Euro Area Confidence Deteriorates; Spanish Inflation at 3.1%

Arthi Gupta
29 Sep, 2011
New York City

German unemployment declined, European new commercial vehicle sales soared, and Hungarian producer prices fell in August. Euro-zone retail sales dropped for the fifth consecutive month and Spanish inflation rose in September.

[R]2:30 PM Frankfurt – German unemployment declined, European new commercial vehicle sales soared, and Hungarian producer prices fell in August. Euro-zone retail sales dropped for the fifth consecutive month and Spanish inflation rose in September.[/R]

Euro-zone Retail Sales Up, Confidence Deteriorates

An indicator of the value of retail sales in the euro-zone dropped for the fifth consecutive month in September, data released by Markit Economics showed on Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers'' index for the retail sector rose to 49.6 in September compared to the reading of 48 in August, indicating only a marginal decline in sales revenues.

Separately, the euro-zone economic confidence declined more than expected in September, survey data from the European Commission showed today.

The economic sentiment index declined to 95 in September from 98.4 in August.

German Unemployment Drops

The jobless rate fell to 6.9% in September from 7% in August and from 8% a year ago month. That is the lowest unemployment rate since the country''s reunification.

German unemployment decreased by 270,000 or 9.7% in August from last year to 2.50 million, according to data released by the Federal Statistics Office today.

The number of unemployed was 20,000 less than a month earlier.

Europe Commercial Vehicle Sales Improve

European new commercial vehicle sales soared in August, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers'' Association showed.

New registrations of commercial vehicles surged 15.7% from a year ago in August after rising 3% in July, which led to an 8.3% increase over the two summer months compared to the same period last year.

Spanish Inflation Rises

Spanish annual inflation rose in September, according to a flash estimate published by the statistics office INE.

Consumer price inflation increased in September to 3.1% from 3% in August. The statistics office will publish final data on October 11.

Hungary’s Producer Prices Fall

Hungary''s producer prices dropped 0.1% from a year ago in August, slower than the 1% decline recorded in July, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed.

On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.7% in August compared to the 0.3% increase in July.

Swedish Retail Sales Eases

Retail sales in Sweden increased a working-day adjusted 0.2% on an annual basis in August as against the 1.1% growth recorded in July, data released by Statistics Sweden showed.

Retail sales of consumables rose 0.2% from a year ago and sales of durables climbed 0.3% in August. On a monthly basis, retail sales declined a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in August after falling 0.8% in July.

Danish Business Sentiment Weakens

The seasonally adjusted industrial confidence index in Denmark dropped to 1 in September from 4 in August, data released by Statistics Denmark showed today.