Romania’s 1H Indus Output Growth Seen Slowing To 5.8% Vs 6.1% In 1H ‘07

Romanian managers polled by the forecast commission expect labor productivity growth to slow to 9.1% in the first six months of this year compared with 10.8% in the same period of 2007 on staff reductions.

In the second quarter alone, the managers said the country’s industrial output is seen growing 6.1%, while labor productivity is expected to rise 9.4%.

The commission said Romanian managers expect the number of employees to decline 3.2% in Jan-Jun compared with 4% in the same period last year, mostly in the mining, clothing and tobacco industries.

In 2007, Romania’s industrial output grew 5.4% on the year led by manufacturing growth and is expected to grow 5.2% in 2008, according to official estimates.

The Romanian industrial output grew 5.4% on the year in the first quarter of 2008 driven by energy and manufacturing growth, the latest data released by the Romanian Statistics Institute showed.