China, too, is fearful of a growth slowdown and rising wage inflation.

Without a further easing of wage growth , competitiveness could continue to deteriorate .

The resilience of GDP growth to the global economic downturn can be explained by several factors .

All sectors contributed to the slowdown in total employment growth in 2001 ( see Table 8 ) .

All in all , the domestic demand recovery was resilient , notwithstanding a significant slowdown in private consumption growth in 2006 as compared with the previous year .

The ratio increased by nearly 0.5 percentage point , reflecting , inter alia , higher unemployment expenditure on account of the weak economic environment . Although some overspending was evident in specific categories such as healthcare , no generalised slippage from expenditure targets was discerned .

Despite a slowdown in import growth in 2003 , foreign trade made a negative contribution to real GDP growth for the eighth year in a row .

Some slowdown in domestic demand growth is expected in a number of the faster growing economies in the next few years .

ECB Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area June 2008 Export growth will be affected by the slowdown in the world economy in the projection period .

The deceleration mainly reflected a decline in euro area exports and investment growth as a consequence of the global slowdown and , at the same time , a weakening of consumption growth .

The expected slowdown reflects the lower growth of both exports and domestic demand .

China s inevitable growth slowdown, along with a large tail risk, threatens stable growth in Asian economies that have become increasingly interdependent.

Against the background of the sound fundamentals of the euro area , the Governing Council remains confident that the slowdown in economic growth will be short lived .

annual growth rate of total hours worked .

The slowdown observed in the growth of euro area labour productivity is partly attributable to higher labour utilisation .

However , looking at the information embedded in developments for the various sectors and the individual components and counterparts of M3 , the sharp slowdown observed in the growth of M3 and loans at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 appears not to have been accompanied by an equally sharp slowdown in underlying monetary growth .

While this slowdown in growth in compensation per employee was broad based across countries , the sectoral breakdown points to substantial differences .

Strong GDP growth in 2000 as a whole , but some slowdown in the second half of the year Economic activity in the euro area started to recover in the second half of 1999 , following a slowdown related to the emerging markets crisis , and euro area growth continued to be high in 2000 .

The recent slowdown in activity appears to have had some influence on employment growth in the exposed sectors of the euro area economy .

However , the actual fiscal position benefits from a strong economy risks may arise if economic growth slows down .

While growth slowed in most euro area countries , the slowdown was generally strongest in those countries which had grown most rapidly in 1998 .

2.4 OUTPUT , DEMAND AND LABOUR MARKET DEVELOPMENTS ECONOMIC GROWTH DEVELOPED FAVOURABLY IN 2007 Economic developments in 2007 were favourable overall , although growth slowed somewhat in the course of the year .

This , combined with an additional impact of the cyclical downswing in labour productivity , largely contributes to an increase in unit labour cost growth in 2008 .

The standard deviation declined to around 1.7 percentage points from 2.5 percentage points in 2000 .

The outlook for a further improvement in budgetary balances had deteriorated in the early part of 1999 on account of a slowdown in economic growth . However , thereafter and especially in the second half of the year economic conditions improved

This moderation wasconsistent with the slowdown observed in house price growth and housing market activity in a number of euro area economies .

The sharp reduction in employment growth in market related services ( trade , transport , finance and business services ) , which represent over a third of total employment , appears to have been the main driving force behind the slowdown in employment growth .

As total employment growth did not show a slowdown over the same period , employment growth in the rest of the economy appears to have accelerated slightly .

And this assumes that there is only a one time permanent downward shock, with no additional slowdown in the rate of potential output growth.

Given the relatively short experience with compiling data in accordance with the new ESA 95 methodology , backward revisions related to Progressive upturn in real GDP growth in the course of 1999 Economic activity in the euro area in 1999 was characterised by a progressive upturn in output growth , following the slowdown in the course of 1998 .

For the seventh year in a row , net exports made a negative contribution ( 1.0 percentage point ) to real GDP growth in 2002 .

growth rate of export values mainly reflected developments in export volumes . Somewhat weaker growth in foreign demand and the appreciation of the euro contributed to the slowdown in extra euro area exports in the first half of the year .

In China, for example, the relaxation of migration controls in the 1980 s and the opening of the economy led to the spectacular growth of the country s eastern cities.

Real GDP growth projections Eurostat 's flash estimate for quarter on quarter growth of euro area real GDP in the fourth quarter of 20043 confirms a slowdown in activity in the second half of the year .

Third, the renminbi s international and reserve currency prospects will be shaped by how China handles its growth slowdown.

As regards structural policies , measures which reduce adjustment costs and promote moderate unit labour cost growth are of the utmost importance , particularly in the current climate of high inflation and slowing real GDP growth .

In its statement , the NBER stressed the importance of the terrorist attacks of 11 September in intensifying an already pronounced slowdown of real GDP growth .

This slowdown in the rate of monetary expansion was accompanied by a fall in short term interest rates and the recovery of nominal income growth in the Union .

The outcome of the monetary analysis confirms the assessment of low inflationary pressure over the medium term , as money and credit growth continues to slow down .

Growth slowed considerably from 2001 to 2005 with the global economic slowdown, but accelerated to 4.1 in the third quarter of 2007.

In addition , export growth was less affected than expected by the slowdown in world economic activity at the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999 , while import growth decelerated considerably .

Assumptions with regard to the international environment The slowdown of economic growth in the United States as well as in a number of developed economies is expected to dampen global growth prospects , also reflecting the effects of the financial turmoil .

However , this masks two quite different trends while employment growth has improved significantly during the last decade , average productivity growth has experienced a significant slowdown since the mid 1990s .

Annual average real GDP growth declined sharply in all euro area countries in 2001 , without exception , although the extent of the slowdown differed somewhat .

In particular , the annual growth rate of M1 has moderated somewhat , reflecting shifts from overnight deposits into other components of M3 which offer more market related returns .