Euro Area Deficit Widens; German PPI Eases

Arthi Gupta
20 Jun, 2011
New York City

Euro-zone hourly labor cost climbed in the first quarter and current account deficit widened in April. French new industrial orders rose in April. German producer price inflation slowed in May.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – Euro-zone hourly labor cost climbed in the first quarter and current account deficit widened in April. French new industrial orders rose in April. German producer price inflation slowed in May.[/R]

Euro Area Labor Cost Climbs, Current Deficit Widens

Euro-zone hourly labor cost climbed 2.6% annually in the first quarter, following fourth quarter''s 1.5% increase, a report released by Eurostat showed.

Wages and salaries per hour increased 2.3% and the non-wage component gained 3.6% in the first quarter.

Separately, euro-zone current account deficit increased to seasonally adjusted €5.1 billion in April from €3 billion in March, the European Central Bank said today.

The goods trade logged a deficit of €4.1 billion in April after a surplus of €1.9 billion in March. The surplus in trade in services fell to €2.7 billion in April from €4.4 billion in March.

The shortfall in current transfers narrowed to €7.3 billion in April from €9 billion in March.

French Industrial Orders Rise

New industrial orders in France, excluding heavy transport equipment, rose 15.2% annually in April, data from statistics office Insee showed today. New orders in the non-domestic market increased 17.5% in April.

On a monthly basis, industrial orders declined 1.1% in April, slower than the 1.7% fall recorded in March. Orders in the non-domestic market fell 0.8% on a monthly basis in April.

Italian Industrial Orders Slacken

Italian industrial orders increased 5.8% annually in April, down from the 21.2% growth in March, the statistics office Istat said.

Orders from domestic market gained 4.9% in April, following the 16.3% rise in March. Growth in foreign orders slowed to 7.3% in April from 29.6% in March.

On a monthly basis, industrial orders fell by seasonally adjusted 6.4% in April, reversing the 8% expansion in March.

French Leading Index Up

France''s leading economic confidence index increased 0.3% on a monthly basis to 114.5 in April, data from a survey conducted by Conference Board showed. The latest rise was the fifth monthly growth in a row.

German Producer Price Inflation Slows

German producer price inflation rose 6.1% annually in May, following a 6.4% gain in April, data released by the Federal Statistics Office showed.

On a monthly basis, producer prices remained unchanged in May, following a 1% gain in April.

Portuguese Producer Price Inflation Increases

Portugal''s producer price index increased 6% annually in May, slower than the 6.6% growth recorded in April, data released by Statistics Portugal showed.

Prices in the manufacturing industry climbed 5.8% in May, following the 6.5% growth in April. Mining and quarrying prices rose 0.3% in May, slower than the 0.6% increase in April.

On a monthly basis, producer prices decreased 0.1% in May, reversing the 0.7% rise in April.