Industrial Production In Europe Down By 1.1%

Industrial production fell in May 2014 compared with April 2014 across Europe according to a statistical bulletin from Eurostat. The fall was 1.1% in both zones. In April both zones increased their index by 0.7%. The annual comparison of May 2014 with May 2013 shows that industrial production grew by 0.5% in the euro area and 1.1% in the EU.

House Prices Fall In Euro Area

House prices in the euro area fell by 0.3% as measured by the House Price Index (HPI) and increased by 1% in the EU during the first quarter of 2014 compared with the same period last year. When compared with the fourth quarter of 2013 the HPI fell by 0.3% in the euro area and rose by 0.2% in the EU according to Eurostat.

The biggest annual falls in house prices according to the HPI were in Croatia with -9.7%, Slovenia -6.6% and Cyprus -5.7%. The biggest increases were in Estonia with 17.5% and Latvia with 10.4%. The UK was next with an increase of 8%. The biggest falls over the quarter were in Croatia with -2.7%, Luxembourg with -2.3% and Slovenia -1.7%. THe highest increases were in Estonia with an increase of 4.8%, Sweden with an increase of 2.4% and the UK with an increase of 2.2%.

OECD Annual Inflation Increases To 2.1%

The CPI for OECD countries increased by 2.1% over the year to May 2014. It had risen by 2% in the year to April. The increase was mainly driven by increases in the prices of energy at 3.4% and food at 2.2% in May. There were diverging patterns across countries such as lower energy and food prices in the EU/OECD countries and higher in non-EU/OECD countries. The monthly comparison shows that excluding food and energy OECD annual inflation fell slightly between April at 2% and May at 1.9%.

Quarter Of Europeans At Risk Of Poverty Or Social Exclusion

The reduction of the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion is one of the key targets of the EU's Europe 2020 strategy yet a quarter of the population of the EU, 24.8% or 124.5m people, were at risk of one of three conditions: at risk of poverty; severley materially deprivation; or living in households with very low work intensity.

The figures are from Eurostat and are based on the EU-SILC survey. Each of the three elements contributing to being at risk of poverty or social exclusion can be looked at separately. It can be seen that 17% of the EU28 population's disposable income was below their national poverty threshold levels. In other words they were at risk of poverty after social transfers.

Severe material deprivation was experienced by 10% of the EU which means that their living conditions were severely constrained by a lack of resources. They could not pay their bills, keep the home warm of take a one week holiday away from home.

The third condition, living in households with very low work intensity was reported by 10% of population of the EU28. What it means is that 10% of the people lived in households where the adults worked less than 20% of their work potential during the past year.

Euro September Trade Up

The euro area had an international trade in goods surplus of 13.1bn euro in September 2013 according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. This compares with a surplus of 8.6m euro in September 2012. September's surplus also compares well with the 6.9bn euro surplus of August 2013. Seasonally adjusted exports rose by 1% in September 2013 when compared with August but imports fell by 0.3%.

Early estimates also suggest that extra-EU28 trade in goods showed a 0.6bn euro surplus compared with a deficit of 14.5bn euro in September 2012. Seasonally adjusted exports rose by 0.2% while imports fell by 0.2%.

UK Trade Deficit Down To £2.6bn

The UK trade deficit was estimated to have been £2.6bn in April according to the ONS statistical release on the UK's April trade figures. There was a £3.2bn deficit in March.

The trade deficit on goods was £8.2bn which was partly offset by a surplus of £5.6bn on services. Exports fell by 1.3% between March and April 2013. Imports fell by 2.7% over the same period. It was largely due to trading with the EU that the deficit was cut. Imports from the EU fell by about £1.3bn.

Business Confidence Swings Back In Europe

Busines and consumer survey results from the Director General of Economic and Financial Affairs at the European Commission suggest that economic sentiment increased in the EU in November. The economic Sentiment Indicator increased by 2 points in the EU27 (88.1) and by 1.4 points in the euro area (85.7). The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) also increased by 0.42 points to -1.19 with increases in all of the BCIs components.

MUICP Estimated At 2.4%

The annual inflation rate for the euro area for May 2012 is expected to be 2.4% from 2.6% in April according to Eurostat.

Business Confidence In Europe Shows Mixed Picture

Business confidence surveys in Europe show that economic sentiment (ESI) has remained broadly unchanged in the EU as a whole and in the euro area at respective levels of 93.8 and 94.8. There are mixed signals in the underlying data. Declines in industry and among consumers were offset by increases in retail, services and construction in EU27 and in construction and services in the euro area. While the economic sentiment results are unchanged the business climate survey (BCI) recorded a continued fall. The steady fall over the last eight months suggests a significant slowdown in production growth.

Business Confidence Continues To Fall Across Europe In August

The Busines Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area fell for the sixth month in a row in August 2011 from 0.44 to 0.07. It reflects pessimism among managers about order books and export order books. Production expectations and observation of production trends also contributed to the low feeling. Stocks appraisals are recovering from historic lows.

