Swiss GDP Growth Accelerates In Q1

(RTTNews) - Switzerland's economic growth accelerated in the first quarter on robust private consumption and the rebound in equipment investment, data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed on Thursday.

Gross domestic product posted a quarterly growth of 0.5 percent in the first quarter after an expansion of 0.3 percent each in the previous two quarters. GDP was expected to grow again by 0.3 percent. On a yearly basis, economic growth accelerated to 0.6 percent, as expected, from 0.5 percent in the prior quarter.

The production-side of GDP showed that growth was underpinned by services output, while industrial output stagnated.

The performance in the service sector was somewhat uneven.

While financial services and business-related services contracted, accommodation and food services and health and social care services expanded at a rate close to their respective historical averages. The retail sector output advanced 1.4 percent from a quarter ago.

At the same time, the value added in manufacturing fell 0.2 percent and the construction industry expanded 0.3 percent as a result of rising turnover in building and civil engineering projects.

Driven by spending on food and non-food items, private spending gained 0.4 percent. Government expenditure moved up 0.2 percent.

Further, the positive development of domestic final demand was underpinned by a 0.8 percent rise in investment in equipment, which grew for the first time in four quarters. However, there was a 0.2 percent drop in construction investment.

Imports of goods and services grew strongly by 2.0 percent in the first quarter. By contrast, goods exports slid 3.3 percent due to a decline in transit trade. Services exports gained 1.0 percent. Overall, foreign trade made a negative contribution to GDP growth.