The Bank of Israel Composite State of the Economy Index rose by 1.3% in August 2009, underscoring the country's ongoing recovery from the recession. At the same time, the Central Bureau of Statistics today published weak macroeconomic figures that show, among other things, a drop in industrial output.
The State of the Economy Index has risen for the fourth consecutive month. The Bank of Israel said, "The upward trend in the index in recent months consolidates the assessment that there has been a positive turnaround in economic activity."
The index's exports of goods and services component had the strongest gain in August, but both industrial output and trade and services proceeds in July fell.
The Bank of Israel also revised the State of the Economy Index for July from 1.2% to 1.1% and for June to 0.7% from 0.6%.
The Central Bureau of Statistics reported that industrial output was 2.8% lower in July than in June (seasonally adjusted figures) and the number of manufacturing employees fell by a further 0.6%, continuing the slide since the beginning of the year. The drop in output was in all manufacturing sectors. Work hours fell by 2% in July compared with June.
Equally worrying, trade and services proceeds fell by a seasonally adjusted 3.3% in July compared with June. Computer services proceeds fell by 8%, business services proceeds by 6%, and financial and insurance services proceeds by more than 10%. Retail trade fell by 1.2% including a 1% drop in food sales.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 22, 2009
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