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) fell to 97.3 in the EU and to 98.3 in the euro area. Loss of confidence was particularly marked in services, retail trade and in the consumer confidence indicator.

Euro Inflation At 2.8%

Euro area inflation in April 2011 was 2.8% from 2.7% in March and 1.6% last year. EU annual inflation was 3.2% in April from 3.1% in March and 2.1% last year.

Real Agricultural Income In Europe

The first estimates on real agricultural income from Eurostat show that real agricultural income per worker in the EU27 increased by 12.3% in 2010 after a decrease of 10.7% in 2009. The cause of the increase in the index was a combination of an increase in real agricultural income and a fall in agricultural labour input.

Real agricultural income per worker is estimated to have increased by 10% between 2005 and 2010 while agricultural labour input has decreased by 12.7%.

The value of EU27 agricultural output at producer prices increased by an estimated 4.3% due mainly to an increase in the value of both crop production and animal production by 6.3% and 2.4% respectively.

Regional Unemployment in EU

Regional unemployment rates vary considerably across the EU27 with 28 of the 271 NUTS 2 regions with an unemployment rate of under 4.4% and 13 regions over 17.8%, 9 in Spain and 4 in French overseas departments.

Euro External Deficit Cut To 37.1bn

The EU27 had an external current account deficit of 37.1bn euro in Q2 2010 from 42.1bn euro in Q2 2009 and 31.8bn euro in Q1 2010. The trade in service balance was 19.3bn euro and the balance was -1.2% of GDP. In the euro area (EA16) the deficit was 23.1bn euro the balance of trade in services was 11.9bn euro and the balance as a percentage of GDP was 1%.

Euro Inflation To 1.8%

Inflation in the euro area increased to 1.8% in September from 1.6% in August. Last year in was -0.3% and monthly inflation for September was 0.2%. EU annual inflation was 2.2% in September from 2% in August.

Better Picture For Trade In August

The UK deficit on trade in goods and services decreased in August from £5bn in July to £4.6bn. Trade in goods was in deficit by £8.2bn but trade in services was again in surplus by £3.6bn down from £3.7bn in July. Geographically, the £8.2bn deficit on trade in goods with the world was spread between the EU with a £3.5bn deficit and non-EU with a £4.7bn deficit.

OECD GDP Expands By 2.8%

GDP growth in the OECD increased by 0.7% in Q2 2010 as it did during the first quarter. Real GDP grew by 1% in the euro area and the EU driven by record growth of 2.2% in Germany. It is the highest rate since reunification. The UK saw growth of 1.1% from 0.3%, France 0.6% from 0.2% and Italy unchanged at 0.4%. Growth slowed in the US and Japan with growth figures of 0.1% and 0.6% respectively from 1.1% and 0.9% in the first quarter. GDP in the OECD area expanded by 2.8% from 2.4% on the previous quarter. The highest rate was in Germany with 3.7% and the lowest was Italy with 1.1%.

Business Confidence Unchanged In June

The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) remained unchanged after 14 months of improvement. The indicator suggests that the trend will continue though some momentum may be lost. The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) was also broadly unchanged at 100.1 in the EU and 98.7 in the euro area. The BCI and the ESI data is from the European Commission Director General of Economic and Financial Affairs.

Unemployment In Europe Stays At 10%

Unemployment in the euro area in May was unchanged at 10%, in EU27 it was also unchanged at 9.6% compared with April 2010. In May 2009 it was 9.4% and 8.9% respectively according to Eurostat.

The seasonally-adjusted percentage changes equate to 23,127 million unemployed people in the EU27 and 15,789 million unemployed people in the euro area. The number of people unemployed in the euro area increased by 35,000 compared with the previous month and decreased by 37,000 in the EU27. Compared with May 2009 the number had increased by 1.801 million people in EU27 and by 0.991 million people in the euro area.

There was a fall in unemployment in 5 Member States and an increase in unemployment in 22. These figures compare with unemployment in the US in May 2010 at 9.7% and in Japan at 5.2%.

2.1% Rise In Euro Labour Costs

Euro area hourly labour costs rose by 2.1% in the year to Q1 2010. In the EU27 the rise was 2.2%. Wages and salaries per hour grew by 2% and the non-wage component by 2.1%. In the EU27 wages and salaries rose by 2.3% and the non-wage component by 1.9%. Statistics from Eurostat Labour Cost Index (LCI) euroindicators.

In the euro area, labour costs per hour in industry increase was 1.8%, in construction 2.1% and in services 2.2% in the year to Q1 2010. In the EU27 labour costs per hour grew by 1.8% in industry, 1.4% in construction and 2.5% in services.

The highest annual increases were in Bulgaria (10.5%) and Romania (7.4%). The highest decreases were in Lithuania (-11%), Latvia (-7.2%), Estonia (5.5%) and the Czech Republic (-3.1%).