In the first quarter of 2015, the Spanish economy posted a quarter-on-quarter rise of 0.9%, two tenths higher than in the last quarter of 2014, according to the figures published by the National Statistics Institute (Spanish acronym: INE).
In year-on-year terms, GDP rose by 2.7%, seven tenths higher than in the previous quarter and the highest rate since the first quarter of 2008. The recovery of the Spanish economy is thus now more consolidated with six back-to-back quarters of growth at an increasing rate. The contribution from domestic demand has increased by three tenths to three percentage points while the negative contribution of the foreign trade sector to GDP has fallen by four tenths to -0.3%. Employment rose for the fourth straight quarter to 2.8%, the highest rate in almost eight years. Over the last 12 months, 458,000 full-time equivalent jobs have been created.
Among the components of domestic demand, there has been a consolidation in the recovery of private consumption and investment. The expense on household consumption has grown by 3.5% in year-on-year terms, up one tenth on the previous quarter and the highest since the end of 2006. For its part, investment in fixed capital enjoyed year-on-year growth of 6%, up by nine tenths on the fourth quarter of 2014. By type of asset, materials grew in the first quarter by 6.7%, 1.2 percentage points more than in the previous quarter, while intellectual property products slowed by 1.1 points to a rate of 2%. In turn, more dynamic performance from tangible fixed assets can be explained by investment in construction, which rose from growth of 2.4% in the final quarter of 2014 to 4.9% in the first quarter of 2015. Investment in capital goods and intangible fixed assets grew strongly at a rate of 9.4% year-on-year, albeit more moderately than in the previous quarter. For its part, consumption expenses by the public administration services increased slightly in the first quarter of the year, by 0.1% year-on-year, following a decline of 0.5% in the previous quarter.
The lower reduction in net external demand to year-on-year growth of GDP was due to both an acceleration in exports and a deceleration in imports. Hence, exports grew by 5.7%, one point more than in the fourth quarter of 2014, while imports grew by 7.4%, three tenths less than in the previous quarter.
Among the components of national demand, and in quarter-on-quarter terms, the rate of increase in the expense of final household consumption moderated by two-tenths to 0.7%, while gross fixed capital formation increased by 1.3%, one tenth less than in the fourth quarter of 2014. The slight deceleration of investment in fixed capital can be explained by the lower buoyancy of investment in capital goods and intellectual property products, which eased their rate of growth by half a point and by two tenths respectively, to 1.4% and zero. In contrast, investment in construction was more expansive, with an increase of 1.5%, one tenth higher than in the previous quarter. For its part, the expense on final consumption by the public administration services increased by 1.6% in quarter-on-quarter terms, after falling by 1% in the previous quarter.
EFEIn quarter-on-quarter terms, exports grew by 1%, after remaining unchanged in the previous quarter, while imports grew by 0.8% after a fall of 0.6% in the last quarter of 2014. In turn, the renewed vigour of exports can be explained by the highly dynamic nature of exports of services (up 9.1%), partially offset by the fall in capital goods (down 2.3%).
From the perspective of supply, the GVA of industry increased by 1.8% in the first quarter on the previous quarter, after stabilising in the last quarter of 2014. The GVA of the services sector grew by 0.6%, two tenths less than in the previous quarter, while the GVA of construction moderated its increase by 1.7 points to 1.4%. The GVA of agriculture, in turn, posted a positive rate of 0.4% compared with a fall of 4.5% in the previous quarter.
The quarter-on-quarter rate of job creation, in terms of full-time equivalent jobs, increased again in the first quarter, by one tenth, to 0.8%. In year-on-year terms, employment grew for the fourth quarter in a row, by 2.8%, a rate not seen since the third quarter of 2007. Some 458,000 full-time equivalent jobs have been created in the last year. As a result of the increases in GDP and job creation, productivity per employee eased off the rate of its year-on-year decline by three tenths to -0.1%. For its part, remuneration per employee increased by 0.9% after a fall of 0.5% in the fourth quarter of last year, such that unitary labour costs increased by 1%, in contrast with a fall of 0.1% in the previous quarter.
The year-on-year rate of the GDP deflator stood in positive figures (0.5%) in the first quarter of 2015 after four straight quarters of declines. This increase is largely down to the increase in the public consumption deflator (up 1.4%) and the investment deflator (up 0.5%), and the decline in the import deflator (down 2.4%).
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