Euro Area Inflation Accelerates; Spanish Jobless Rate at 21.3%

Arthi Gupta
29 Apr, 2011
New York City

Euro-zone jobless rate at 9.9% in March and inflation accelerated for a fifth consecutive month in April. German retail sales declined and French producer prices increased in March. Spanish annual inflation climbed in April. Norwegian jobless rate fell in April.

[R]1:00 PM Frankfurt – Euro-zone jobless rate at 9.9% in March and inflation accelerated for a fifth consecutive month in April. German retail sales declined and French producer prices increased in March. Spanish annual inflation climbed in April. Norwegian jobless rate fell in April.[/R]

Euro-zone Leading Indicator Declines

A leading indicator of euro-zone''s economic outlook declined for the first time in five months in March.

The Conference Board said that its leading economic index for the euro area declined 0.5% to 108.3 in March, following the 0.9% increase in February.

In another report, euro-zone M3 money supply grew at an annual rate of 2.3% in March compared to a 2.1% rise in February, the European Central Bank said on Friday.

The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 over the period January to March increased to 2% from 1.8% during December to February.

Separately, euro-zone economic sentiment index declined to 106.2 in April, from 107.3 in March, survey results from the European Commission showed.

German Retail Sales Decline

Germany''s retail sales declined unexpectedly 2.1% on a monthly basis in March compared to a 0.4% fall in February, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed today.

On a yearly comparison, retail sales fell 3.5%, reversing last month''s 1.5% growth.

Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco decreased 4.8% in March from the previous year. At the same time, non-food retailing dipped 2.4%.

Spanish Retail Sales Slump

Spanish retail sales declined more than expected in March, figures released by the statistics office INE showed.

Retail sales decreased for the ninth straight month in March to 8.6% on a calendar adjusted terms, following an annual fall of 4.3% in February.

Swedish Retail Sales Growth Slows

Swedish retail sales rose a working-day adjusted 0.7% in March, slower than February''s downwardly revised 2.8% growth, data released by Statistics Sweden showed.

On a monthly basis, sales declined a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in March, after a 0.3% decline in February.

Norway Retail Sales Grows

Norway''s retail sales volume grew 2.2% last year compared to 2009, Statistics Norway said on Friday. The retail sales rose 2.6% to NOK 392 billion.

French Producer Prices Increase

Producer prices in France climbed 6.1% annually in March, led by a 34.8% surge in refined petroleum products, the statistics office Insee said on Friday.

Prices of petroleum products have reached the high levels of 2008, the statistics office noted.

On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.8%.

Hungary Producer Price Inflation Rises

Hungarian industrial producer prices rose 6.6% annually in March, faster than February''s 6.3% gain, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed.

On a monthly basis, producer prices were flat in March, following a 0.2% increase February.

Euro Area Inflation Accelerates

Euro-zone inflation accelerated for a fifth consecutive month in April, preliminary data from Eurostat showed on Friday. The harmonized inflation rose to 2.8% in April from 2.7% in March.

The European Central Bank targets inflation ""below, but close to 2 percent."" Euro-zone inflation has held above 2% since December.

The statistics office is set to release the final figure for April inflation on May 16.

Spanish Annual Inflation Up

Spanish consumer price annual inflation rose to 3.8% in April from 3.6% in March, a flash estimate published by the statistics office INE showed on Friday.

Euro-zone Jobless Rate Static

Euro-zone seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 9.9% in March, unchanged from February, data from Eurostat showed today.

In the EU27, the jobless rate was 9.5% in March, also unchanged from February. The rate held steady for a second consecutive month.

The number of unemployed in the EU27 during March was 22.828 million. Within this, 15.596 million were in the euro area. The euro-zone figure fell by 9,000 from the previous month and 260,000 from the year-ago period.

Spanish Jobless Rate Increases

Spanish unemployment rate rose to 21.3% in the first quarter of 2011, from 20.3% in the fourth quarter of 2010, the statistics office INE showed on Friday. Spain has the highest jobless rate in the EU27.

Data today showed an increase of 213,500 in unemployed persons in the first quarter, bringing the total unemployment level to 4,910,200.

The Bank of Spain forecast the jobless rate to rise to 20.7% this year from 20.1% in 2010.

Norwegian Jobless Rate Falls

Unemployment rate in Norway dropped for a third consecutive month in April, latest data from the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Service showed on Friday.

On an unadjusted basis, the number of unemployed totaled 71,995 in April, less than 74,190 in March. This was 8% less than a year ago.