Euro Area Inflation 2.6%; German Jobless Rate Drops to 7.1%

Arthi Gupta
31 Mar, 2011
New York City

Euro-zone annual inflation rose in March. French and Italian producer price inflation climbed in February. German unemployment declined more than estimated in March and retail sales fell in February. Danish jobless rate dropped in February.

[R]1:30 PM Frankfurt – Euro-zone annual inflation rose in March. French and Italian producer price inflation climbed in February. German unemployment declined more than estimated in March and retail sales fell in February. Danish jobless rate dropped in February.[/R]

Euro-zone Annual Inflation Rises

Euro-zone annual inflation rose to 2.6% in March from 2.4% in February, flash estimate published by Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union showed on Thursday. The inflation rate breached the target for the fourth consecutive month.

The European Central Bank’s inflation target is ''below but close to 2 percent.'' In December, inflation crossed the target for the first time in more than two years.

Separately, the monthly Euro-coin index was at 0.57% in March, unchanged from February, data released by the Bank of Italy and the Centre for Economic Policy Research showed.

The result reflects the improved performance of foreign trade and industrial production, which was partly offset by stock market trends during March, the report said.

French Wholesale Inflation Accelerates, Public Debt Increases

Producer prices for the French market accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in February, data released by the statistics office INSEE showed on Thursday.

The producer price index for total industry rose 6.3% annually in February as against January''s 5.6% increase.

On a monthly basis, the PPI increased 0.8% in February after rising 0.9% in January.

French public debt increased by €16.2 billion over the quarter to €1591.2 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, the country''s statistics office said on Thursday.

The debt accounted for 81.7% of the gross domestic product, up from 81.5% in the third quarter.

German Unemployment Declines

German unemployment dropped more than estimated in March, suggesting further improvements in the nation''s labor market.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate dropped to 7.1% in March from 7.3% in February and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 55,000 in March to 3.01 million.

German ILO Employment Up, Retail Sales Drop

The number of persons in employment living in Germany increased 1.3% annually to about 40.25 million in February, following a 1.2% percent rise in January, the Federal Statistics Office said today.

Employment rose for an eleventh straight month.

German retail sales on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis dropped 0.3% in February following the 0.4% increase in January, the Federal Statistics Office said.

On an annual basis, the retail sales growth slowed to 1.1% in February from January''s 2.4%.

Germany''s public financial deficit narrowed to €77.9 billion in 2010 from €106.9 billion in 2009, the Federal Statistics Office said. The decline was due to a 3% annual rise in public revenue to €1.04 trillion.

Danish Jobless Rate Drops

Denmark''s unemployment rate decreased in February to a seasonally adjusted 6% from 6.1% in January, Statistics Denmark said on Thursday.

The jobless rate for men fell to 6.4% in February from 6.6% in January, and the unemployment rate for women rose slightly to 5.5% in February from 5.4% in January.

Norway Retail Sales Improve

Norway''s seasonally adjusted retail sales volume grew 0.7% in February from the 0.1% decline in January, data from Statistics Norway said.

Italian Producer Price Inflation Climbs

Italian producer price index rose 5.3% annually in February following a 5.1% rise in January, official data showed today. The inflation rate accelerated for a fourth consecutive month.

On a monthly basis, the index climbed 0.5% in February slower than January''s 1.1% increase.