Household spending jumped 1.4 percent, the first gain since the last quarter of 2014 and the biggest since the first three months of 2014 amid a slowdown in inflation, lower interest rates and higher real wages. On the other hand, public spending fell 0.9 percent, following a 0.7 percent decline in the previous period and marking the fourth straight quarter of declines. Gross fixed capital formation went down 0.7 percent, following a 0.9 percent drop in the previous period and also the fourth straight decline. Exports rose a meager 0.5 percent, following a 5.2 percent jump in the previous period. Imports contracted 3.5 percent, following a 0.6 percent gain.
On the production side, services drove the expansion (0.6 percent compared to 0.2 percent in Q1), namely internal trade (1.9 percent compared to -0.2 percent), real estate (0.8 percent compared to 0.2 percent) and transport (0.6 percent compared to 3.1 percent). On the other hand, agriculture stalled (+11.5 percent in Q1) and the industrial sector came back to contraction (-0.5 percent compared to 0.7 percent in Q1). Construction slumped 2 percent (-0.5 percent in Q1) and utilities declined 1.3 percent (+3.1 percent in Q1). In addition, manufacturing rose a meager 0.1 percent (1.1 percent in Q1) and mining growth slowed to 0.4 percent (1.8 percent).
Year-on-year, the economy advanced 0.3 percent, first expansion since the first quarter of 2014, following a 0.4 percent contraction in the previous period.