Indicator scoreboard
EMU - October harmonized index of consumer prices fell 0.1 percent but was up 2.4 percent when compared with last year. Energy prices sank 2.2 percent and were down 2.7 percent on the year. Core HICP, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, rose 0.2 percent and 2.3 percent on the year. The European Central Bank's inflation ceiling is two percent.

Germany - September real seasonally adjusted retail sales including autos and gasoline eked up 0.1 percent and 1.3 percent when compared with last year. Excluding autos and gasoline, retail sales were down 0.4 percent but up 1.1 percent on the year. Real retail sales (excluding auto dealerships, petrol stations and wholesale warehouses) declined 1.0 percent and 2.1 percent when compared with last year.

September seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus was E6.7 billion, down from the E10.0 billion August surplus but up from E4.8 billion in September 2000. Seasonally adjusted exports were down 4.5 percent on the month and up 4.3 percent on the year. Imports were up 1.8 percent on the month and up 0.6 percent on the year.

October wholesale price index fell 0.8 percent and 1.1 percent when compared with last year. Energy prices plunged 12.8 percent and were down to 3.7 percent on the year. Excluding oil products, wholesale prices fell 0.4 percent but rose 0.8 percent when compared with last year. Many analysts view WPI cautiously, given the high weighting of oil products in the index, and say the producer price index, due out next week, gives a better picture of the inflation situation.

France - October seasonally adjusted consumer price index rose 0.2 percent and 1.7 percent when compared with last year. Core CPI, which excludes volatile sectors like fresh food and energy, rose 0.3 percent and 2.0 percent when compared with last year.

September seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus dropped to E228 million as the plunge in exports outpaced the fall in imports. Seasonally adjusted exports dropped 11.0 percent in September and imports fell 6.0 percent. As in the case of exports, declines were posted in all sectors except autos and pharmaceuticals.

September seasonally adjusted manufacturing output dropped 1.0 percent but was up 0.4 percent when compared with last year. All sectors posted a decline.

Italy - Third quarter real seasonally adjusted preliminary gross domestic product rose 0.2 percent and 1.9 percent when compared with last year. There were two more working days in the third quarter than in the second. There were no numerical data available on components. Second quarter 2001 growth was unrevised at no change when compared with the first quarter but rose 2.1 percent when compared with last year.

Britain - October producer output price index was down 0.1 percent and 0.6 percent on the year, with the annual drop the largest since the current series began in 1958. Petroleum prices fell by 1.5 percent and by 10.1 percent on the year, the largest annual fall since January 1987. A rise in alcohol prices only partially offset the decline in petrol prices. Input prices also declined, falling 2.6 percent on the month and 9.0 percent on the year. On the input side, crude oil prices fell by 18.8 percent on the month, the largest monthly decline since December 2000, and by 33.5 percent on the year.

October retail price index (RPI) fell 0.2 percent but was up 1.6 percent when compared with last year. The retail price index excluding mortgage interest payments (RPIX) fell 0.1 percent and rose 2.3 percent on the year. The RPIX remains under the Bank of England's 2.5 percent inflation target. Clothing and footwear, fuel and light, and leisure good sectors prices all fell.

October claimant count unemployment rate rose to 3.2 percent. The number of unemployed climbed for the first time since October 2000. That is still near September's 26 year low of 3.1 percent and is the lowest in the Group of Seven nations. The International Labor Organization unemployment rate for the three months July to September rose to 5.1 percent from 5.0 for the preceding three months. Manufacturing jobs, which account for 20 percent of the economy, fell last quarter to their lowest level since records started in 1984.

September average earnings rose 4.4 percent on the year compared to the 4.5 percent recorded in August. This is below the Bank of England's 4.5 percent target rate. Single month average earnings rose slightly to 4.4 percent on the year from 4.3 percent in August. Manufacturing earnings fell back sharply, declining to 4.5 percent from 4.8 percent in August, and to 4.2 percent on the year in the single month of September from 4.7 percent in August.

October seasonally adjusted retail sales volumes dropped 0.1 percent but rose 5.7 percent on the year. The clothing, footwear and textiles sector saw the most pronounced decline in sales, with volumes falling 1.5 percent on the month. Food store sales rose 0.7 percent and 4.8 percent on the year, compared with a decline of 0.6 percent on the month and a rise of 6.2 percent on the year in predominantly non-food store sales.

Asia
Japan - October bankruptcies rose by 1,843 companies, 11.3 percent more than a year ago and the fourth highest on record, according to Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. The failed companies owed 1 trillion yen ($8.3 billion). Bankruptcies among construction companies, which employ about one in 10 Japanese workers, rose 8 percent from a year earlier to 594, while retail bankruptcies rose 2.8 percent to 221. Failures among wholesalers rose 26 percent in October from a year earlier to 341.

Introduction   •   Global Stock Market Indexes   •   Recap of Global Markets   •   Currencies   •   Indicator Scoreboard

The Bottom Line   •   Looking Ahead