The Bank of Israel's Composite State of the Economy Index for December increased by 0.2%.
The rate of increase in the Index continues to indicate a stable rate of growth in the economy in recent months.
Among the factors that made a particular contribution to the increase in the Index were the increases in imports of consumer products, and in the Trade Revenue Index. In contrast, declines in the export of goods and in the export of services contributed negatively to the rate of increase in the Index. This month, there were no significant revisions of the Index’s data for previous months.
Summing up 2013, the Composite Index shows a slowdown in the growth rate (on an annual average) compared to 2012: It increased by 2.8%, following an increase of 3.9 % in 2012.
The slowdown derived mainly from the decline in industrial production, the decline in the imports of manufacturing inputs and a slowdown in the rate of growth of employee posts and in the job vacancy rate. In contrast, indices of activity in the trade and services industries and in the import of consumer products contributed to the increase in the Index.
