Cyprus Industrial Output Prices Fall 0.2% In April

Industrial output prices in Cyprus declined 0.2% year-on-year in April 2026, according to data released by Cystat, while remaining broadly unchanged during the first four months of the year. The Industrial Output Price Index stood at 121.7 points in April, increasing 0.3% from March, while cumulative prices for the January-April period matched levels recorded during the same period of 2025.

Core Performance Overview

Despite monthly fluctuations, overall industrial output prices remained broadly stable during the first four months of the year. The latest figures indicate that sector-specific developments continued to offset one another, limiting broader changes in industrial pricing.

Follow THE FUTURE on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and Telegram

Sectoral Trends And Monthly Shifts

Between March and April, prices increased across all major industrial sectors. Water supply and materials recovery recorded the largest monthly increase at 1.9%, followed by electricity supply at 0.6% and manufacturing at 0.2%. Mining and quarrying prices rose by 0.1%. On an annual basis, water supply and materials recovery prices increased by 6.3%, while mining and quarrying rose by 1.6%. Manufacturing prices were up 1% compared with April 2025. A 6.8% decline in electricity supply prices was the primary factor behind the overall annual decrease in the index.

Detailed Manufacturing Breakdown

Within manufacturing, the highest annual increase was recorded in furniture production, other manufacturing activities and the repair and installation of machinery and equipment, which rose by 5.7%. Electronic and optical products, together with electrical equipment, recorded growth of 4.9%, while wood and cork products, excluding furniture, increased by 2.7%. Machinery and equipment manufacturing rose by 1.5%, while motor vehicles and transport equipment recorded a 1.1% increase. Paper products and printing declined by 0.2% on an annual basis, while prices in the food, beverages and tobacco sector remained stable.

Domestic Versus Export Market Insights

The domestic market index reached 123.1 points in April, up 0.3% from March but down 0.7% compared with the same month last year. Export prices increased by 0.6% month-on-month to 114.6 points and recorded annual growth of 2.9%. During the first four months of 2026, the domestic market index declined by 0.3%, while the export market index increased by 1.7%.

Methodological Basis And Future Projections

Based on 2021 as the reference year with an average value of 100 points, the Industrial Output Price Index measures price developments across both domestic and export markets. Cystat noted that figures for the electricity supply, water supply and materials recovery sectors for March and April 2026 remain preliminary and may be revised as additional data becomes available.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

AI May Be Changing Tech Hiring, But Engineers Are Still Winning

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

June 25, 2026

Whether artificial intelligence is already replacing jobs remains one of the most fiercely contested questions in the tech economy. The answer, at least for software engineers, appears to be more complicated than many layoffs headlines suggest.

Layoffs May Cite AI, But Hiring Tells Another Story

Tech layoffs reached their highest single-month total in years in May, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, and AI was the most frequently cited reason. That has fueled the argument that automation is already displacing white-collar workers at scale.

Follow THE FUTURE on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and Telegram

Yet researchers at venture firm SignalFire say the hiring data points in a different direction.

“The rationale given for lots of layoffs is consistently AI, and specifically they’ll say AI with respect to code; they’ll say one engineer could do the job of however many engineers in the past,” said Asher Bantock, SignalFire’s head of research. “What we’re seeing on the ground is a little inconsistent with that.”

Engineering Has Proved More Resilient Than Expected

SignalFire’s analysis, which tracks the careers of millions of employees across more than 80 million companies, suggests engineering was the most resilient job function in 2025. Rather than relying on layoffs data, which can be distorted because workers often delay updating their employment status after a job cut, the firm used hiring trends as a more accurate measure of real-time labor demand.

According to SignalFire’s latest State of Talent Report, total hiring across large tech companies fell 25% from 2019 levels. Engineering hiring declined far less, down just 11% over the same period.

The trend was even more striking among the 12 companies SignalFire classifies as “Tech Majors” — Alphabet, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, Tesla, Uber, Airbnb, Block and Stripe. In 2025, engineers accounted for 55% of all new hires, up from 46% in 2019.

Early-stage startups showed a similar pattern. Collectively, they hired 7% more engineers in 2025 than they did in 2019, according to SignalFire’s data.

Why AI Has Not Reduced Demand For Engineers

If AI were genuinely replacing engineering talent, hiring in the profession would likely be among the first areas to weaken during a broader slowdown in technology recruitment. Instead, engineering demand has remained stronger than many other functions.

Part of the explanation may be that AI tools increase productivity without necessarily reducing workloads. Faster coding can accelerate product development, generate more ideas, and create additional infrastructure requirements, ultimately increasing the amount of technical work to be completed.

That dynamic resembles the Jevons paradox, the economic theory that greater efficiency can increase overall demand rather than reduce it. Applied to software development, the principle suggests that more productive engineers may be able to build more products, features and services.

As Bantock put it, engineers are now “suddenly a lot more productive, and there’s endless work for them to do.”

Executives Remain Divided On AI’s Labor Impact

The broader debate remains unresolved across the industry. Last year, Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei warned that AI could eliminate a substantial share of entry-level white-collar jobs and significantly increase unemployment within the next five years.

Others within the sector are more cautious. Anthropic’s head of economics, Peter McCrory, told TechCrunch in March that he had not yet observed clear evidence of large-scale AI-driven workforce disruption.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has also pushed back against predictions of declining demand for software engineers. Speaking at Stanford Graduate School of Business in April, he argued that engineers at Nvidia have become busier, not less relevant, as AI tools become more capable.

“Now that all engineers at Nvidia are using agentic AI, software engineers are busier than ever,” Huang said. While AI can generate code in seconds, he argued, engineers continue to focus on developing new ideas, products and systems.

The Bottom Line For Tech Talent

For now, the available evidence suggests AI is transforming engineering work more than eliminating it. Productivity gains are changing how software is developed, but demand for technical talent remains resilient despite broader hiring pressures across the technology sector.

Rather than making engineers obsolete, AI appears to be reshaping the role itself, allowing teams to work faster while continuing to expand the range and complexity of projects they can pursue.

Breaking news