Euro Area Unemployment at 10.9%, German Manufacturing at 33-Month Low

Arthi Gupta
02 May, 2012
New York City

Jobless rate rose in the euro area and Italy in March and manufacturing activity declined in the euro-zone in April. Hungarian industrial producer price index rose from a year ago in March.

[R]12:30 PM Frankfurt – Jobless rate rose in the euro area and Italy in March and manufacturing activity declined in the euro-zone in April. Hungarian industrial producer price index rose from a year ago in March.[/R]

Euro-zone Jobless Rate Climbs

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate in the euro area rose to 10.9% in March from 10.8% in February, the latest data from Eurostat showed today. In March 2011, the rate was 9.4%.

In March, the number of unemployed in euro area increased by 169, 000 from a month earlier to 17.365 million.

In the 27-nation European Union, the unemployment rate was 10.2% in March, unchanged from February and up from 9.4% in March 2011.

Italian Unemployment Rate Rises

Italy''s seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose to 9.8% in March from 9.6% in February, upwardly revised from the 9.3% reported earlier, data released by the statistics office ISTAT showed. The latest jobless rate is the highest since ISTAT started the series in 2004.

Joblessness among the 15-24 age group increased with the youth unemployment rising to 35.9% in March from 33.9% in February.

The number of unemployed rose by 66,000 or 2.7% to 2.506 million in March.

German Unemployment Rate Stable

Germany''s adjusted jobless rate was unchanged at 6.8% in April, the Federal Labor Agency said. The number of unemployed persons rose 19,000 to 2.87 million from a month earlier in April.

Separately, the unemployment rate in Germany remained unchanged in March, a report from the Federal Statistics Office showed.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at 5.6% in March, the same as that of February. However, the rate was 0.6 percentage points lower than a year earlier.

The number of unemployed was about 2.31 million in March, 418,000 or 15.4% less than in March 2011.

Euro-zone Manufacturing Sector Contracts

The euro-zone manufacturing sector contracted more than initially estimated for April, Markit Economics said today.

The Purchasing Managers'' Index for manufacturing fell to a near three-year low of 45.9 in April, from 47.7 in March and below the earlier flash estimate of 46.0.

[German Factory PMI Drops

Germany''s seasonally adjusted purchasing managers'' index for the manufacturing sector dropped to 46.2 in April from 48.4 in March, final data released by Markit Economics and HSBC Bank showed today. This was the second consecutive fall in activity.

French Factory Sector Shrinks

The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers'' index for the French manufacturing sector fell to 46.9 in April, from the 47.3 recorded in the preliminary estimates, final data from a survey by Markit Economics and HSBC Bank showed on Thursday. In March, the reading was 46.7.

Italian Manufacturing Activity Declines

The Markit/ADACI Purchasing Managers'' Index for the Italian manufacturing sector dropped to 43.8 in April from 47.9 in March. The manufacturing activity declined for the ninth month in a row in April.

Spanish Manufacturing Sector Contracts

The Spanish manufacturing sector fell for the third straight month in April, Markit Economics reported today.

The seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers'' Index dropped to 43.5 in April, from 44.5 in March.

Hungarian PPI Increases

Hungary''s industrial producer price index rose 6.4% from a year ago in March following a 6.2% gain in February, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed.

Domestic sale prices increased 7.4% annually in March, after rising 7.6% in February. Export market prices rose 5.8% in March, following the 5.3% gain in February.