German Sentiment Plunges, Euro Zone Construction Output Falls

Arthi Gupta
19 Jun, 2012
New York City

Construction output in the euro area fell in April. German economic confidence worsened and French business sentiment slid in June. Swedish jobless rate rose in May.

[R]1:30 PM Frankfurt – Construction output in the euro area fell in April. German economic confidence worsened and French business sentiment slid in June. Swedish jobless rate rose in May.[/R]

Euro-zone Construction Output Drops

Construction output in the euro area fell in April, data released by statistics office Eurostat showed today.

Construction output decreased a seasonally adjusted 2.7% on a monthly basis in April, reversing the 11.4% increase in March. In the wider EU27 region, output decreased 6.6% on a monthly basis in April.

Germany registered a 6% drop in construction production, while output in the UK fell 18.1%.

Annually, construction production declined 5% in April compared to the 2.6% fall in March.

German Economic Confidence Worsens

German economic expectations declined more than estimated in June, survey results published by the Center for European Economic Research or ZEW showed.

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany decreased 27.7 points to -16.9 points in June, the sharpest monthly fall since October 1998.

The indicator for assessment of Germany''s current economic situation decreased 10.9 points to the 33.2.

French Business Sentiment Falls

French business sentiment declined to 92 in June from 93 in May, the statistics office Insee said today.

The general production outlook, which represents business leaders'' opinion on French industry as a whole, slipped to -30 from -28 a month ago.

Swedish Jobless Rate Climbs

The unemployment rate in Sweden increased to 8.1% in May from 7.9% in the same month last year, data released by Statistics Sweden showed.

The jobless rate among youth, aged between 15 and 24, was 28% in May, up from the rate of 26.9% last year. There were around 176,000 jobless youth at the end of May, higher by 7.5% compared to last year.

The total number of jobless persons in the country rose 3.7% on an annual basis to around 410,000 in May.

Hungarian Wage Growth Eases

Average monthly wages of Hungarian employees eased in April, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed.

Average gross earnings increased 2.5% on an annual basis in April compared to the 2.7% growth in March.