Weekly Indicators
Economic and financial indicators
Aug 16th 2007
From The Economist print edition
GDP in the euro area rose by 0.3% in the second quarter, a smaller-than-expected increase, leaving it 2.5% higher than a year earlier. The second-quarter increase in GDP in both France and Germany was in line with the euro-area average. Spain's GDP rose by 0.8% in the same period.
Consumer prices in America rose by 0.1% in July and by 2.4% from a year earlier. Prices excluding food and energy rose by 0.2% in the month, the same as in June. Both industrial output and the value of retail sales rose by 0.3% in July.
Japan's GDP rose by 0.1% in the second quarter and by 2.3% from a year earlier.
In Britain consumer prices rose by 1.9% in the year to July, down from a 2.4% rate in June and below the government's 2% target for the first time since March 2006. The unemployment rate was 5.4% in the three months to June, down from 5.5% in the three months to March. Average earnings rose 3.3% in the year to the second quarter, the lowest increase for nearly four years.
China's consumer prices rose by 5.6% in the year to July, the biggest increase for ten years, because of sharp rises in the cost of meat. The inflation rate excluding food prices was a less alarming 0.9%.
Norway's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate from 4.5% to 4.75% on August 15th. The bank said that financial-market turbulence did not warrant a departure from its monetary strategy set out in June.
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