German Output Falls 2.9%; French Deficit Inches Higher

Arthi Gupta
07 Feb, 2012
New York City

German production declined, Norwegian manufacturing production rose and French trade deficit increased in December. Swiss foreign exchange reserves drop and Swedish deficit was higher than expected in January.

[R]3:00 PM Frankfurt – German production declined, Norwegian manufacturing production rose and French trade deficit increased in December. Swiss foreign exchange reserves drop and Swedish deficit was higher than expected in January.[/R]

German Output Falls

German industrial production declined 2.9% in December from November, when it remained flat, data from the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology showed today. The latest decline was the steepest since January 2009.

On a yearly basis, growth in working-day adjusted industrial output slowed to 0.9% in December from 4.4% in November.

Hungarian Production Accelerates

Industrial output rose a working-day adjusted 6.7% from a year ago in December compared to the 3.5% increase in November, data from the Hungarian Central Statistics Office.

Norwegian Factory Output Up

Norway''s manufacturing production increased a working-day adjusted 0.6% from a year ago in December, data released by Statistics Norway showed.

From a month ago, factory production decreased a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in December.

Dutch Factory Production Climbs

Manufacturing production in the Netherlands increased 1.4% on an annual basis in December, data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics showed.

Production in food and beverages industries rose 5.3% annually, while output in base metal and metal products industry advanced 1.4%.

Swiss Foreign Exchange Reserves Drop

Switzerland''s total foreign currency reserves declined to Sfr227.212 billion at the end of January from Sfr254.254 billion in December, data released by the Swiss National Bank showed.

French Trade Deficit Soars

France''s trade deficit increased to €4.99 billion in December from €4.14 billion in November, data released by statistics office Insee showed. In December 2010, the trade deficit was €5.36 billion.

Export fell to €36.46 billion in December from €37.46 billion in November. Imports declined to €41.45 billion in December from €41.60 billion in November.

Swedish Deficit Increases

Sweden''s central government payments showed a deficit of SEK 14.6 billion in January the National Debt Office said.

For the twelve-month period ended January, central government payments showed in a surplus of SEK 23 billion.