Euro Area Private Activity Improves; Spanish Home Lending Drops

Arthi Gupta
24 Jan, 2012
New York City

Activity in the euro area private sector increased in January with growth in Germany and France. Euro area industrial orders fell, German leading index slid and Spanish mortgage lending declined in November. Finnish jobless rate dropped in December.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – Activity in the euro area private sector increased in January with growth in Germany and France. Euro area industrial orders fell, German leading index slid and Spanish mortgage lending declined in November. Finnish jobless rate dropped in December.[/R]

Euro-zone Private Sector Activity Improves

Euro-zone private sector expanded in January, the flash survey results from Markit Economics showed today.

The composite output index, that measures activity in both manufacturing and service sector, rose to 50.4 in January from 48.3 in December.

The purchasing managers'' index for the manufacturing sector increased to 48.7 in January from 46.9 in December.

The services activity index climbed to 50.5 in January from 48.8 in December.

Separately, euro-zone industrial new orders dropped 1.3% from a month ago in November, offsetting the 1.5% growth in October, Eurostat reported today.

On a yearly comparison, new orders fell 2.7% in November compared to the 1.5% rise in October.

German Private Sector Grows

Activity in Germany''s private sector increased for the seventh consecutive month in January on the growth in manufacturing and service sectors, data from a survey by Markit Economics and BME showed.

The seasonally adjusted composite output index, designed to measure performance of the service sector and the manufacturing sector, rose to 54 in January from 51.3 in December.

The purchasing managers’ index for the manufacturing sector increased to a five-month high of 50.9 in January from 48.4 in December.

The PMI for the service sector rose to 54.5 in January, from 52.4 recorded in December.

Separately, Germany''s leading index dropped 0.2% from a month ago in November, following a 0.4% rise in October, the Conference Board said today.

French Private Sector Climbs

The French private sector rose in January, Markit Economics said today. The flash composite output index rose to 50.9 in January, a five-month high, from 50 in December, driven by an improvement in services activity.

The flash services Purchasing Managers'' Index rose to 51.7 in January from 50.3 in December and the manufacturing PMI fell to 48.5 in January from 48.9 in December.

Spanish Mortgage Lending Drops

The value of mortgage loans on houses in Spain fell 38.7% on an annual basis in November, data released by statistics office INE showed. The number of mortgages for residential properties decreased 35.8% annually in November.

The average value of residential property mortgages dropped 4.5% from a year ago to €109,662 in November.

Finnish Jobless Rate Falls

Finland''s unemployment rate declined to 7.4% in December from 7.9% a year earlier, data from a survey by Statistics Finland showed.

The number of unemployed persons decreased to around 192,000 in December from around 204,000 in December 2010.