The Bank of Israel's Composite State-of-the-Economy Index for August 2012 increased by 0.1 percent from its July level.[1] The data incorporated in the index this month indicate the continued expansion of economic activity at a moderate rate. The increase in the index this month reflects increases in services exports, in manufacturing production, and in the trade and services revenue index, which were offset by a decline in indices of goods exports, consumer goods imports, and imports of production inputs. Following the Central Bureau of Statistics downward corrections of goods exports data for June and July, and of the manufacturing production index for June, the Composite Index data for these months were also revised downward.
The main components of the index changed as follows: The index of manufacturing production increased by 2.7 percent in July, following its decline of 1.6 percent in June. The trade and services revenue index rose by 3.7 percent in July, after a 3 percent decline in June. The services exports index (excluding transport) rose in August (Bank of Israel estimate) by 1.8 percent, after a decrease of 3.6 percent in July. The index of imports of production inputs declined in August by 1 percent, following a increase of 3.3 percent in July. The goods exports (real) index declined by 6.6 percent in August, following its sharp increase of 15.3 percent in July. The (real) index of consumer goods imports declined by 3.7 percent in August, after an increase of 0.4 percent in July.
Updated rates of change in composite index (in percent)
Previous figure Revised figure
June 0.25 0.17
July 0.23 0.20
August 0.14
For additional data and explanations click here.
[1] In calculating the composite index, changes in its components (seasonally adjusted)—in both the current month and previous months with a lag—are taken into consideration.