Inflation Down By 0.1% In Europe

Consumer inflation fell in both areas of the EU in November according to a statistical bulletin from Eurostat. Inflation in the euro area fell by 0.1% from 0.4% in October to 0.3% in November 2014. In the EU28 similarly the rate of inflation fell from 0.5% in October to 0.4% in November.

There were negative annual rates in Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and Poland with Bulgaria showing a rate of -1.9%. The highest rates were in Romania and Austria with annual rates of 1.5% and Finland on 1.1%.

Self-Employment In UK In 2014

In 2014 there were 4.6m self-employed people in the UK accounting for 15% of people in work. It is highest percentage it has been at any point in the last 40 years. There were also 356,000 employees who had a second job in which they were self-employed.

The rise in total employment since 2008 has been among the self-employed. It is largely due to fewer people leaving self-employment than in the past. Self-employed people tend to be older than employees. Self-employment among the over 65s has more than doubled in the past 5 years to reach nearly half a million.

Average median income from self-employment has fallen by 22% since 2008-9. In 2012-13 average median income from self-employment was £207 according to the Family Resource Survey. It should be noted that household surveys tend to underestimate income from self-employment. Income figures also include individuals who made a loss whereas employed people do not get paid a negative figure. Self-employed people do not get the same benefits as employed people in terms of sick pay, paid leave or maternity pay.

London had the highest concentration of self-employed people at 17.3% followed by the south west on 16.6% and the south east at 15.8%. The north east had the lowest concentration at 10.8%.

Across Europe the country with the highest rate of self-employment was Greece with 32%. Italy came next with 23.6% and Romania with 20.4%. The high figure for Greece is partly because of the high proportion of people self-employed in agriculture and the effects of tourism. The lowest rates were in Luxembourg with 8.1%, Denmark with 9% and Estonia with 9.4%. The EU average self-employment rate was 15.2% very close to the 15% in the UK. The UK has seen the third largest percentage rise in self-employment since 2009 at 19% behind Slovenia at 23% and Estonia at 20%. These countries are small in comparison and the average percentage change in the EU as a whole was -0.1%.

Annual Inflation Increase In Both Zones

European annual inflation increased in both zones in June 2013 compared to May going up 1.6% in the euro area and 1.7% in the EU27. Monthly inflation increased by 0.1% in both zones in June. Romania had the highest annual rate with 4.5% and Greece the lowest with -0.3%. The lowest 12 month average rate was in Greece with 0.2% and Romania the highest 4.5%.

Fall In European Annual Inflation

Annual inflation fell in Europe in February in both the euro area and the EU27. In the euro area inflation fell to 1.8% from 2% while in the EU27 it fell to 2% from 2.1% in January. The monthly inflation figures also fell by 0.4% in both zones.

The lowest annual rates were in Greece (0.1%) and Portugal (0.2%) and the highest rates were in Romania (4.8%) and Estonia (4%). The biggest upward contributions to the changes were from electricity (0.17%), fruit and tobacco (both 0.07%) and the biggest downward contributions came from telecommunications (-0.22%), medical and paramedical services (0.08%) and garments (0.07%).

Estimated Fall In EU GDP

The flash estimates of GDP for Europe for Q4 2012 suggest that GDP fell by 0.6% in the euro area and 0.5% in the EU27 quarter on quarter (Eurostat). The annual comparison suggests seasonally adjusted GDP fell by 0.9% in the euro area and 0.6% in the EU27 comaped with Q4 2011. GDP fell by 0.5% in the euro area and 0.3% in the EU27 over the whole of the year 2012.

Producer Prices Up Across Europe

Industrial producer prices (IPP) rose across Europe in August in both zones. In the euro area the IPP rose by 0.9% and in the EU27 by 1%. Both zones increased by 0.3% in July. Compared with 2011 the IPP increased by 2.7% in both zones. The main differences were in the energy sector with a 2.4% and 3.2% increase in the euro area and the EU27 respectively and in intermediate goods with increases of 0.5% in the euro area and 0.4% in the EU27. The highest increases in producer prices were to be found in Denmark (2.9%), the UK (1.8%) and Finland (1.7%). The lowest increases wwere found in Slovenia (0.1%) and Latvia (0.3%).

