OECD Unemployment at 8.2%; Inflation Rises in France, Sweden, Hungary

Arthi Gupta
13 Sep, 2011
New York City

The jobless rate in the OECD area remained steady in July. Swedish unemployment rate dropped in August. Inflation in France, Hungary, and Sweden rose but Spanish inflation slowed in August.

[R]1:45 PM Frankfurt – The jobless rate in the OECD area remained steady in July. Swedish unemployment rate dropped in August. Inflation in France, Hungary, and Sweden rose but Spanish inflation slowed in August.[/R]

OECD Jobless Rate Steady

The jobless rate in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development area remained steady at 8.2% in July, latest data showed. The unemployment rate remained unchanged for the fifth month in a row. Compared to July 2010, the jobless rate decreased 0.4% in July.

Unemployment rates in the euro-zone and the European Union were stable at 10% and 9.5% respectively in July.

Swedish Jobless Rate Drops

Sweden''s jobless rate dropped to 4.3% in August from 4.8% in August 2010, data released by the Public Employment Service showed. In July, the unemployment rate was 4.2%.

At the end of August, the number of persons registered as unemployed or enrolled in programs with support activity declined by 37,000 annually to 370,000.

French Inflation Rises

French consumer price index rose 2.2% in August after a 1.9% increase in July, the statistics office Insee said.

On a monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.5% in August.

Food prices fell 0.2% from the previous month, but were 2.9% higher than a year earlier in August. The monthly decline in food costs can be attributed to the seasonal fall in prices of fresh products, the statistics office said.

Hungary Inflation Accelerates

Hungary''s consumer price index grew 3.6% from a year ago in August, following the 3.1% growth in July, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed.

Food prices rose 6.3% annually, but there was a 1.3% annual decline in prices of consumer durable goods in August.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged lower 0.1% in August compared to the 0.3% drop in July.

Spanish Inflation Slows

Inflation in Spain, as measured by the consumer price index, eased to an eight-month low of 3% in August from 3.1% in July.

Consumer prices on a monthly basis rose 0.1% in August following a 0.5% fall in July. Core inflation, which excludes fresh food and energy, remained steady at 1.6% in August.

Swedish Inflation Increases

Sweden''s consumer price index increased 3.4% from a year ago in August as against the 3.3% growth in July, data released by Statistics Sweden showed.