Spanish Unemployment Rises, Euro Zone Producer Prices Climb

Arthi Gupta
04 Sep, 2012
New York City

Spanish unemployment rose in August by 0.8% to 4.6 million as the nation struggles with a cut in government jobs. The Swiss economy contracted in the second quarter. Industrial producer prices gained in the euro area and Romanian retail sales rose in July.

[R]2:20 PM Frankfurt – Spanish unemployment rose in August by 0.8% to 4.6 million as the nation struggles with a cut in government jobs. The Swiss economy contracted in the second quarter. Industrial producer prices gained in the euro area and Romanian retail sales rose in July.[/R]

OECD Area Inflation Eases

Annual inflation in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development area rose 1.9% in July from 2% in June, latest data showed.

This easing in the annual rate of inflation mainly reflects slower growth in energy and food prices. Energy price inflation continued to decelerate, falling to 0.7% in July from 1.4% in June, while food price inflation slowed to 2.3% in July compared with 2.8% in June.

Excluding food and energy, the OECD annual inflation rate was unchanged at 1.8% in July 2012.

In the euro zone, inflation remained unchanged at 2.4% for the second successive month.

Euro Zone Producer Prices Rise

Industrial producer prices gained 1.8% in the euro area and 1.5% in the EU27 in July compared with July 2011, data released by statistics office Eurostat showed today.

Prices of durable consumer goods and non-durable consumer goods rose 1.9% and 2.1% respectively than a year earlier in the euro area.

Industrial producer prices rose 0.4% in both euro area and EU27 in July compared with June. In June, prices fell 0.5% and 0.8% in the euro area and EU27 respectively.

In both zones, durable consumer goods and non-durable consumer goods gained 0.2% while capital goods remained stable.

Spanish Unemployment Climbs

Spanish unemployment rate rose in August, data released by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security showed today.

The number of registered unemployed rose 0.83% or 38,179 people in August, following a decline of 27,814 people or 0.6% in July.

Total registered unemployment in Spain was at 4.63 million at the end of last month. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the EU at 25.1%.

Compared to August 2011, unemployment increased by 494,707 persons.

Swiss Economy Shrinks

Switzerland''s gross domestic product decreased a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in the second quarter, from the 0.5% growth in the first quarter, according to latest data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs released today.

Annually, gross domestic product rose 0.5% in the second quarter compared to the 1.2% rise in the previous quarter.

Romanian Retail Sales Up

Romania''s retail sales, excluding motor vehicles and motorcycles, increased a seasonally and working-day adjusted 0.6% sequentially in July, data released by the National Institute of Statistics showed.

Sales of food products rose 2.4% on a monthly basis in July.

Separately, Romania''s producer price inflation eased to 5.7% on an annual basis in July from the 5.8% rise in June.

From a month ago, producer prices rose a seasonally and working-day adjusted 1% in July compared to the 0.2% fall in June, the agency said.