Greek Jobless Rate at Record 21%; German Output Rebounds

Arthi Gupta
08 Mar, 2012
New York City

French employment fell 0.1% in the fourth quarter. Greek jobless rate surged to record 21% in December. German production recovered in January. Swiss National Bank swung to profit in fiscal year 2011. Dutch inflation remained flat in February.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – French employment fell 0.1% in the fourth quarter. Greek jobless rate surged to record 21% in December. German production recovered in January. Swiss National Bank swung to profit in fiscal year 2011. Dutch inflation remained flat in February.[/R]

French Employment Drops, Trade Deficit Widens

French employment declined 0.1% or by 22,600 jobs in the fourth quarter after a 0.2% decline in the third quarter, revised data from the statistics office Insee showed.

Temporary employment dropped 3.6% in the fourth quarter following a 2.1% drop during the third quarter. The number of people in employment in this sector fell 21,100 compared to the previous quarter.

Separately, France''s trade deficit widened to €5.324 billion in January from €5.052 billion in December.

Exports rose to €36.833 billion in January from €36.296 billion in December. Imports increased to €42.157 billion in January from €41.348 billion in December.

German Output Rebounds

German industrial production climbed 1.6% from a month ago in January, following a 2.6% fall in December, according to the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology.

Greek Jobless Rate Climbs

Greek jobless rate rose to 21% in December from 20.9% in November, data from the Hellenic Statistics Authority showed today.

The number of unemployed in Greece surged 40.9% to 1.03 million in December from a year earlier. Compared with November, the number of unemployed rose 0.38%.

Czech Unemployment Rises

The unemployment rate in the Czech Republic increased to 9.2% in February from 9.1% in January, data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs showed today.

The number of job seekers increased to 541,685 in February, 7,596 persons more than January''s total.

Swiss National Bank Swings to Profit, Consumer Prices Drop

The Swiss National Bank reported consolidated profit in 2011 of Sfr13.5 billion compared to a loss of Sfr19.2 billion in 2010.

In another report, consumer prices in Switzerland fell 0.9% from a year ago in February, after a 0.8% fall in January.

From a month ago, the consumer price index rose 0.3% in February.

Dutch Inflation Flat

Dutch inflation, as measured by the harmonized index of consumer prices was at 2.9% in February, unchanged from the four-month high in January.

Higher prices of petrol and fresh vegetables drove overall consumer prices up in February, the statistics office said.