Greek Unemployment at 16.6%; German Wholesale Inflation 8.2%

Arthi Gupta
11 Aug, 2011
New York City

German wholesale inflation eased in July. Greek jobless rate surged 16.6% in May and import price annual inflation rose in June. Czech current account deficit narrowed in June.

[R]2:30 PM Frankfurt – German wholesale inflation eased in July. Greek jobless rate surged 16.6% in May and import price annual inflation rose in June. Czech current account deficit narrowed in June.[/R]

Greek Jobless Rate Surges

Greece’s unemployment rate increased to a record level in May, according to data published by the Hellenic Statistics Authority today. The jobless rate rose to 16.6% in May from 12% in the same period of last year. The jobless rate was 15.8% in April.

The number of unemployed persons rose 220,534 to 822,719 in May, 37% more than in the same month last year.

The economically inactive population, which includes all men and women who are not part of the labor force, neither employed nor unemployed, now includes 4,383,374 people.

Unemployment among women is 20% and among men at 14.1% and the jobless rate in the 15-24 age group is at 40.1%.

Czech Deficit Narrows

The Czech Republic current account deficit narrowed to CZK 9.3 billion in June as against the CZK 15.79 billion deficit registered in June last year, the central bank said on Thursday. In May, the shortfall was CZK 23.9 billion.

The goods account showed a surplus of CZK 11.5 billion, while the surplus on services was CZK 5.51 billion in June.

Current transfers recorded a shortfall of CZK 570.9 million in June compared to the CZK 797.6 million surplus last year.

German Wholesale Inflation Eases

German wholesale prices increased 8.2% in July from a year ago as against the 8.5% increase in June, data published from the Federal Statistics Office showed today.

On a monthly basis, the index of selling prices in wholesale trade slipped 0.6% in July, the same rate of decline as in June.

Swedish Inflation Rises

Swedish inflation rose to 3.3% in July from 3.1% in June, driven by higher costs of housing, fuels as well as food, data from Statistics Sweden showed on Thursday.

Housing costs surged 9.3% from a year earlier, fuel prices rose 12.5%, and there was a 1.9% increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages prices.

Hungary Inflation Slackens

Inflation in Hungary eased to 3.1% in July from 3.5% in June, according to data from the Central Statistics Office released today. Food inflation declined slowed to 5.4% in July from 6.7% in June, an eight-month low.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.3% in July following a 0.2% decline in June.

Greece Import Price Inflation Up

Greek import price annual inflation rose to 6.7% in June compared to 6.5% in May, the Hellenic Statistics Authority said.

On a monthly basis, import prices increased 0.7% in June, reversing a 1.8% fall recorded in May.