Prague, Aug 14 (CTK) – The Czech Republic’s annual economic growth slowed to 2.3 percent in Q2 from 4.2 percent in the previous quarter, and the economy expanded by 0.5 percent in qtr/qtr terms, the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) said in its preliminary estimate today.
Analysts predicted a rise of 2.5 to 2.6 percent annually and a growth of 0.7 to 0.8 percent quarterly.
Statisticians blamed the annual slowdown on a high comparison basis. Domestic demand was of key importance for the positive economic development.
Household consumption and investments of companies were again a driver of GDP growth.
Foreign trade, too, was a positive factor, however, major contributors were manufacturing industry, retail and construction.
Conditions on the labour market have further improved. Second-quarter employment was 1.9 percent higher in annual terms, adding 0.6 percent compared to the previous three months.
Gross domestic product is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a period (quarterly or yearly) of time. The flash estimate suggests a potential growth rate of the economy over the period in question.