According to Geert Langenus, an economist at the National Bank of Belgium, the strong figure is mainly due to the first six months of 2022. “Despite the war, the economy still performed very well in the first half of the year”. The SNB does not expect it to end again now that the economy is clearly slowing down. “On the contrary. It’s precisely this tight labor market that means companies are less likely to fire people,” says Lagenus.
According to labor market expert Jan Denys van Randstad, growth is mainly in the service sector. In restaurants or shops, for example, many hands are needed. “Growth is much more laborious now,” says Denys in “The morning” on Radio 1.
According to Denys, the biggest growth figures could be recorded in Flanders, although there are currently no exact figures for this. Furthermore, it is not yet clear what effect job creation will have on the employment rate. “The working-age population has increased dramatically because we’ve seen so much more migration,” says Denys.
“This is definitely a boost for Vivaldi,” said Denys. In a time of wrangling over the budget or about expanding a number of nuclear reactors, the federal government could use something like this.
