The economy grew by an annualized 3 percent in the first quarter of 2012, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported Wednesday. beating the 2.5% growth predicted in a "Bloomberg" poll of analysts.
Despite topping expectations, GDP growth was nevertheless lower than in the two preceding quarters: 3.2% in the fourth quarter of 2011 and 3.3% in the third quarter.
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console.log("BODY2. CatId is:"+catID);if(catID==120){console.log("BODY. YES for anyclip script");document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){console.log("BODY. YES for vidazoo script");document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }The Central Bureau of Statistics said the growth was due to higher exports and imports of goods and services; higher private consumption; investment in fixed assets, and modest growth in public spending.
The GDP growth report includes some worrying data, however. Business product growth fell to 2.8% from 3.5% in the previous quarter and 4.5% in the quarter before that. The figure highlights the slowdown in the business sector, the economy's growth engine.
