Eurostat confirms Eurozone contraction in second quarter

The eurozone economy shrank by 0.2% during the second quarter, as the European statistical office Eurostat confirmed yesterday morning. The publication of this information is confirmation of the figure put forward on 14th August. In all the 27 countries that form the European Union, Eurostat had forecast that the contraction was also 0.2% between April and June, although the revised report released yesterday by the organisation corrects the data putting the fall at 0.1%.

Activity in Europe is leaning towards a new recession after growth was zero in the first three months of the year in both the eurozone and the European Union. Compared with the same period last year, GDP fell by 0.5% between the countries that share the euro and 0.3% among the EU-27.

There are important differences between the countries that share the single currency. Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and, to a lesser extent, France, are better able to resist the onslaught of the crisis while Spain, Italy or Portugal suffer more strongly the effects of the economic downturn.

GDP in the second quarter fell by 0.4% in Spain, by 0.7% in Italy and by 1.2% in Portugal. For Greece, for which there was no data on any quarterly change, the fall came to 6.2% compared with the same period last year, the biggest in the whole of Europe. Other countries in central and northern Europe have also suffered severe contractions. The biggest of all in this group has been that of Finland, with a fall of 1.1%, followed by Belgium (-0.6%) and Denmark (-0.5%).

El Pais reported that Germany resisted the downward trend and registered growth of 0.3% compared to the first quarter, while France recorded its third consecutive quarter of stagnation.

Outside the euro, the UK confirms it is in recession, with a fall in GDP of 0.5% in the second quarter, after recording negative data in the two previous periods. The best data registered in the EU are for Sweden, with an increase of 1.4%, Latvia, whose economy experienced an improvement of 1%, and Slovakia (0.7%).

As for the components of the GDP, household consumption fell in the second quarter by 0.2% in the eurozone and the EU, after falling 0.2% and 0.1% in the previous period, respectively. Fixed capital formation fell by 0.8% in the eurozone and by 0.9% in the EU-27 (in the first quarter the decreases were of 1.3% and 0.7%, respectively).

Exports rose by 1.3% in the eurozone and by 1% in the EU (after increasing by 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively, in the first quarter) and imports grew by 0.9% in both zones after dropping by 0.2% in the previous three months.

Article source: Kyero.com

EU and eurozone GDP Falls 0.2% in Second Quarter

According to data released on Monday by the EU statistics office, Eurostat, the economy of the eurozone, and the European Union as a whole, shrank 0.2% in the second quarter compared with the first three months of 2012, when growth was zero in both zones.

In annual terms, GDP in the eurozone fell 0.4% in the second quarter compared to the same period of 2011, and that of the whole of the European Union fell by 0.2%.

The Spanish economy suffered a decline of 0.4% in the second quarter over the first quarter, and 1.0% when comparing the evolution of GDP with the same period last year.

In the second quarter of the year at least eight EU countries were in recession – there is no data available yet for them all – among them some of the largest euro economies such as Italy (with a fall of 0.7%, and 0.8% in the previous period) and Spain, with three consecutive quarters of declines.

The UK is also in recession, since its GDP contracted 0.7% in the reference period, and which now marks three consecutive quarters of negative developments.

Of the rescued countries Greece and Portugal are in recession (no data is available yet for Ireland).

In addition Cyprus, who has called on the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund for a complete rescue, accumulated four negative quarters, registering a fall of 0.8% in their GDP in the second quarter.

Romania, on the other hand, managed to emerge from recession by posting a slight increase of 0.5% between April and June, compared to the declines of 0.1% and 0.2% in the immediately preceding quarters.

Surprisingly, El Mundo reported that Finland’s economy declined by 1.0% between April and June after rising 0.8% in the first quarter. The best result was recorded by Sweden, boosting the European economy with a growth of 1.4%.

Belgium suffered the consequences of the crisis with its economy contracting by 0.6% in the second quarter, after growing 0.2% in the first, while the GDP of France remained stalled, and Germany’s rose by 0.3%.

Article source: Kyero.com

Euro area unemployment rate at 11.1%

Not good news for the unemployed

Unemployment in the Euro zone stood at 11.1% in May, a rise of 0.1% from April and up by 1.1% compared to the same month in 2011.

The figure across all 27 members of the EU was at 10.3% in May, up 0.1% compared to April 2012 and up from 9.5% in the same month last year.

This is according to figures released by statistics agency Eurostat who estimate that 24,868 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 17,561 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in May 2012.

Comparing to April this year, the number of unemployed people increased by 151,000 in the EU27 and by 88,000 in the Euro zone. Comparing to May in the previous year unemployment rose by 1,952 million in the EU27 and by 1,820 million in the Euro zone.

The lowest unemployment figures were recorded by Austria (4.1%), the Netherlands (5.1%), Luxembourg (5.4%) and Germany with 5.6% unemployment. The highest, unsurprisingly, was Spain with 24.6%, followed by Greece where unemployment in March stood at 21.9%.

Comparing to May 2011, unemployment fell in eight member states, increased in 18, while remaining stable in Hungary. The largest fall recorded was in Estonia where the figure fell from 13.6% to 10.9%. In Lithuania a fall of two points from 15.7% to 13.7% was recorded. The highest increases were recorded in Greece and Spain jumping from 15.7% to 21.9% and 20.9% to 24.6% respectively. In Cyprus, the latest country to ask for help, the figure increased from 7.5% to 10.8%.

By Sex

The rate of unemployment between the sexes remains similar across Europe. In the Euro zone the rate for males increased from 9.8% to 10.9%. Across the EU27 the rate increased from 9.5% to 10.3%. For females the rate in the Euro zone increased from 10.3% to 11.3% while in the EU27 the rate increased from 9.6% to 10.4%.

Youth Unemployment

The picture for young people (under 25) continues to be bleak with higher overall figures.

In May 2012 there were 5.517 million young persons claiming unemployment in the EU27, of whom 3.412 million were in the Euro zone. Compared to May 2011, the number of young people out of work increased by 282,000 in the EU27 and by 245,000 in the Euro zone. In may of this year youth unemployment was at 22.7% in the EU27 and at 22.6% in the Euro zone, compared to the previous year when the figures were 21.0% and 20.5% respectively

The lowest rates of youth unemployment were recorded in Germany (7.9%), Austria (8.3%) and the Netherlands (9.2%), and the highest was in Greece (52.1% in March 2012) and Spain (52.1%).

You can see the full report from Eurostat here: Euro area unemployment rate at 11.1%