German Jobless Rate at Record Low; French Consumer Spending Drops

Arthi Gupta
28 Apr, 2011
New York City

German jobless rate fell to its lowest level in nineteen years and inflation accelerated in April. French consumer spending dropped unexpectedly but Finnish jobless rate rose in March. Number of mortgage issued in February declined in Spain.

[R]1:00 PM Frankfurt – German jobless rate fell to its lowest level in nineteen years and inflation accelerated in April. French consumer spending dropped unexpectedly but Finnish jobless rate rose in March. Number of mortgage issued in February declined in Spain.[/R]

German Jobless Rate Falls

Germany''s unemployment fell below 3 million in April, bringing the total number of unemployed to its lowest level in nineteen years.

A decline of 37,000 in the number of unemployed took the overall jobless level to a seasonally adjusted 2.97 million in April, the lowest figure since June 1992, data published by the Federal Labor Agency showed today. In March, unemployment decreased by 55,000.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained unchanged at a record low 7.1% in April.

Data released by the Federal Statistics Office earlier in the day showed a slight decline in Germany''s unemployment for March. The adjusted jobless rate fell to 6.3% in March from 6.4% in February.

The number of persons in employment totaled 40.48 million in March compared to 40.32 million in February.

German Inflation Accelerates

German inflation accelerated in April, preliminary figures released by Destatis showed on Wednesday.

The harmonized consumer price index rose 2.6% annually in April, following a 2.3% increase in March. On a monthly basis, the index rose 0.2% in April, after rising 0.6% in March.

The consumer price index rose 2.4% on a yearly basis in April, after 2.1% gain in March. On a monthly basis, the index climbed 0.2% in April following 0.5% increase in March.

German Import Price Inflation Slackens

German import prices increased 11.3% annually in March, after rising 11.9% in February, data released by the Federal Statistics Office showed today. Import prices rose at the slowest pace in four months in March.

On a monthly basis, prices rose 1.1% in March, matching February''s gain.

Excluding crude oil and mineral oil products, import prices increased 7.7% annually and were flat on a monthly basis in March.

Export prices rose 4.9% on a yearly basis in March, after rising 5.4% in February. The monthly increase was 0.3% in March, slightly slower than 0.4% in February.

Separately, Germany''s wholesale turnover, in real terms, increased 0.6% annually in March, slower than the 6.8% growth in February, data released by the statistics office showed.

Finnish Jobless Rate Rises, Retail Sales Growth Slows

Finland''s jobless rate increased to 9.3% in March, from 8.4% in February, data released by Statistics Finland showed on Thursday. In March 2010, the unemployment rate was 9.1%.

The number of unemployed persons increased 2% annually to 245,000 in March.

In the January-March period, the unemployment rate was 8.6%, lower than the 9.3% recorded in the same period last year.

In another report, Finnish retail sales value increased 4.6% annually in March, after rising 6.5% in February, preliminary data from Statistics Finland showed on Thursday. Sales volume rose 2.1% in March, following 3.7% growth in February.

French Consumer Spending Drops

French consumer spending slipped 0.7% in March reversing a 0.9% rise in February, the statistics office Insee said today.

Over the first quarter of 2011, household consumption grew at a slower pace of 1.2% sequentially after increasing 1.8% in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Swedish Sentiment Weakens, Producer Prices Up

Swedish economic sentiment indicator weakened for the second straight month in April to 109.8, from 112.3 in March, a survey conducted by the National Institute of Economic Research showed.

In April, all sectors of the economy, except the construction industry, made a negative contribution to the indicator.

Separately, Swedish producer prices increased 1.7% annually in March, Statistics Sweden said. Domestic producer prices increased 3% annually and rose 0.2% on a monthly basis. The import price index increased 1.1% compared to last year. On a monthly basis, the index rose 0.1%.

Italian Manufacturing Confidence Dips

Confidence in Italy''s manufacturing sector declined in April as production expectations weakened, data from the statistics office showed.

The seasonally adjusted business confidence index fell to 103 in April from a revised score of 103.5 in March. The seasonally adjusted retail trade confidence index increased to 104.2 in April from 100.8 in March.

Spain’s Average Mortgage Amount Declines

Spanish mortgage lending amount decreased 5.3% to 128,243 euros on a yearly basis in February, the statistics office INE said. The average mortgage value increased 10% from January.

Residential mortgage issued to the new home buyer declined 4.1% to 122,749 euros in the month.

The number of mortgaged properties fell 13.1% annually in February, but rose 1.7% from January to 76,937. Residential properties that were issued mortgage increased 1.4% to 50,361 or fell 8.8% from a year ago month.