Growth in manufacturing jobs should slow this year, according to Statec’s monthly economic conditions report for February 2019, published on 26 February.

Statec wrote in the report:

“According to initial estimates, Luxembourg industrial output rose approximately 1.7% over one quarter in the 4th quarter of 2018. This rise was mostly due to increases in the textile industry, the manufacture of metal products (excluding machinery and equipment) and rubber products. It contrasts favourably with the collapse observed in the euro zone in late 2018 (-1.4% over one quarter), particularly among the heavyweights in European manufacturing, starting with Germany (-1.4%), as well as Italy (-1.1%) and France (-0.5%).”

However, Statec warned that “Luxembourg trends rarely diverge from [the] European industrial cycle for long”. The report stated:

“Economic surveys also point to a continuing decline in manufacturers’ opinions regarding orders, in both their domestic and export markets.”

Statec further noted that Luxembourg industrial:

“employment growth seems to have entered a period of slowdown since the 3rd quarter of 2018 (a trend visible since the 2nd quarter of 2018 across the euro zone).”

Later in the report, Statec observed that Luxembourg bank assets and loans were both up notedly, that wages continued to grow in the third quarter of 2018, and that inflation was expected to tick up slightly from 1.1% in 2018 to 1.9% in 2019 and 1.8% in 2020.