Israel: Economic activity index picks up pace, reaching a near one-year high in June
Israel’s economy picked up pace at the end of the second quarter, according to the Bank of Israel’s Composite State of the Economy Index, growing 0.35% over the previous month in June. The print, which was up from May’s revised 0.32% growth (previously reported: +0.25% month-on-month), marked the best result since August of last year.
The print came on the back of robust increases in consumer goods imports and goods exports. In addition, trailing data for May showed that retail trade and services revenue rebounded from noticeable contractions in April to record solid expansions. Growth was held back, however, by a drop in imports of manufacturing inputs in June and a contraction in industrial production in May.
Lastly, on an annual basis, growth in the Index was stable in June at May’s revised 3.6% (previously reported: +3.7% year-on-year).