The labour market gained traction in March, as evidenced by an uptick in Social Security affiliates of 53,036 individuals in seasonally adjusted terms, similar to the previous month’s figure (38,833).

The current account balance stood at 10,374 million euros in January 2019 (0.86% of GDP), down 1.0 pp compared to January 2017 (1.82% of GDP).

Spain emerged from the excessive deficit procedure after posting a public deficit of less than 3% in 2018, specifically 2.6% of GDP.

Inflation climbed 0.2 pp in March to 1.3%, providing continuity to the uptick posted in the previous month.

The pace of GDP growth would stand slightly below the 4Q 2018 figure (0.7% qoq).

Inflation stood at 1.1% in February, thus matching the flash figure released by the National Statistics Institute on 28 February.

The labour market posted a positive trend in February, as evidenced by an uptick in Social Security affiliates of 38,833 individuals in seasonally adjusted terms, similar to the figure from the previous month (38,179).

The current account balance stood at 10,145 million euros in December 2018 (0.84% of GDP), down 1.0 pp compared to December 2017 (1.84% of GDP).

Inflation was up 0.1 pp in January to 1.1%, slowing the declining trend seen in the last three months.

Appraisal prices for housing grew at a faster rate in the final stages of last year, with an increase of 1.8% in the fourth quarter, the sharpest quarterly uptick since the housing price recovery began in 2015.