Europe Unemployment Rate 10.1%, German Industrial Production Declines

Arthi Gupta
07 Jan, 2011
New York City

The European indexes declined after euro-zone jobless rate was flat in November and GDP growth slowed in the third quarter. German trade surplus and retail sales declined in November. Estonia annual inflation rose in Dec.

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – The European indexes declined after euro-zone jobless rate was flat in November and GDP growth slowed in the third quarter. German trade surplus and retail sales declined in November. Estonia annual inflation rose in Dec.[/R]

European markets fell after U.S. non-farm payrolls increased less than expected and euro-zone unemployment held at 10.1% in November.

Euro-zone nations must strengthen their efforts to repair their public finances this year and economic regulation should be made more effective, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet told German lawmakers in Wildbad Kreuth on Friday.

The central bank chief stated that monetary policy responsibility cannot substitute for government irresponsibility.

Eva Zamrazilova of the Czech National Bank called for a rise in interest rates in the December meeting, according to notes of the meeting released today.

Zamrazilova voted to lift the two-week repo rate to 1% from the current 0.75%. All other governing board members at the meeting all voted for rates to be held.

In Paris CAC 40 Index declined 13.55 or 0.35% to close at 3,890.87 and in Frankfurt DAX Index edged higher 14.94 or 0.21% to close at 6,996.33. For the week, the CAC 40 Index fell 0.49%.

Euro-zone Jobless Rate Static, GDP Growth Slows

Euro-zone''s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.1% in November, the same as in October, data from Eurostat showed on Friday. A year ago, the jobless rate was 9.9%.

Unemployment compared to a year ago rose 0.606 million in the EU27 and 0.347 million in the euro area.

Euro-zone gross domestic product grew only 0.3% in the third quarter, instead of previously estimated 0.4%, the European Union statistics office Eurostat said today. In the second quarter, the economy had expanded 1%.

On a yearly comparison, seasonally adjusted gross domestic product grew 1.9%, unrevised from the previous estimate.

EU27 GDP expanded 0.5% on a quarterly basis and 2.2% annually in the third quarter.

German Trade Surplus, Retail Sales Decline, Construction Sector Contracts

Germany''s trade surplus fell to €12.9 billion in November from €14.2 billion in October, the Federal Statistics Office said today.

German exports rose in November, boosted by demand from emerging economies, after a decrease in October, data released by the Federal Statistics Office showed today.

On a monthly basis, exports increased 0.5% in November following the 1.3% decline in October. Annually, exports growth rose to 21.7% in November from 19.6% in October.

German imports rose 4.1% on a monthly basis in November, as against 0.1% in October. On an annual basis, imports climbed to 33.3% in November from 20.8% in October.

German retail sales fell 2.4% on a monthly basis in November following a slight increase of 0.1% in October, figures released by the Federal Statistics Office showed.

Germany''s construction sector contracted sharply at the end of 2010 due to the exceptionally bad weather conditions, data from Markit Economics showed on Friday. The seasonally adjusted Construction Purchasing Managers'' Index fell to 36.0 in December from 53.8 in November.

German industrial output declined 0.7% on a monthly basis in November following a revised increase of 3% in October, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology reportedly said on Friday.

On an annual basis, total industrial production growth eased to 11.1% in November from 12.4% in October.

Estonia Annual Inflation Up

Estonian annual inflation climbed to 5.7% in December from 5.3% in November, Statistics Estonia said on Friday. Food product prices advanced 10.8% and manufactured goods 3.6% in December.

On a monthly basis, overall prices rose 0.5% in December. Food and non-alcoholic beverages prices climbed 0.9% and housing 0.5% in December.

Swiss Jobless Rate Rises

Switzerland''s unadjusted jobless rate rose to 3.8% in December from 3.6% recorded in November, data released by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed today. The seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment was unchanged at 3.6% in December.

The number of unemployed totaled 148,636 in December on an unadjusted basis, an increase of 6,968 from November. However, the seasonally adjusted number decreased by 865 to 140,659 in December.

Hungary''s Industrial Production Climbs

Hungary''s industrial output growth climbed to a three-month high in November after a notable slowdown in October according to a preliminary data from the Hungarian Central Statistics Office.

Production in Hungarian industrial sector climbed 14.5% annually in November, compared to the 8.3% growth in October. A year earlier, growth in output was just 1.4%.

On a monthly basis, the volume of industrial production increased a seasonally and working-day adjusted 4.3% in November, after a 0.9% fall in October.

Portugal Trade Deficit Narrows

Portugal''s trade deficit for the September to November period narrowed to €4.94 billion from €5.41 billion last year, the National Institute of Statistics said today.

Exports for the three-month period increased 12.8% annually to €9.87 billion from €8.75 billion last year.

Imports rose 4.6% annually to €14.81 billion from €14.16 billion in the comparable quarter last year.

Gainers & Losers

ACE Ltd. fell 0.44% to $61.72 after the provider of insurance and reinsurance products, said it appointed Phil Skelton as head of transportation risk management for its overseas general operations.

Novartis AG declined 0.90% to Sfr55.30 after the Swiss pharmaceutical company said that the European Commission gave approval for the company''s vision drug Lucentis for an additional use - to treat vision problems in patients with diabetic macular edema, a major cause of blindness.

Schneider Electric S.A. gained 0.13% to €114.45 after the France-based company that specializes in electricity distribution and automation management said it signed a deal to buy a majority of the shares in APW President Systems Ltd.

Porsche Automobil Holding SE surged 4.67% to €69.67 after the German luxury car maker has been added to Credit Suisse’s “focus list”. The Swiss bank raised its price target for Porsche by 11%.

Volkswagen AG gained 2.22% to €114.90 after the Germany-based automobile manufacturer’s luxury car unit, Audi, sold a record number of cars in 2010. Audi sold 1.09 million vehicles last year, up 15% from 2009.