German PPI Eases 5.3%; Italian Deficit Narrows

Arthi Gupta
18 Nov, 2011
New York City

Producer prices in Germany eased but in Portugal remained unchanged in October. Italy''s current account deficit narrowed and industrial orders fell in September.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – Producer prices in Germany eased but in Portugal remained unchanged in October. Italy''s current account deficit narrowed and industrial orders fell in September.[/R]

German PPI Eases

German producer price inflation slowed to 5.3% from a year ago in October, from the 5.5% increase in September, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed today.

On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.2% in October, following a 0.3% rise in September.

Central/Eastern Europe Sentiment Weakens

Economic confidence in the Central and Eastern Europe, including Turkey fell by 11.8 points to -36.8 points in November, the financial market survey conducted by the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) and Erste Group Bank showed today.

Portugal PPI Stable

Portugal''s producer price inflation remained unchanged in October, data released by the statistics office INE showed.

The producer price index rose 5.5% from a year ago, the same rate as in the previous two months.

On a monthly basis, prices declined 0.3% in October, following a 0.2% gain in September. That was the first decline in four months.

Italian Deficit Narrows, Industrial Orders Fall

Italy''s current account deficit narrowed to €3.53 billion in September from €5.96 billion in September last year, latest data from Bank of Italy showed.

Separately, Italian industrial orders declined more than estimated in September due to a widespread fall in demand from both domestic and overseas markets, the statistics office Istat said on Friday.

Industrial orders fell 8.3% in September from a month ago. Demand in domestic and non-domestic markets declined 10.1% and 5.5%, respectively.

Hungary Average Gross Earnings Up

Average gross earnings of full-time employees in Hungary rose 5.2% from a year ago in September, slower than the 6.5% rise in July, data from the Hungarian Central Statistics Office showed.