Euro Zone Inflation Rises, German Retail Sales Drop

Arthi Gupta
31 Aug, 2012
New York City

Euro zone inflation climbed to 2.6% in August. Jobless rate in the euro area rose to a record 11.3%, German retail sales declined unexpectedly and Italian jobless rate stable in July.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – Euro zone inflation climbed to 2.6% in August. Jobless rate in the euro area rose to a record 11.3%, German retail sales declined unexpectedly and Italian jobless rate stable in July.[/R]

Euro Zone Inflation Climbs, Jobless Rate Flat

Euro-zone inflation climbed to 2.6% in August from 2.4% in July, flash estimate issued by Eurostat showed today.

The central bank aims to keep inflation below but close to, 2% over the medium term. The final report for August is due on September 14.

Separately, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained unchanged at a record 11.3% in July.

About 18 million people were unemployed in the euro area in July. Compared with June, the number of persons unemployed increased by 88,000.

The unemployment rate for EU27 nations was 10.4% in July.

Spain has the highest jobless rate of 25.1%.

Italian Jobless Rate Stable

Italy''s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.7% in July, the statistics office Istat reported today.

The jobless rate for June was revised down from 10.8% and the number of unemployed totaled 2.76 million in July.

Separately, Italy''s consumer price index increased 3.2% annually in August, after a 3.1% gain in July.

On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4% in August compared to the 0.1% increase in July.

German Retail Sales Drop

Germany''s retail sales decreased 0.9% from a month ago in July, from the 0.5% rise in June, data released by the Federal Statistics Office showed today.

Annually, retail sales fell 1% in July, following the 3.7% gain in June.

Greek Retail Sales Decline

Retail sales, excluding automotive fuel, declined 10% on an annual basis in June, from the 8.6% drop in May, data released by the Hellenic Statistics Authority showed today.

Retail trade in the food sector decreased 1.7% annually, while sales in the non-food sector slumped 19.8% in June.

On a monthly basis, retail sales rose 1.7% in June.