Euro-zone Unemployment at 10%; Swedish Growth Lowered

Arthi Gupta
31 Aug, 2011
New York City

Euro-zone inflation was steady at 2.5% in August and unemployment was at 10% in July. German unemployment declined but Italy''s annual inflation increased in August. Norway

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – Euro-zone inflation was steady at 2.5% in August and unemployment was at 10% in July. German unemployment declined but Italy''s annual inflation increased in August. Norway’s retail sales fell in July and Sweden''s current account surplus dropped in the second quarter.[/R]

Euro-zone Jobless Rate, Inflation Steady

The euro area jobless rate remained unchanged at 10% in July, Eurostat said on Wednesday. During the same period of 2010, the unemployment rate was 10.2%.

The number of unemployed persons increased 61,000 from June to 15.757 million. Compared with July 2010, unemployment fell 247,000.

In the EU27, the jobless rate was 9.5%, unchanged compared with June with Spain logging the highest rate of 21.2%.

Separately, euro-zone inflation was steady at 2.5% in August, according to a flash data released by Eurostat today.

The statistics office is scheduled to issue final inflation figures on September 15.

German Jobless Rate Falls, Retail Sales Flat

Germany''s unemployment decreased by 8,000 in August to 2.95 million compared to a revised fall of 10,000 in July, the Federal Labor Agency said on Wednesday. The jobless rate remained at a seasonally adjusted 7% for the third month in a row.

Separately, German retail sales remained unchanged in July compared to a revised 4.5% rise in June, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed.

Italian Inflation, Producer Prices Rise, Jobless Rate Stable

Italy''s annual inflation increased slightly in August, preliminary data released by statistics office Istat showed on Wednesday.

The consumer price index rose 2.8% on an annual basis in August compared to the 2.7% growth in July.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged higher 0.3% in August, unchanged from the growth recorded in July.

Separately, producer prices in Italy rose 4.7% from a year ago in July, the statistics office Istat said on Wednesday.

Producer prices in domestic economy climbed 4.9% from July last year, and prices in foreign markets advanced 4%.

In another report, Italy''s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8% in July, the statistics office Istat said.

Norway Retail Sales Drop

Retail sales volume, excluding sales of motor vehicles, in Norway dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.9% on a monthly basis in July, data from Statistics Norway showed on Wednesday.

Sweden Growth Outlook Lowered, Surplus Drops

The National Institute of Economic Research downgraded Sweden’s growth outlook for 2011 and 2012.

The Swedish economy is forecast to grow 4.3% this year, down from the prior estimate of 4.4%. 2012 growth was lowered to 1.9% compared to the 2.9% estimated in June. The assessment is based on the assumption of an unchanged repo rate for the next year.

Sweden''s current account surplus fell to SEK 61.3 billion in the second quarter from SEK 65.9 billion in the previous quarter. A year ago, the current account balance showed a surplus of SEK 57.1 billion.