Russian Economy Shows Resilience Despite Slowing Growth and Labor Shortages
• Russian industrial output growth slowed to 5.3% in October, down from 5.6% in September, driven by military production • Unemployment rate dropped to record low 2.9% in October, but labor shortages persist, impacting production capacity • Real wage growth slowed to 7.2% in September, down from 9.5% in August, still rising faster than productivity • Retail sales rose 2.0% month-on-month in October and 12.7% year-on-year, indicating resilient consumer demand • Russia's economy has coped better with sanctions than expected, set to rebound this year after 2.1% decline in 2022