Spanish Economy Contracts 0.4%, German Confidence Stable

Arthi Gupta
28 Aug, 2012
New York City

German consumer confidence is expected to remain stable in September. French unemployment and euro zone money supply growth rose in July. Spanish economy contracted 0.4% in the second quarter. Hungarian central bank cut key rate by 25 basis points.

[R]3:15 PM Frankfurt – German consumer confidence is expected to remain stable in September. French unemployment and euro zone money supply growth rose in July. Spanish economy contracted 0.4% in the second quarter. Hungarian central bank cut key rate by 25 basis points.[/R]

Euro Zone M3 Money Supply Growth Climbs

Euro zone money supply growth rose unexpectedly in July, data published by the European Central Bank showed today.

The annual growth rate of the broad money aggregate, M3, increased to 3.8% in July from 3.2% in June.

German Confidence Stable

German consumer confidence remains stable in September, according to a report released by GfK.

The group said its consumer confidence index for September was at 5.9 in September, unchanged from August.

The economic expectations of German consumers dropped for the third month in a row. In August, the index fell by 13.3 points to -18.9 points. In the prior month, the index declined 8.6 points.

French Jobless Rate Rises

Unemployment in France rose 1.4% or 41,300 to 2.987 million in July from June, the latest data from the labor ministry showed.

Annually, the unemployment rate increased to 8.5%.

Hungarian Jobless Rate Declines

Hungary''s unemployment rate decreased to 10.5% in the May-July period from 10.9% in the three months ended June, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed today. The jobless rate has declined for the fourth straight month.

The number of unemployed people was around 458,800 in July, down from 472,200 in June.

The unemployment rate among youth, aged between 15 and 24, increased to 28.1% in July from 27.9% in June, data showed.

Separately, Hungary''s central bank unexpectedly reduced its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.75% from 7%.

Spanish Economy Contracts

Spain''s gross domestic product contracted 0.4% in the second quarter, following a 0.3% drop in GDP in the first quarter, final data released by the statistics office Ine confirmed today. The second quarter final data matched the preliminary estimate.

Exports rose 1.6% and imports declined 1.5% in the second quarter compared to the first quarter.

Swiss Consumption Indicator Falls

Switzerland''s consumption index decreased to 1.55 point in July from 1.59 point in June, revised down from 1.60 point, data from UBS showed.

The decline in new car registrations contributed to the latest decline in the consumption indicator.

Swedish Surplus Drops

Sweden''s trade surplus decreased to SEK3.7 billion in July from SEK8.2 billion in June, revised down from SEK9.3 billion, data released by Statistics Sweden showed. In July 2011, the net trade surplus was SEK7.4 billion.

Exports decreased 5% annually to SEK87.6 billion. Imports fell 1% from last year to SEK83.9 billion.