Czech National Bank likely to hike its interest rates three times in 2019

Czech National Bank (CNB) is likely to raise its interest rates three times this year, due to weaker koruna

Slovakia´s unemployment rate decreased by 5.16% in February

Slovakia´s unemployment rate dropped by 5.16% in February 2019, down by 0.10 percentage points (pp) from January and by 0.56pp year-on-year, according to data published by the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre on March 21.

Czech industrial production and construction down in January 2019

Both industrial production and construction have been weakening since beginning of this year. Industrial production contracted by 1.1% and construction by 13.2% year-on-year in January 2019, according to data by the Czech Statistics Office (CSO) publ

Inflation in Slovakia up by 2.3% in February

Year-on-year inflation in Slovakia increased by 2.3% in February, with core inflation amounting to 1.9% and net inflation at 1.7%, the Slovak Statistics Office reported on March 14.

Czech retail turnover up by 4.7% y/y in January 2019

Czech retail sales adjusted for calendar affects accelerated by 4.7% year-on-year in January from of 4.8% in December, affected markedly by e-shops and mail order services (up by 18.6%), according to the Czech Statistics Office´s data released on Mar

Czech inflation up by 2.7% y/y in February

Average wage in Czech Republic increased to CZK33,840 in 4Q18

The average wage in the Czech Republic grew by 6.9% year-on-year, up by CZK2,179 (€84.9) to CZK33,840 (€1,319) in 4Q18, according to the data by the Czech Statistics Office released on March 8. In real terms it increased by 4.7%. The median wage reac

Downward trend of unemployment in Slovakia continued in 2018

Unemployment in Slovakia continued falling in 2018, down by 19.9% year-on-year to 179,500 persons in the whole 2018 and down by 21.5% y/y to 167,100 persons in 4Q18, where the unemployment rate dropped to 6.1% in 4Q18 and 6.6% in 2018, the Slovak Sta

Estonian industrial production eases growth to 4.7% y/y in January

Estonia’s industrial output has now grown for 31 months straight, helping economic expansion.

CEE/CIS countries outperform income peers in terms of gender equality at work

Disastrous demographics and tightening labour markets will keep up the pressure on governments across the region to encourage women to enter and remain in the workforce.

Czech economic growth in 4Q18 better than expected

Czech GDP recorded growth of 3% in 2018, driven mostly by investment activity (2 percentage points (pp)), household consumption and government expenditure (0.9pp)

Czech PMI down to lowest since January 2013

The Czech IHS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped to 48.6 in February from 49.0 in January, the lowest since January 2013, signalling a faster deterioration in the health of the Czech manufacturing sector

Slovakia´s economic sentiment indicator up by one point in February

Slovakia's three-month moving average of the economic sentiment indicator (ESI) increased by 1 point to the level 98.4 month-on-month in February, mainly due to growth in consumer confidence and confidence in industry

Czech industrial producer prices up at 2.9% y/y in January

Industrial producer prices in the Czech Republic rose by 2.9% year-on-year in January, according to the data released by the Czech Statistics Office on February 25

Czech capital Prague is the seventh richest region in EU in 2017 in terms of GDP per capita

Prague remains the seventh richest region of the European Union in 2017 in terms of GDP per capita, same as in 2016, followed by Slovakia’s Bratislava, according to Eurostat data published on February 26.

Hard Brexit could drag the Czech economy growth down to under 2%

Hard Brexit could drag the Czech economy growth down to under 2%, reducing growth of domestic economy by 0.7 to 1.4 percentage points, according to the Czech National Bank (CNB) member Board member Tomas Holub, who spoke at a conference on Brexit on

Slovakia´s inflation at 2.2% in January

EU-harmonised inflation in Slovakia reached 2.2% year-on-year in January, according to the Slovak Statistics Office data published on February 22. The average harmonised inflation rate for last 12 months stood at 2.5% in January 2019.

Lithuanian industrial production growth accelerates in January

Albeit uneven, the continuous growth of industrial production is promising for the national economy at the beginning of the year.