The budget execution figures available up to February show a slight adjustment to overall public sector accounts, excluding local authorities.

Inflation was down 1 tenth in April to 1.1%, in line with figures anticipated by CaixaBank Research.

The labour market performed well, but again lost some momentum in the first quarter of the year. This was evidenced by the fact that in seasonally adjusted terms job creation was positive (0.5% QoQ) at a similar rate to Q4 2017, but somewhat below the average for the first three quarters of 2017 (0.7%).

Inflation was up 1 tenth in March to 1.2%, matching the INE flash estimate.

The labour market again posted a positive trend during March, as evidenced by the significant 139,000 uptick in the number of social security affiliates, slightly smaller than that posted in the same month of the previous year (162,000).

The Council of Ministers approved the draft bill for General State Budget (PGE in its Spanish acronym), which will now have to be passed by Spain’s parliament.

The 2017 public deficit stood at 3.1% of GDP, in line with the stability target agreed with the European Commission and the CaixaBank Research forecast. 

Inflation was up 1 tenth in March to 1.2%, a smaller increase than anticipated by CaixaBank Research.

Should the model forecast prove accurate, the pace of GDP growth would be similar to that posted in Q4 2017 (0.68% QoQ).

Inflation was up 5 tenths in February to 1.1%. The uptick in inflation was due in equal measures to core groups and non-core groups.