eurozone, the trend was similar. In November there was a decline in economic activity and confidence among economic agents, but with December came better indicators. The Eurozone economic sentiment indicator increased in the last month of the year to a size that “almost” offset the decline in November. Consumer confidence also increased in December.