UK Stock Market Value Up In 2010

The total value of all UK ordinary shares quoted on the London Stock Exchange increased by £619.7bn to £1777.5bn, or 53.4%. The indicators have been rising since the 1980s but since 1995 they have risen more sharply reflecting global events and it can be seen, for example, in the FTSE 100 index.

Individuals hold 11.5% of the shares, banks 2.5%, unit trusts 6.7%, insurance companies share holding has continued to fall from 21.6% in 1998 to 8.6% in 2010, pension funds holding has fallen from 21.7% in 1998 to 5.1% in 2010, investment trusts 2.1% and other financial institutions increased their hold to 16%. Private non-financial companies hold 2.3%. The rest of the world holds 41.2% of the shares. Charities, church and others hold 0.9%. The public sector increased its hold from 0.1% in 1998 to 3.1% in 2010.

FTSE 100 companies comprised 81.7% of the total value of the stock market at the end of 2010. The rest of the world holdings of shares geographical breakdown shows North America owns 56%, Europe 28% and Asia 11%.

Industrial Production In Europe

European industrial production fell in November by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.2% in the EU27, according to Eurostat. The monthly index suggests that production fell by 0.1% in both areas compared with October when the index fell by 0.3% in both zones.

Producer Prices Up In Europe

The industrial producer prices index by Eurostat increased by 0.2% in the euro area in November 2011 and by 0.3% in the EU27 compared with October. When compared with November 2010 the index went up by 5.3% in the euro area and by 6.3% in the EU27.

Total industry prices excluding energy fell by 0.1% in the euro area and remained stable in the EU27 in the monthly comparison. Energy prices increased by 0.9% and 0.1% respectively. Non-durable consumer goods increased by 0.3% in both areas and durables by 0.2%. Intermediate goods fell by 0.4% and 0.3% respectively and capital goods remained stable.

In the annual comparison total industry prices increased by 3% in the euro area and by 3.3% in the EU27. Energy prices increased by 12.3% and 13.8% respectively. Prices in the non-durable goods sector increased by 3.6% in the euro area and 4.2% in the EU27, intermediate goods by 3.5% and 3.8% respectively, durables by 2.6% in both zones and capital goods by 1.4% in the euro area and by 1.5% in the EU27.

Sweden reported the largest increases on the monthly comparison with 1.6%, followed by the UK, Ireland and Greece. Using the annual comparison, the greates increases were in the UK with 11.6% followed by Lithuania (10.8%) and Latvia (9.1%).

September Retail Trade Down In Europe

The volume of retail trade in Europe fell in both the euro zone and the EU in general in September when compared with August 2011. The year on year retail sales index also fell in both areas.

Volume fell by 0.7% in the euro area and 0.3% in the EU27 during the month between August and September. The non-food sector fell by 0.8% in the euro area and 0.9% in the EU while food, drink and tobacco remained unchanged in the euro area and rose by 0.1% in the EU27. The total retail trade index fell in 11 of the member states and rose in 8. The highest decreases were in Portugal (-3.7%), Slovenia (-2.1%) and Spain (-1.7%) and the largest increases were in Poland (2.4%), UK (1%) and Latvia (0.9%).

The index fell by 1.5% in the euro area and 0.8% in the EU27 when comparing 2010 and 2011. The food category fell by 0.5% in the euro area and 0.4% in the EU as a whole. The non-food sector fell by 1.9% and 0.8% respectively. The highest decreases were in Malta (-7.5%), Portugal (-6.2%) and Spain (-5.8%). The highest increases were in Lithuania (10.6%), Luxembourg (8.3%) and Latvia (8.1%).

Inflation In The OECD Continues To Rise In September

Consumer prices in the OECD countries continued to rise in September by 3.3% after a 3.2% increase in August. It is the highest rate since October 2008. The 5.2% rise in inflation in the UK in September was mainly due to the 18.1% rise in energy prices in September after a 12.3% rise in August. It is back to the peak of September 2008, the highest since records began in January 1997. Consumer price inflation also increased in Italy (3%), Germany (2.6%), the US (3.9%) and Canada (3.2%). In France prices remained stable but in Japan prices fell by 0.2% to 0%. In Europe, the HICP increased to 3%.

