German Import Price Inflation Eases, Spanish Retail Sales Slump

Arthi Gupta
29 May, 2012
New York City

German import price index eased, Spanish retail sales slumped but Swiss consumption indicator rose in April. Swedish sentiment dropped in May and Norwegian jobless rate fell in March.

[R]1:00 PM Frankfurt – German import price index eased, Spanish retail sales slumped but Swiss consumption indicator rose in April. Swedish sentiment dropped in May and Norwegian jobless rate fell in March.[/R]

German Import Price Inflation Eases

Germany's import price index eased to 2.3% on an annual basis in April compared to the 3.1% growth in March, data released by the Federal Statistics Office showed today.

From a month ago, import prices fell 0.5% in April, reversing the 0.7% increase in March.

The export price index rose 1.8% annually in April, following the 1.9% gain in March. Compared to March, export prices edged higher 0.2% during the month, unchanged from the growth rate in the previous month.

Swiss UBS Consumption Indicator Up

The UBS consumption indicator for the Swiss economy continued its strong upward trend in April, and the index gained 1.41 points compared to 1.20 points in March.

The consumption was driven by new car registration and positive consumer sentiment.

Spanish Retail Sales Slump

Spain's retail sales fell 11.3% from a year ago in April after logging a 4% drop in March, the statistics office INE said.

The monthly retail sales declined for the 22nd month in a row as the economy shrinks and consumption declines.

Food product sales dropped 6.7%, while non-food sales plunged 14.7% from the previous year in April.

Spain is expected to extend recession in the first half after the economy shrank 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the Bank of Spain.

Swedish Confidence Declines

Swedish economic sentiment dropped in May, the latest survey by the National Institute of Economic Research showed today.

The economic tendency indicator fell to 100.9 in May from 101.5 in April. However, the consumer confidence index unexpectedly improved to 5.9 in May from 4.7 in April.

The confidence indicator for total industry dropped to 8 in May from 11 in April.

Separately, Sweden's producer prices remained unchanged from last year in April, data released by Statistics Sweden showed.

On a monthly basis, output prices edged down 0.2% in April.

Norwegian Jobless Rate Falls

Norway's jobless rate declined to 3% in March from 3.2% in February, data released by Statistics Norway showed today.

The number of unemployed persons, on a seasonally adjusted basis, decreased to around 80,000 in March from about 84,000 in February.

Greek PPI Slows

Greece's producer price inflation slowed to 5.1% in April from 6.4% in March, data released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority showed. The latest data was the lowest since October 2010, when output prices increased 5%.

Prices of intermediate goods rose 0.9% annually, while capital goods prices climbed 0.3% in April.