Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name:Olga Izryadnova Author-Name-First:Olga Author-Name-Last: Izryadnova Author-Workplace-Name: Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy Title: THE REAL SECTOR OF THE ECONOMY: FACTORS AND TRENDS IN MARCH 2015 Abstract: According to the preliminary data of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, in Q1 2015 GDP amounted to 97.8% against the index of Q1 2014. A simultaneous shrinkage of consumer demand and investments in capital assets had a negative eff ect on the domestic market in 2015. In Q1 2015, the retail trade index and the index of investments in capital assets amounted to 93.3% and 94.0%, respectively, as compared to the same period of the previous year. The situation in the economy is complicated by a 8.3% drop in real wages and salaries and a 1.4% growth in the rate of unemployment as compared to Q1 2014. Classification-JEL: E20, E21, E22, E60 Keywords: Real economy, trends, Journal: Russian Economic Developments Year: 2015 Issue: 5 Month: May Pages: 20-22 File-URL: http://www.iep.ru/files/RePEc/gai/recdev/514Izryadnova.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:gai:recdev:514