German, Spanish Inflation Ease; Italian Production Slumps 6.8%

Arthi Gupta
13 Apr, 2012
New York City

German and Spanish inflation eased but Italian inflation increased in March. Hungarian and Italian production and Dutch surplus declined in February.

[R]12:30 PM Frankfurt – German and Spanish inflation eased but Italian inflation increased in March. Hungarian and Italian production and Dutch surplus declined in February.[/R]

German Inflation Eases, Corporate Insolvencies Rise

Germany''s consumer price inflation on an annual basis eased to 2.1% in March following a 2.3% increase in February, final data from the Federal Statistics Office showed today.

On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.3% in March, after growing 0.7% in February.

Separately, German insolvency courts reported business insolvencies rose 0.7% to 2,321 in January from a year ago, the Federal Statistics Office said.

However, the number of consumer insolvencies fell 2.6% to 8,236 in January from the prior year.

Spanish Inflation Slows

Spain''s annual consumer price inflation slowed to 1.9% in March, in line with the flash estimate, from 2% in February, final data from the statistics office INE showed today.

On a monthly basis, inflation climbed to 0.7% in March compared to 0.1% in February.

Italian Inflation Climbs

Italy''s consumer price inflation rose 3.3% in March, in line with the initial projection and in comparison to the same month of the previous year, final data released by statistics office Istat showed today.

From a month ago, consumer prices edged up 0.5% in March.

Hungarian Output Drops

Hungary''s industrial production declined in February in line with previous estimates, final data released by the Central Statistics Office showed.

Industrial production fell a working-day adjusted 3.4% on an annual basis in February, following a 2.7% drop in January.

From a month ago, industrial production increased a seasonally and working-day adjusted 0.8% in February, following a 2.2% gain in January.

Italian Production Slumps

Italian industrial output slumped 6.8% on a working day adjusted year-on-year basis in February compared to the 4.6% decline in January, the latest data from the statistics office Istat showed.

Dutch Surplus Falls

Netherlands'' trade surplus decreased to €2.9 billion in February from €3.9 billion in the same period last year, data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics showed.

Exports increased a calendar-adjusted 3.8% annually in February, after rising 1.7% in January. Imports surged 7.2% in February compared to the 0.2% rise in January.