After surviving the longest recession in recent history, a country should be proud of 0.5% quarterly growth. That?s what happened in Spain between July and September. Now, after updated figures from the National Statistics Institute and the Bank of Spain, the growth was just a tenth of a point less than the last quarter.
This is the first evidence that Spain is feeling the effects of unemployment in other areas of Europe. Doubts in the region are slowing investment in product design and sales, which negatively impacts Spain?s export market. At the same time, inflation is still negative. These signs show that the government should remain vigilant, especially after trusting 2015 GDP to two factors that might not solidify: tax reform and a lower risk premium.
