Euro Area Inflation at 2.4%, Trade Surplus Rises

Arthi Gupta
16 Jul, 2012
New York City

German factory employment rose and Italian exports improved in May. Annual inflation in the euro area was stable but Norwegian trade surplus and Austrian inflation rose in June. Swiss industrial production eased in the first quarter.

[R]1:00 PM Frankfurt – German factory employment rose and Italian exports improved in May. Annual inflation in the euro area was stable but Norwegian trade surplus and Austrian inflation rose in June. Swiss industrial production eased in the first quarter.[/R]

Euro-zone Inflation Stable, Surplus Rises

Annual inflation in euro-zone was 2.4% in June, unchanged from May, the latest report from Eurostat showed today. The data matched the preliminary estimate. A year earlier the rate was 2.7%.

On a monthly basis, the harmonized index of consumer prices fell 0.1% in June.

Food prices increased 2.8% from a year ago in June, while prices of alcohol and tobacco rose 4.9%.

Across the wider region of EU 27 nations, annual inflation was 2.6% in June, up from 2.5% in May. A year earlier the rate was 3.1%. Monthly inflation was zero in June.

The core inflation rate, that excludes food, alcohol and tobacco, was also stable at 1.6%. Energy prices climbed 6.1% on an annual basis in June.

Separately, euro-zone''s trade surplus rose more than expected in May, a report from Eurostat showed.

The trade surplus was €6.9 billion in May, higher than €3.7 billion in April and compared to a deficit of €1.2 billion a year ago month.

German Factory Employment Climbs

Employment in German manufacturing sector rose in May, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed today.

The number of workers in the sector rose 140,100 persons or 2.8% annually to 5.2 million people in May.

The number of hours worked in May decreased 6.5% from a year earlier reaching 666 million and the earnings amounted to €21.3 billion, 7.3% higher than a year ago month.

Norwegian Surplus Rises

Norway''s trade surplus increased 15.1% annually to NOK 29.5 billion in June as exports surged, the latest data from Statistics Norway showed.

The trade surplus for the first-half surged 24.8% to NOK 242.5 billion compared to the first-half of 2011.

Exports increased 8.9% from a year ago in June and imports climbed 4.9%.

Austrian Inflation Up

Austria''s consumer price index rose 2.2% from a year ago in June following 2.1% increase in May, data from Statistics Austria showed.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices climbed 0.1% in June.

Swiss Output Eases

Switzerland''s industrial production slowed to 1.4% growth annually in the first quarter after expanding by a revised 3.6% in the prior quarter, the Federal Statistics Office said.

New orders fell 3.9% in the first quarter compared to the 5.1% drop recorded in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Italian Exports Improve

Italy''s exports advanced 1.4% from a month ago in May, taking the annual growth to 4.8%, the statistics office Istat said today.

Imports rose 0.9% on a monthly basis, while it fell 4.5% from the prior year in May.

The trade balance surplus was €1.008 billion in May.