For nowcasting and short-term forecasting of industrial production and GDP, business surveys are a vital source of information. They cover information of the recent past as well as developments in the near future. Whereas variations in industrial production indices potentially cover weather...

In the OECD countries, the recovery from the slump of 2001 was slow and painful. According to preliminary figures, these countries managed a growth in GDP of 1.3 percent in 2002, compared to 0.8 percent in 2001. In view of the geopolitical vagaries of the second half of 2002, demand for...

Throughout 2001, economic growth in the USA, Japan and the European Union was clearly losing momentum. In line with this development, Austria also recorded a marked slow-down in its pace of economic growth. While the economy had still been growing at a rate of 3 percent in 2000, macroeconomic...