Austria's economy not improving

The overall outlook for Austria’s economy is pessimistic, at least for the remainder of 2012, according to analysts at Bank Austria. The economy showed negative growth of 0.1% for July, for the first time this year.

Analysts see the trend largely as a spill-over from the recession in several major EU countries. An early resolution to the ongoing Euro-crisis could have a stabilising effect and encourage increased economic activity, the report said. Nevertheless, Austria’s GDP is projected to grow in 2013 by 1.5%.

As a consequence, Austria’s unemployment figures have also gone up to 7.1% for the month of July. By the end of the year 2012, it is expected that an additional 17,000 people will be out of work.