Euro Area Confidence Rises; Spanish Unemployment Falls

Arthi Gupta
04 Jul, 2011
New York City

Euro area producer price inflation eased in May and investor confidence rose in July. Spanish unemployment fell and consumer confidence improved in June. Swiss retail sales slumped in May.

[R]3:30 PM Frankfurt – Euro area producer price inflation eased in May and investor confidence rose in July. Spanish unemployment fell and consumer confidence improved in June. Swiss retail sales slumped in May.[/R]

Euro-zone PPI Eases, Investor Confidence Rises

Euro-zone producer price inflation increased 6.2% annually in May after rising 6.7% in April, according to data published by the European Union''s statistics agency Eurostat.

On a monthly basis, producer prices fell 0.2% in May, reversing the 0.9% rise in April.

Excluding construction and energy, producer prices rose at a slower pace of 4.2% annually in May, following the 4.4% expansion in April.

In the EU27, producer price inflation slowed to 7.1% annually in May from 7.7% in April. The monthly fall in prices was 0.3%.

Separately, investor confidence in the euro-zone increased in July, ending three consecutive months of decline, a leading survey showed today.

The Sentix investor sentiment index rose to 5.31 in July after dropping to 3.5 in June.

The current conditions index climbed to 19.25 in July from 18.5 in June and the expectations index improved to minus 7.75 in July from minus 10.5 in June.

Spanish Jobless Rate Falls

Spanish unemployment declined by 67,858 persons or 1.62% from a month earlier in June, latest government data showed today. The number of unemployed totaled 4.12 million at the end of the month, the Labor Ministry said.

In annual terms, unemployment increased 3.5% or by 139,433. In June 2010, the annual rate of growth in the number of unemployed was 11.71%.

Compared to May, the number of male unemployed dropped 2.01% in June and female unemployment fell by a record 1.24%.

Spanish Consumer Confidence, Export Price Index Up

The headline consumer confidence index for Spain rose to 74.9 in June from 74.3 in May, data from a survey conducted by the Official Credit Institute showed on Monday. The indicator increased for the third straight month.

The current situation sub-index, which measures consumers'' views of their present financial condition, the country''s economic situation and employment, advanced to 52.3 in June from 49 in May.

Spain''s export price index increased 5.6% annually in May compared to the 7.1% growth recorded in April, data released by the National Statistics Institute showed on Monday.

Export prices of capital goods rose 0.7% and intermediate goods prices climbed 7.7% in May.

On a monthly-basis export prices decreased 0.3% in May, reversing the 0.6% rise seen in April.

Import prices increased 8.6% annually in May versus the 10% growth in April. On a monthly basis, import prices advanced 0.3% in May.

Swiss Retail Sales Slump

Switzerland''s retail sales declined 4.2% in May, following a 0.6% rise in April, the Federal Statistics Office reported.

Retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco fell 4.9% and non-food sector sales dropped 2.6% in May.

Annually, retail turnover decreased 4.1% in May, reversing the 7.8% growth in April.

Romania Retail Sales Climb

Romania''s retail sales, excluding trade of motor vehicles and motorcycles, increased 1.1% on a monthly basis in May, data from the National Institute of Statistics showed on Monday.

After adjusting for seasonal and working day variations, sales rose 0.2% and annually, sales declined 5.5% in May.

Czech Retail Sales Increase

Retail sales in the Czech Republic increased in May, data released by statistics office showed.

Retail sales, including sales and repair of automobiles, grew 3.2% annually in May, faster than the 2.7% rise recorded in April. On a working-day adjusted basis, retail sales rose 1.4% in May.

Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco decreased 2.5% and sales of non-food products gained 5.9% in May.

On a monthly basis, retail sales decreased a working-day and seasonally adjusted 0.7% in May.