Euro Area Producer Prices Up 0.7%; Danish Jobless Rate at 5.9%

Arthi Gupta
03 May, 2011
New York City

Euro area producer prices rose for the fifth month in a row in March. Czech manufacturing activity improved in April. Romanian PPI climbed, Denmark jobless rate remained flat, and German machinery orders increased in March.

[R]1:00 PM Frankfurt – Euro area producer prices rose for the fifth month in a row in March. Czech manufacturing activity improved in April. Romanian PPI climbed, Denmark jobless rate remained flat, and German machinery orders increased in March.[/R]

Euro-zone Producer Prices Up

Euro area producer price inflation accelerated for the fifth straight month in March, data from Eurostat showed today.

The total industry producer prices on the domestic market excluding construction rose 6.7% annually in March faster than February''s 6.6% increase.

On a monthly basis, producer prices increased 0.7% in March, following a 0.8% rise in February.

In EU27, producer price inflation rose to 7.4% in March from 7.1% in February. The monthly increase was 1% in March compared to 0.8% in February.

Romanian Producer Price Inflation Rises

Romania''s producer price index increased 11% annually in March, faster than the 10.86% growth in February, data released by the National Institute of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

Producer prices in the manufacturing sector climbed 13.33%, while mining prices moved up 5.87% annually in March.

On a monthly-basis, prices advanced 1.06% in March, after increasing 0.8% in February.

Czech Manufacturing Activity Improves

Czech manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace in April driven by solid gains in new orders, a survey by Markit Economics showed.

The headline HSBC/Markit purchasing managers'' index for the manufacturing sector rose to 59 in April from 58.6 in March.

Denmark Jobless Rate Stable

Danish unemployment rate was unchanged in March, Statistics Denmark said on Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 5.9% in March, same as in the previous month. The February figure was revised from 6%.

The number of unemployed in March totaled 162,400, broadly unchanged from a revised 162,300 in February. From December 2010, the jobless total has declined by 3,900 persons.

German Machinery Orders Increase

Germany''s plant and machinery orders continued to grow in March, data released by the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) showed today.

Orders for plant and machinery rose 18% annually, following February''s 38% gain. Both domestic and export orders grew 18% each from last year, the industry lobby said.