BOL: state of the economy index down - second month in a row

The May index was down 0.12%, and this is the first time the index has fallen for two straight months since the economic recession in 2003
 
The Bank of Israel (BOL) reported last week that its composite state-of-the-economy index dropped by 0.3% in June. The drop was second month in a row.
 
The May index was down 0.12%, and this is the first time the index has fallen for two straight months since the economic recession in 2003.
 
The BoI noted that the movement of the index in the last two months indicates a slowdown in the economy’s rate of growth compared with that in the first quarter.
 
The decline in the June index was the outcome of falls in the indices of manufacturing production, trade and services revenue, and services exports on the one hand, and rises in the indices of goods imports and exports on the other.
 
Within the overall index, services exports dropped in June by 1.1%, following a 5.3% drop in May, while goods exports was up by 7.5% in June, following a 2.3% decline in May. The imports index went up sharply in June, by 9.5%, after its steep 7.3% drop in May.