German Output Rebounds 1.3%, Greek Contraction Eases

Arthi Gupta
07 Sep, 2012
New York City

German production rebounded 1.3% and French trade deficit narrowed in July. Swiss jobless rate remained unchanged in August. Greek contraction eased in the second quarter to annual rate of 6.3%.

[R]2:30 PM Frankfurt – German production rebounded 1.3% and French trade deficit narrowed in July. Swiss jobless rate remained unchanged in August. Greek contraction eased in the second quarter to annual rate of 6.3%.[/R]

German Exports Rise

Germany''s exports and imports rose unexpectedly in July, data from Destatis showed.

Exports climbed 0.5% from a month ago in July compared to the 1.4% drop in June. Imports rose 0.9% in July following a 2.9% decline in June.

The trade surplus dropped to €16.9 billion in July from €18 billion in June.

The current account surplus rose to €12.8 billion in July compared to €8.3 billion in the prior year.

Separately, labor costs per hour worked in Germany rose a seasonally and calendar adjusted 1.5% in the second quarter compared to the 0.2% rise in the first quarter, data released by the Federal Statistics Office showed.

This is the fourth-largest increase in the labor cost index time series, which dates back to 1997.

Compared with the second quarter of 2011, labor costs in the second quarter climbed a calendar adjusted 2.5%.

In another report, German insolvency courts reported 14,776 business insolvencies in the first-half, 3.1% less than in the first-half of 2011, Destatis reported.

The number of consumer insolvencies in the first-half was 49,750 cases, 3.9% less than in first-half of 2011.

French Deficit Narrows

The French trade deficit narrowed to €4.27 billion in July from €6.06 billion in June, data released by the Directorate General of Customs and Excise showed.

Exports rose to €36.58 billion in July from €36.27 billion in June. Imports declined to €40.85 billion in July from €42.33 billion in June.

Swedish Surplus Weakens

Swedish central government payments in August resulted in a surplus of SEK 11.1 billion. This was SEK 9.7 billion lower than the Debt Office''s latest forecast, a surplus of SEK 20.9 billion. The difference is mainly explained by higher tax refund than estimated.

German Output Rebounds

German industrial production rebounded 1.3% in July from a month ago, following a 0.4% drop in June, the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology said.

From a year ago, working-day adjusted industrial output declined 1.4% in July, from the 0.3% rise in June.

Spanish Output Drops

Spain''s industrial production fell a working day adjusted 5.4% from a year ago in July from the 6.1% drop in June, the statistics office INE said.

Hungarian Production Slides, Economy Contracts

Seasonally adjusted industrial output in Hungary decreased 1.2% on a monthly basis in July from 2.1% in June, preliminary data released by the Central Statistics Office showed.

Separately, the gross domestic product of Hungary decreased 1.3% in the second quarter compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Stagnation was recorded in most of the industries of the national economy.

Swiss Jobless Rate Flat

The Swiss jobless rate remained unchanged in August, data released by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed today.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held firm at 2.9% in August.

The number of unemployed rose 3% or 3,529 on a monthly basis to 119,823 at the end of August.

Greek Contraction Eases

The unadjusted gross domestic product, at constant prices decreased 6.3% annually in the second quarter compared to the 6.2% decrease recorded in the preliminary estimates and slower than the 7.5% contraction in the first quarter, final data from the Hellenic Statistics Authority showed.

The external trade deficit decreased 39.9%, contributing positively to the GDP percent change.