After hectic business on Thursday, the week came to a close in Europe with a few nations releasing data.
A report from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association or ACEA, said new car registrations in total Europe rose 9.6% year-on-year to 1,420,944 in April. In March, registrations fell 9.5%. Registrations in the EU15 rose 9.4% on an annual basis to 1,275,546. In the Western Europe, it rose 9.5%. Further, the association said that the German market is recovering from a weak performance in 2007, posting an annual increase of 20% to 317,960 registrations.
Eurozone
The Eurostat announced that Euro zone trade balance with the rest of the world showed a deficit of EUR2.3 billion in March. In February, the trade balance recorded a surplus of EUR0.8 billion. Economists had expected the trade surplus to increase to EUR2.5 billion in March. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the trade deficit totaled EUR2.4 billion, following a surplus of EUR1.6 billion in February. Exports dropped by seasonally adjusted 2.9% month-on-month, while imports remained stable. The extra-EU27 trade balance was a deficit of EUR20.5 billion compared with EUR10.5 billion deficit in March 2007, the report added.
Meanwhile, Italy's trade deficit increased to EUR545 million in March. The trade deficit totaled EUR127 million in the prior year. Exports declined 3.8% on an annual basis to EUR31.28 billion and imports slid 2.5% to EUR31.82 billion. Foreign trade with EU nations showed a surplus of EUR667 million, down from EUR749 million. Exports showed an annual fall of 6.8% and imports decreased 6.6%.
In France, statistical office INSEE reported that hourly basic wage for manual workers grew 1% in the first quarter, up from 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2007. The hourly wages grew more than 0.9% increase registered during the corresponding period of 2007. Separately, INSEE announced that French payroll employment increased 39,400 sequentially to 16.07 million in the first quarter. Employment in manufacturing sector dropped 0.4% from the previous three months, while it grew 0.4% in service sector.
The Statistics Portugal announced that jobless rate in the first quarter eased to 7.6%. The jobless rate stood at 7.8% in the fourth quarter.
A report from the Statistics Finland showed that producer prices for manufactured products rose 3.6% year-on-year in April. Month-on-month, producer prices were up 0.7%.
Rest of the Europe
The Swiss statistical office announced that Swiss retail sales dropped 2.5% year-on-year in real terms in March. Retail sales, adjusted for working days, grew by 9.7% in March. Economists had expected an annual growth of 3% in adjusted retail sales.
In the UK, the Ministry of Justice reported that the number of company winding up petitions in England and Wales decreased 10% in the first quarter from the same quarter of 2007. The company winding up petitions stood at 2,965, up from 2,888 in the fourth quarter. Creditors' petitions dropped 15% annually to 4,851 and debtors' petitions fell 13% to 13,080 in the first quarter.
The Czech statistical office said industrial producer prices rose at slower pace of 4.7% year-on-year in April than 5.3% registered in March. On a month-on-month basis, producer prices remained unchanged. Separately, the statistical office reported that export prices decreased 0.4% month-on-month in March. According to the official report, export prices dropped mainly due to appreciation of the Czech koruna. On a monthly basis, import prices fell 0.4%. Import prices were falling for the ninth month in a row. Compared to the previous year, it declined 3.9%.
Additionally, the Minutes of the latest rate setting session of the Czech National Bank showed that the Monetary Policy Board voted 6-1 to leave two-week repo rate unchanged at 3.75%. Vice-Governor Hampl was the sole member voted for increasing rates by 0.25-percentage point.
In Turkey, consumer confidence dropped 6.99% in April from the previous month to 76.24 the latest monthly Consumer Tendency Survey produced by Turkstat and the central bank said. A reading above 100 indicates optimistic outlook, while a reading below 100 suggests pessimistic outlook.
Hungary's average gross wage increased at a slower pace of 9.9% year-on-year in March, compared to 13.1% in February. Average net monthly earnings of full-time employees increased 8.7% year-on-year versus 11.3% in the previous month.
In central bank news, Denmark's central bank hiked its key interest rate by 0.10 percentage point to 4.35% on Friday. The move is to strengthen Danish krone, which is on a weakening trend. In a report, the central bank said, "The development of the interest-rate spread has led to a weakening of the Danish krone, and in accordance with the fixed-exchange-rate policy Danmarks Nationalbank has intervened to support the krone."
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.