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.

Poverty And Social Exclusion In Europe

Eurostat has released details of a new publication 'Income and living conditions in Europe' issued in connection with the closing conference of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion due to take place 16-17 December 2010. It is based on data from the EU-SILC survey.

One of the key targets of the Europe 2020 strategy is to lift at least 20m people in the EU27 out of the risk of poverty or social exclusion. Progress towards this is measured using a combination of three measures: persons at risk of poverty; severely materially deprived persons and persons living in households with very low work intensity. In 2008 nearly 116m people in the EU27 were affected by at least one of the three criteria of social exclusion and nearly 7m fall under all three criteria.

In the EU27 16.5% of the population, a total of 81m people, were at risk of poverty after social transfers. The country with the highest percentage of the total population in this category was Latvia (25.6%), the lowest percentage was in the Czech Republic (9%). In the UK 18.8% of the population or 11.4m people fell into this category.

Bulgaria (41.2%) had the highest percentage of severely materially deprived persons and lowest percentage was in Luxembourg (0.7%). In the EU27 8.5% of the population or 41.5m people fell into this category. The UK figure was 4.5% or 2.7m people.

Ireland (13.6%) had the highest percentage of people living in households with very low work intensity. The lowest percentage was in Cyprus (4.1%). In the UK 4.8m people, 10.2% of the population, were in this category. The EU27 percentage was 9%. The total number of people in this category in the EU27 was 34.2m.

Foreign Direct Investment 2009

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows abroad by British companies totalled £21.2bn in 2009 down £78.1bn on 2008. It was the smallest net outward flow since 1994. The level of FDI by British companies at the end of 2009 was £1029.7bn down from a previous high of £1073.6bn at the end of 2008. Earnings from FDI by British companies were almost unchanged at £69.6bn in 2009.

Foreign companies invested £45.7bn in the UK in 2009 down £3.2bn on 2008 and the smallest inward flow since 2004. The level of FDI in the UK was £653.6bn from £660.4bn in 2008. Earnings by foreign companies increased by £23.4bn to £26.5bn in 2009.

The majority of the £21.2bn of flows invested in foreign companies was in Europe (£14.4bn) follwed by Africa (£6.6bn) and Asia (£5.5bn). Most of the earnings in 2009 were also made in Europe (£35.1bn). Europe also accounted for most of the £45.7bn invested in the UK (£27.5bn) follwed by the Americas (£20.6bn) while the Americas made the most earnings (£17.7bn).

Rise In GDP In Europe Estimated At 1%

The second estimates of GDP in Europe were that there had been a 1% increase in GDP during Q2 2010 compared with the previous quarter. The first quarter growth rates were 0.3% in the euro area and 0.4% in the EU27. GDP rose by 1.9% in the same quarter last year in the euro area and 2% in the EU27.

CPI Falls In August

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) was to 1.6% in August down from 1.8% in July. The factors that contributed most to the downward effect were gas and electricity. Prices in both sectors changed little or not at all this year but rose significantly last year. Another large effect cam from food and non-alcoholic beverages. Food prices were the main factor where prices decreased at their fastest rate for this time of year since 2000. Within the food segment the main factors were fruit, bread, cereals, vegetables and meat.

The largest upward contributor was transport where fuel price rises between July and August and price decreases at record levels last year created the upward effect. Another factor in the transport sector that made a difference was second hand car sales. Prices rose at their fastest ever for this period but fell this time last year. A downward contribution from an increase in fares in European air travel partially offset the trend. The RPI was 1.3%.

The Government target for inflation is 2% in order to maintain economic stability. It is not trying to get the lowest possible rate of inflation. As stability is the aim fluctuations below the target are as unwanted as those above it. The figure of 2% is a figure aimed at by most of the economies around the world. The UK statistics compare well to those for the US and the EU as a whole.