German Producer Prices at 4-Month Low, Retail Sales in Italy Falls 1%

Arthi Gupta
20 Dec, 2012
New York City

German producer prices eased to a four-month low in November. Swiss jobless rate rose in the third quarter. Italian retail sales fell in October.

[R]1:30 PM Frankfurt – German producer prices eased to a four-month low in November. Swiss jobless rate rose in the third quarter. Italian retail sales fell in October.[/R]

Germany PPI Eases

Germany''s annual producer price inflation slowed to 1.4% in November from 1.5% in October, data released by statistics office Destatis showed.

On a monthly basis, the producer price index fell 0.1% in November, after staying flat in October.

Separately, Germany''s index of import prices rose 1.1% in November compared to the corresponding month of the preceding year. In October 2012, the annual rate of change was 1.5%.

The import price index was flat from the previous month.

The index of export prices increased 1.5% in November compared to the corresponding month of the preceding year.

Swiss Trade Surplus Rises

Switzerland''s trade surplus increased to Sfr2.95 billion in November from the revised Sfr2.73 billion surplus in October, the Federal Customs Administration said.

Exports increased to Sfr18.775 billion in November from Sfr18.630 billion in October. Imports declined to Sfr15.830 billion in November from Sfr15.898 billion in October.

Separately, Switzerland''s unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in the third quarter from 4.2% in the previous year, the Federal Statistics Office said today.

Dutch Consumer Confidence Declines, Jobless Rate Climbs

The Dutch consumer confidence index fell to -39 in December from -37 in November, the latest data released by Statistics Netherlands showed today.

Separately, the unemployment rate in the Netherlands rose to 7% in November from 6.8% in October. A year ago, the rate was 5.8%.

The number of unemployed persons increased to 552,000 in November from 536,000 in the previous month. A year earlier, there were 455,000 unemployed in the country.

Italian Retail Sales Drop

Retail sales in Italy decreased 1% with respect to September and 3.8% annually in October after adjusting to seasonal variations, data from statistics office Istat showed.

Sales of food goods dropped 1.3% from a month ago, while trade in non-food goods fell 1% in October.

Separately, in November, exports to non-EU countries increased 11.1% to €15.808 billion and imports decreased 9.3% €13.919 billion compared with the same month of the previous year. The trade balance showed a surplus of €1.889 billion compared with a €1.113 billion deficit in the same month of 2011.

Greek Current Account Deficit Narrows

Greece''s current account deficit narrowed to €684.2 million in October from the €1.469 billion deficit in the same month last year, data released by Bank of Greece showed.

The services balance surplus declined to €1.118 billion in October from the €1.364 billion surplus last year.

The income account showed a deficit of €110 million in October compared with a deficit of €559 million in October 2011.

In the January-October period, the current account deficit contracted by €12.1 billion or 74.4% annually to €4.1 billion.