Europe - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Oct 08)

[kennynah]

German July Inflation Stable At 3.3% - Preliminary
7/30/2008 2:04 AM ET

(RTTNews) - A preliminary report from the Federal Statistical Office, or Destatis showed that the consumer price index for Germany grew 3.3% year-on-year in July, at the same pace recorded in June. The statistical office noted that this is the largest price increase since December 1993. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were up 0.6%.

Economists had expected the rate of annual inflation to ease to 3.2% and monthly inflation to accelerate to 0.5% from 0.4% recorded in June.

Similar to previous months, the statistical office said higher prices of liquid and motor fuels influenced annual inflation.

According to the preliminary report, the harmonized consumer price inflation also remained steady at 3.4% in July from June, in line with expectations. Month-on-month, the HICP climbed 0.6%, slightly faster than 0.5% predicted.

The preliminary estimate is based on the results available from six Länder. The statistical office said the final results will be released on August 14.

[kennynah]

spain is in pain

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3pm +8GMT 30Jul08

Spanish June Retail sales down 9.8% !!!

[kennynah]

4pm +8GMT 30Jul08

Italian June Producer Prices up 0.8% vs expected 0.9%

[millionairemind]

European Confidence Drops Most Since Sept. 11 Attacks (Update2)

By Fergal O'Brien

July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Europeans' confidence in the outlook for the economy dropped the most since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as soaring energy costs and the euro's advance against the dollar rattled consumers and executives.

An index measuring sentiment in the euro area fell 5.3 points to 89.5 this month, the European Commission in Brussels said today. That is more than economists had forecast and the biggest slide since a 6.3-point drop in October 2001, the month after the attacks in the U.S.

Rising commodity prices have lifted euro-area inflation to a 16-year high of 4 percent, sapping consumers' purchasing power and pushing up companies' costs. That is adding to pressure on the economy as the global turmoil in credit markets restricts access to capital, which may limit the European Central Bank's scope to increase interest rates to fight inflation.

This is the ``latest number in a string of very weak data that confirm that the economy is experiencing a severe downturn,'' Aurelio Maccario, chief euro-area economist at Unicredit MIB in Milan, said in an e-mailed note. ``The economy is heading toward a stagnation phase bound to last at best a few months.''

Economists had forecast that the confidence index would drop to 93, according to the median of 30 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. A separate report today showed retail sales declined for a second month in July.

Euro, Bonds

The euro erased its gains after the sentiment report. The currency was little changed at $1.5588 as of 10:55 a.m. in London, having earlier been as high as $1.5617. Bonds rose, with the yield on the German bund, Europe's benchmark government security, falling 3 basis points to 4.43 percent, the lowest since July 18.

Reports this month showed that euro-area manufacturing and service industries contracted in July by the most since 2003. Consumer confidence in Germany and France, the region's largest economies, fell more than economists had forecast.

The Frankfurt-based ECB this month raised its key rate by a quarter point to 4.25 percent to curb price increases even as economic growth slows. The central bank in June forecast the pace of euro-area expansion will ease to about 1.5 percent in 2009 from 1.8 percent this year, after growth of 2.7 percent last year.

Confidence within the manufacturing, construction, services and retail industries across the 15 nations that share the euro declined this month, according to today's European Commission survey. Consumer sentiment dropped to minus 20, the lowest in five years.

Feeling Pressure

Companies are feeling the pressure of a 59 percent increase in crude oil in the past year, which has boosted their energy costs, as well as higher prices for commodities including wheat and corn.

Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest discount airline, this week said it may post its first full-year loss since going public in 1997 because of increased fuel expenses. British Airways Plc started talks to merge with Spain's Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA to lower expenses as slower economies and higher energy costs erode earnings.

A measure of companies' selling-price expectations rose to 20 in July from 16 in June, compared with an average reading of 6 over the last 18 years, the commission report showed. ArcelorMittal Chief Financial Officer Aditya Mittal today said the company, the world's largest steelmaker, would continue to increase prices this year and next.

Rising Costs

As euro-area companies grapple with rising costs, they also are contending with weaker demand as the euro's 15 percent advance against the dollar in the past 12 months makes exports less competitive.

Some companies are coping with the impact of the currency and cooling global growth. SAP AG, the world's biggest maker of business-management software, yesterday raised its revenue and margin forecasts for this year and said its pipeline is ``strong'' in the U.S.

