After a relatively strong first quarter, economic growth stagnated in the second half of the year. Especially in the fourth quarter the credit crisis began to impact on the real economy. This also impacted on jobs growth, which came to a halt. Although there were more jobs than in 2007 measured over the year as a whole, they were created primarily in the first half of the year. Developments in the offices market also suffered from the consequences of the credit crisis, with the take-up rate falling sharply compared with 2007.