Euro Area Retail Sales Fall; Hungarian Unemployment Falls to 11%

Arthi Gupta
29 Jun, 2011
New York City

Euro area retail sales and sentiment fell in June. French GDP growth revised down in the first quarter. Spanish retail sales declined in May. Hungarian jobless rate declined in the three month period to May. Romania''s central bank held key rate at 6.25%.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – Euro area retail sales and sentiment fell in June. French GDP growth revised down in the first quarter. Spanish retail sales declined in May. Hungarian jobless rate declined in the three month period to May. Romania''s central bank held key rate at 6.25%.[/R]

German Inflation Up

The preliminary consumer-price index for June was 0.1% higher than in May and 2.3% higher than a year earlier, according to data released by the statistics office Destatis.

On a European-Union harmonized basis, consumer inflation was flat and 2.4% higher than a year earlier in June.

The final data for June will be released on July 12, the agency said.

French GDP Revised Down

The French gross domestic product rose 0.9% on a quarterly basis in the first quarter, revised down from 1% increase estimated earlier, latest data from the statistics office Insee showed. This follows a 0.3% expansion in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Euro-zone Retail Sales Decline

Retail sales in the euro-zone failed to rebound in June from the decline in May, according to Markit’s latest PMI surveys.

The PMI remained unchanged at 48.8 in June, signaling a second successive monthly drop in sales revenues.

Spanish Retail Sales Drop

Spanish retail sales fell 5.8% annually in May compared to the 2.1% decrease in April, data released by the statistics office INE showed.

Retail sales of food articles declined 3.5% from a year earlier and non-food sales dropped 7.4% in May.

Hungary Unemployment Falls

Hungary''s unemployment continued to decrease in the March-May period, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed.

The jobless rate decreased to 11% in the three months ended May from 11.4% in the preceding three-month period. Unemployment dropped for the second consecutive three-month period, after increasing four times in a row.

The number of unemployed persons decreased to 465,800 in three months to May from 481,400 in the February-April period.

Euro-zone Sentiment Weakens

Euro-zone economic confidence weakened in June, survey results from the European Commission showed today. The economic sentiment index fell to 105.1 in June from 105.5 in May.

Portuguese Sentiment Slumps

Portugal''s economic confidence indicator dropped to the two-year low of minus 2.2 in June from minus 2 in May, data released by the National Institute of Statistics showed on Wednesday.

Danish Industrial Confidence Wanes

Industrial confidence in Denmark deteriorated in June, data released by Statistics Denmark showed on Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted composite industrial confidence index, which measures expectations in the industry for the next three months, dropped to 4 in June from 12 in May.

Greek PPI Eases

Greece''s producer price index increased 7.3% annually in May compared to the 8.2% increase in April, data released by the Hellenic Statistics Authority showed.

Prices in the domestic market advanced 7.1% annually and prices of products meant for the foreign market grew 8.2% in May.

On a monthly basis, producer prices dropped 1.3% in May, reversing the 1% growth recorded in April.

Romania Holds Rate

Romania''s central bank on Wednesday decided to leave its key policy rate unchanged at a record low. The Board of the National Bank of Romania maintained its monetary policy rate at 6.25%.