SLOVAKIA’s economy continues to grow at top speed. According to the latest data from the Statistics Bureau (ŠÚ), the gross domestic product in the second quarter of 2006 increased by 6.7 percent against the same period last year. The ŠÚ now predicts that annual GDP growth in 2006 could reach 6.5 percent.
Household consumption remains the main driver of the country’s economic growth, based on a rise in both real wages and employment.
For the first time in seven years, Slovakia’s jobless rate dropped under 14 percent to 13.5 percent in the second quarter of 2006, while employment was at the highest level since 1994. Real wages increased by 4 percent to Sk18,324 per month, the Hospodárske noviny daily wrote.
