Euro Area Trade Gap Narrows; German Employment Rises

Arthi Gupta
15 Jul, 2011
New York City

Euro area trade gap narrowed in May after exports rose 1.5%. European new car registrations fell and Swedish home prices remained flat in June. German factory employment increased and Dutch trade surplus rose in May.

[R]4:00 PM Frankfurt – Euro area trade gap narrowed in May after exports rose 1.5%. European new car registrations fell and Swedish home prices remained flat in June. German factory employment increased and Dutch trade surplus rose in May.[/R]

Euro-zone Trade Gap Narrows

Euro-zone trade gap narrowed in May driven by a growth in exports, latest data showed.

The trade deficit declined to €0.6 billion in May from €2.5 billion in April, according to data released by the European Union statistics agency Eurostat.

Seasonally adjusted exports grew 1.5% on a monthly basis in May versus the 0.2% rise in April. On an annual comparison, exports rose 21% in May compared to the 14% increase in April.

The EU27 trade balance was a €13.2 billion deficit for May compared with the €16 billion shortfall a year ago.

European New Car Registrations Fall

European new car registrations declined 8.1% in June from a year ago, reversing the 7.1% rise in May, the European Automobile Manufacturers'' Association said on Friday. There was a decrease of 6.8% in registrations during the corresponding period of last year.

German Factory Employment Rises

Employment in the German manufacturing industry increased further in May, according to preliminary data released by the Federal Statistics Office today.

The number of persons working in manufacturing units with 50 or more employees rose 2.9% from a year ago to 5.1 million in May.

Czech PPI Eases

The producer price index in the Czech Republic grew 5.5% annually in June, following the 6.2% growth in May, data released by the Statistics Office showed.

On a monthly basis, producer prices declined 0.2% in June, reversing the 0.5% rise recorded in May.

Dutch Surplus Up

The Dutch trade surplus rose to €3.9 billion in May from revised €3.8 billion in April, according to data from Statistics Netherlands published on Friday.

Exports increased 17% from the prior year to €34.3 billion and imports climbed 12% to €30.4 billion in May.

Norway Surplus Climbs

Norway''s merchandise trade surplus increased 4.3% from a year ago to NOK 24.7 billion in June, data released by Statistics Norway showed on Friday. The trade balance was a surplus of NOK 23.71 billion in June 2010.

Export of goods decreased 1.5% from a year earlier to NOK 65.2 billion and total merchandise imports decreased 4.7% from last year to NOK 40.4 billion in June.

Italy Deficit Narrows

Italy''s trade deficit narrowed to €2.41 billion in May compared to €3.76 billion in April, according to data released from the statistics office Istat today.

Exports increased 19.9% in May from a year ago, and imports climbed 18.9%.

Swedish Home Prices Flat

The average prices of one-or-two-dwelling buildings in Sweden remained unchanged on a monthly basis in June. In May also prices were flat.

However, the average home price increased to SEK 2.09 million in June from SEK 2 million in May and the number of purchases declined to 3,735 in June from 4,000 in May.