In the first half of this year economic activity benefited from the expansion of exports, which are now slowing. Economic growth needs the contribution of domestic demand: the virtuous circle in which advanced models of consumption and farsighted investment lead to high and widely distributed incomes, hence further consumption and well-being.
Consumer spending is stagnating today because the real incomes of households are not rising and there is widespread uncertainty about the future. The central issue is the state of the labour market, which needs to be analyzed considering all the available indicators and reliable sources of information.