Economic situation slightly better

The economic situation was slightly better at the end of September than at the end of August. Improvements and downswings nearly balanced each other out. The heart of the scatter in the Business Cycle Tracer is located in the recovery stage. Thirteen of the fifteen indicators in the Tracer are currently below their long-term average.

The Dutch economy continued to grow in the second quarter of 2010. The volume of the gross domestic product was up by 2.2 percent on the second quarter of 2009. The increase was clearly more substantial than in the first quarter. Compared to the preceding quarter the economy grew by 1.0 percent in the second quarter, taking calendar and seasonal effects into account.

The consumer confidence indicator fell again in September, after having improved in July and August. The mood among manufacturers also deteriorated somewhat. Providers of business services were optimistic about their future turnover.

Manufacturing output increased by nearly 7 percent in July relative to one year previously. The volume of goods exports grew by nearly 13 percent. Household spending was marginally higher than in July 2009. The volume of corporate investments in tangible fixed assets decreased by more than 3 percent. The decrease was in the same order of magnitude as in June.

In August, the capital market interest rate dropped to 2.6 percent. Dutch inflation stood at 1.5 percent. Selling prices in manufacturing industry were nearly 8 percent higher than in August 2009.

The situation on the labour market has improved marginally. Seasonally adjusted unemployment dropped further to 414 thousand in August. The number of jobs in the second quarter increased by 0.3 percent relative to the first quarter. The number of hours worked in temp jobs increased by nearly 5 percent. At the end of June, the number of vacancies was approximately the same as at the end of March.

Gross domestic product (GDP)