In the Euro Area (EA), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in volume increased 1.0% in year-on-year terms in the first quarter of 2023 (1.8% in the previous quarter) and decreased 0.1% in quarter-on-quarter terms (-0.1% in the fourth quarter).

In Portugal, GDP in real terms registered a year-on-year rate of change of 2.5% in the first quarter (3.2% in the previous quarter) and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 1.6% (0.3% in the previous quarter).

The industrial production price index registered negative year-on-year rates of change in April and May (-0.9% and -3.5%, respectively), which had not happened since February 2021, after increases of 8.9% and 0.1% in February and March, in sequence of the uninterrupted deceleration profile observed since July 2022. The grouping of Energy was decisive for the reduction of the total index, with rates of -17.9% and -20.8% in April and May, respectively. Excluding the energy component, this index decelerated to 2.2% (4.7% in April). The index for consumer goods recorded a year-on-year growth rate of 8.1% (9.9% in the previous month), decelerating for the sixth consecutive month, after reaching in November the highest growth of the current series (16.2%). 

The year-on-year rate of change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) decelerated to 4.0% in May, 1.7 percentage points (p.p.) less than in the previous month. The index for unprocessed decelerated, from 14.1% in April to 8.9% in May. On the external side, the implicit prices of exports and imports of goods, in April, registered year-on-year rates of change 0.7% and -5.0%, respectively (4.4% and -2.3% in March).

The short-term indicators for economic activity from the perspective of production, available for April, point to decrease in Industry and a deceleration in Services and Construction. From the expenditure side, the economic activity indicator decelerated in April, while the Gross Fixed Capital Formation indicator increased in year-on-year terms and the private consumption indicator decelerated. The economic climate indicator, which summarizes the balances of responses to questions relating to business surveys, decreased in May, after having increased between January and April.

According to the provisional monthly Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate (16 to 74 years old), seasonally adjusted, was 6.8% in April, 0.2 percentual points below the value registered in March (7.1% in January and 5.9% in April 2022). The labour underutilization rate (16 to 74 years old) stood at 12.1%, 0.1 percentage points less than in the previous month (12.5% in January and 11.4% in April 2022).

The employed population (16 to 74 years old), seasonally adjusted, increased by 0.7% in year-on-year terms and decreased 0.1% compared with the previous month (year-on-year rate of change of 0.6% in March).