Recent data indicate that the sustained growth in real production is also being reflected in some very welcome gains in employment, although the unemployment rate of 26½ per cent remains very high and its further reduction a strategic imperative.
Annualised growth in real gross domestic product accelerated from 3,5 per cent in the first quarter of 2005 to 4,8 per cent in the second quarter, with firm growth recorded in virtually all the main sectors of  1  Alan Greenspan in his testimony to Congress on 3 November 2005 said: “The bottom line is that in periods of extreme chaos, it’s turned out that gold has been the ultimate means by which transactions have been consummated.