Indicator scoreboard
Germany - June manufacturing orders fell 2.5 percent. Orders sank 2.2 percent in west Germany and 8.9 percent in east Germany. Domestic orders declined 4.5 percent while foreign orders slipped 0.4 percent. Foreign capital goods orders rose 1.9 percent thanks to a combination of the weak euro and the willingness of German exporters take extra steps, including discounts, to export their way out of trouble.

June seasonally adjusted industrial production fell 0.4 percent. It fell 0.3 percent in west Germany and 1.2 percent in east Germany. All major production subcategories were flat or down. The decline was due mainly to shrinking output in the construction and energy sectors, down 2.0 percent and 3.0 percent respectively. Mining output dropped 2.2 percent. The manufacturing sector, which accounts for more than 85 percent of industrial output was flat. Within the manufacturing sector, capital goods output decreased by 0.7 percent and intermediate goods output fell by 0.4 percent. June seasonally adjusted industrial production as calculated by the Federal Statistics Office rose 0.8 percent in sharp contrast to the 0.4 percent decline reported by the Finance Ministry earlier. The Federal Statistics Office uses its own seasonal adjustment method (the Berlin method), while the Finance Ministry uses the Bundesbank's seasonal adjustment method (a variant of the U.S. Census procedure). The two methods can produce quite different headline results and cause confusion for analysts.

July seasonally adjusted unemployment rose 11,000, the seventh rise in a row. Unemployment has risen 88,000 in the first seven months of 2001. Seasonally adjusted job vacancies fell by 9,000 in June, the seventh decrease in a row, following a decline of 5,000 in June. Job vacancies are now down 60,000 so far this year, which bodes ill for the outlook for job creation in the months ahead. However, pan-German unemployment rate remained at 9.3 percent. In west Germany, the unemployment rate remained at 7.4 percent while in east Germany, the unemployment rate rose to 17.6 percent from 17.5 percent in June.

June seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus stood at E6.3 billion on a nominal basis, down from a E7.4 billion surplus in May but up from E5.8 billion in June 2000. June exports, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price differences rose 1.1 percent and were up 8.1 percent on the year. Imports were up 3.8 percent and 8.3 percent on the year.

Italy - Preliminary seasonally adjusted second quarter gross domestic product fell 0.1 percent on the quarter but rose 2.0 percent when compared with last year. First quarter GDP rose 0.8 percent on the quarter and 2.5 percent on the year. This is the first negative quarterly growth rate since the fourth quarter of 1998. Second quarter growth fell because there were two fewer working days than in the first quarter. No figures for components were available.

June seasonally and workday adjusted industrial production rose 0.1 percent and 0.6 percent when compared with last year. Consumer goods' output rose 1.2 percent but fell an unadjusted 1.4 percent on the year. Output of investment goods fell an adjusted 0.4 percent and an unadjusted 3.1 percent on the year, while intermediate goods declined by 0.4 percent on the month and 3.8 percent on the year.

Britain - June manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent. This was the first increase since December, but the gain was barely enough to prevent the sector from plunging into recession in the second quarter. Manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent but was 1.9 percent below levels of a year earlier. Over the second quarter, output fell by 2 percent, the sharpest quarterly contraction since the first quarter of 1991, following a 0.7 percent decline in the first quarter. Having posted two consecutive quarters of negative growth, the figures confirm that the manufacturing sector is now in a technical recession. Nearly half of the monthly gain in June was due to an increase in the output of the electrical and optical equipment industries. Output here rose by 0.8 percent on the month following massive declines of 4.3 percent and 5.1 percent in the two previous months. Manufacturing output increased in nine out of the thirteen manufacturing sub-sectors. The wider measure of industrial production rose 0.1 percent on the month but was still down 2.1 percent on levels a year earlier.

Asia
Japan - June spending by households of two or more people slid 2.8 percent after rising 1.4 percent in May. Spending fell 3.8 percent when compared with last year - the third straight decline. Household spending fell 2.3 percent in the three months ended June 30.

June machinery orders fell 6.6 percent after a 2.1 drop in May. Orders fell 9.5 percent when compared with last year. This was the first decline in 19 months. The figures exclude orders from shipbuilders and power utilities. Manufacturers' orders fell 12 percent, led by a 27 percent decline among electrical machine makers and a 17 percent drop among general machinery makers. Orders by retailers, transport companies and other non-manufacturers declined 2.7 percent. In the three months ended June 30, orders rose 1.1 percent from the previous quarter. The most watched measure of machine orders excludes those for shipbuilding related and electric utility equipment because the large projects typical of those industries skew overall numbers. Orders from companies in all industries fell 19 percent.

Australia - July seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 6.9 percent despite a drop of 79.200 full time jobs. This was the largest drop since February 1978 when monthly figures were first compiled. Part time positions rose by 66,600 meaning that the economy overall lost 12,600 jobs, the third straight monthly decline. The jobless rate was unchanged as fewer people sought work.

Americas
Canada - July unemployment rate remained at 7 percent despite an employment decline of 14,000 jobs. The decline left employment growth up 0.1 percent for the first half of 2001, much slower than the 0.9 percent growth in the first seven months of 2000. Full time employment fell by 12,300 and part time employment by 1,700. In the first seven months this year, full time employment has fallen 33,000, in sharp contrast to the 98,000 increase in the same period of 2000. Part time employment has increased 48,000 thus far in 2001, similar to the 40,000 increase in the period in 2000. The labor force decreased by 5,400 with the participation rate dropping to 65.8 percent from 66.0 percent.

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