Export Industry Growing Vigorously, Energy Price Increases Weighing on Economic Activity

The upturn in the export and manufacturing sectors is driving the economic recovery in Austria. In the fourth quarter of 2010, real GDP expanded by 0.8 percent compared with the previous quarter and by 2.7 percent compared with a year before. Investment activity is beginning to pick up, however, not in the construction sector. Private consumption is growing steadily, albeit modestly. Supported by lively industrial activity, unemployment continues to decline slowly. Consumer price inflation is accelerating, reflecting soaring energy prices; this is the reason for a marked contraction in real wages per capita.