Bank of Israel: May state of the economy index down 0.1%

The Bank of Israel's working assumption is that growth is continuing, albeit at a slower pace
 
According to figures published last week by the Bank of Israel, the new Composite State of the Economy Index fell 0.1% in May, and 0.5% in February-May.
 
The Bank of Israel Research Department stated that the decline in the index reflects slower growth this year. The department also said that the figures in recent months deviated from the long-term growth trend. The Bank of Israel's working assumption is that growth is continuing, albeit at a slower pace.
 
The index is a synthetic cyclical indicator for examining the direction in which real economic activity is moving, in real time. It is calculated from the monthly changes in seven components that reflect different aspects of real economic activity, i.e., the indices of manufacturing production; imports of consumer goods; imports of production inputs; trade and services revenue; the number of employee posts in the business sector; exports of goods (excluding agriculture, fuel, diamonds, and ships and aircraft) and exports of services (tourism, computer and know-how, communications, insurance, and other business services).
 
The rise was due to a rise in the industrial production index, and the index of revenue of trade and services activities. Those rises were offset by a drop in goods exports, and a slight drop in exports of services, and in import indexes.