Still, data suggest further weakness ahead. Manufacturers' new orders fell for a fourth month in July, according to a monthly survey of purchasing managers published July 24. New business among services companies dropped for a second month. Infineon Technologies AG, Europe's second-biggest semiconductor maker, on July 25 said it plans to cut about 3,000 jobs after its third-quarter loss tripled.

``The business and consumer surveys have stagflation written all over them,'' said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING Group in Amsterdam. There is a ``frightening mix of sharply falling confidence and elevated inflation expectations.''

[kennynah]

Britain's domestic energy prices raised
7/30/2008 12:59 PM ET

(RTTNews) - The unprecedented high global energy prices have affected Britain's consumers heavily Wednesday, as British Gas, the largest supplier of the country's domestic energy, increased gasoline prices by 35% and electricity prices by nine percent.

British Gas managing director Phil Bentley said the decision was necessitated by increasing global demand, diminishing UK gas reserves and record oil prices.

The company chief said it had no other option than the price hike to cope with an extra $3.96 billion in costs.

Wednesday's announcement comes a week after EDF Energy implemented energy price hike in the country.

The new rates that came into force with immediate effect, is going to affect mainly the dual fuel tariff customers.

The company has said that its standard rate customers will be spared of any further price rise this year.

[kennynah]

Eurozone Annual Inflation Climbs To Fresh Record In July
7/31/2008 9:19 AM ET



(RTTNews) - Eurozone annual inflation accelerated further to reach a new record high in July, adding to the dilemma of the central bank, which is trying to battle escalating inflationary pressures amid slowing growth.

A flash estimate released by the Eurostat showed that the eurozone annual inflation rose to a new record high of 4.1% in July from 4% reported in June. Annual growth in consumer prices matched economists' expectations.

[kennynah]

Swedish Economic Growth Significantly Slows In Q2
8/1/2008 4:36 AM ET

(RTTNews) - The Swedish economy expanded at an annual rate of 0.7% in the second quarter, significantly slower than 2.2% increase in the first quarter, the Statistics Sweden said Friday.

The statistical office noted that the seasonally adjusted GDP was unaltered compared with the first quarter of 2008. In the first quarter, the economy had grown 0.4%.

In the second quarter, exports increased 6.7% and imports rose 9%. Gross fixed capital formation was up 3.9%. Household consumption expenditures grew 2.2%, while general government consumption expenditures increased 0.4%.

Industrial production was up 1.6%. Total producers of goods increased 0.9% while service sector industries rose 2%. Total employment, measured as the number of hours worked, increased by 2%.

Further, the statistical office said compared to the publication in May, previous quarters have not been revised.

[kennynah]

440pm +8GMT 1Aug08

every one is slowing down....

European countries PMIs


Italian Jul PMI down to 45.3 from 46.9 in Jun; lowest since Nov 2001

Spanish Jul PMI down to 39.2 from 40.6 in Jun

Ireland Jul PMI at syrvey record low at 43.4 down from 44.7 in Jun

Poland Jul PMI indicates marked contraction

Germany's Jul PMI declined to 50.9 from 52.6 in Jun.....lowest since Aug05


EUROZONE Jul PMI down to 5 Year LOW

[kennynah]

Czech Jobless Rate Declines In Q2
8/1/2008 4:41 AM ET

(RTTNews) - Friday, the Czech Statistical Office announced that the ILO unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in the second quarter.
This was the lowest level since the end of 1996. Year-on-year, the rate decreased by 1.1 percentage points. In the first quarter, the jobless rate was 4.7%.

On the other hand, the ILO unemployment decreased to 54,4000 in the second quarter compared to the prior year. The number of jobless totaled 220,100.

[kennynah]

China and many Asian economies count eurozone as their largest importer....we are in for some repercussions with the possible stagflation in Germany and a marked slowdown in Spain and Italy... the "developing" european nations, such as hungary, poland, etc...are all not spared the overall slowdown in eurozone...

brace for a the next wave of problems out of europe...

it is so much clearer now about the poor eurozone health than before..

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Eurozone July Manufacturing PMI Lowest In Five Years
8/1/2008 5:23 AM ET

(RTTNews) - Friday, final data from the Markit Economics showed that the seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index, or PMI, for the Eurozone manufacturing sector decreased to 47.4 in July from 49.2 in June. The reading was also down from the flash estimate of 47.5. The current reading is the lowest in five years.

Final data showed that output, new orders, exports and employment all fell by more than signalled by the flash data.

Among the member economies, faster declines were observed in France, Italy and Spain accompanied by near-stagnation in Germany.