News Round Up: Little Thanksgiving in the Eurozone

Econintersect:  As people in the U.S prepare for their annual Thanksgiving holiday, there is little in the news from Europe to be thankful for.  The key words for the week include unemloyment, recession, and Greece.

Jobless in the Crisis: Euro-Zone Unemployment Higher than Ever Before – http://www.spiegel.de/The European debt crisis and related austerity measures continue to drive up unemployment across the euro zone. In September, according to statistics released on Wednesday, fully 18.5 million people were without work in the common currency area, more than ever before.

Eurozone enters new recession – http://www.markit.com/The eurozone slid back in to recession in the third quarter, with gross domestic product falling 0.1%, down for the second successive month after a 0.2% decline in the second quarter.

Eurozone industry sees steepest slump for over four years – http://www.markit.com/Industrial production fell 2.5% across the eurozone in September, considerably larger than analysts’ estimates of a 1.9% decline and the largest fall since January 2009. The data add to evidence that the eurozone economy is heading back into recession as deteriorating economic conditions spread from deficit-fighting countries to previously robust-growing countries such as Germany.

Greece

Eurogroup’s Juncker says euro zone threats do not help Greece – http://www.reuters.com/BIELEFELD, Germany (Reuters) – Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker took aim at Austria, Germany and the southern German state of Bavaria on Saturday for suggesting that a Greek exit from the euro zone was looming.

Privatizing Greece, Slowly but Not Surely – http://www.nytimes.com/As Greece redoubles its efforts to cut its debt and stoke its economy, privatization is viewed as a last hope for luring foreign cash. But the effort has been sputtering.

Lagarde says Greek program should be “rooted in reality” – http://www.reuters.com/MANILA (Reuters) – An agreement among Greece’s creditors on how to reduce its large debt pile should be “rooted in reality and not in wishful thinking,” the head of the International Monetary Fund said as she heads into a tense meeting with European leaders.

UK

Falling retail sales add to signs of UK economic downturn in fourth quarter – http://www.markit.com/A steep fall in retail sales in October represents a disappointing start to the fourth quarter and adds to evidence that, like the British summer, the return to growth seen in the third quarter will prove disappointingly brief.

UK inflation jumps to five-month high in October – http://www.markit.com/UK inflation jumped higher in October, and the expectation of further price hikes in coming months suggests that the rising cost of living will continue to act as a drag on economic growth. The Bank of England may revise down its growth projections, which will in turn raise the perceived need for further stimulus.

Gloomy forecasts for UK engineering firms – http://www.standard.co.uk/business/A raft of bad news flowed in from Britain’s engineering companies today — including the FTSE 100 giant Melrose — with gloomy manufacturing forecasts clouding their outlooks for next year.

News in brief: Aegis tops market with a leap in ads, Energy bills hit by British Gas tariff hike, Export hope for euro strugglers – http://www.standard.co.uk/business/Aegis, Britain’s second-biggest advertising group, today reported a market-leading 6.3% jump in third-quarter revenues, easily out-performing rivals such as WPP and Publicis.

France

France ‘not sick man of Europe’ – http://cnn.com/France’s socialist government seized on better than expected economic growth figures to reject concern that France could become the next focus of the eurozone crisis, insisting it is acting to reform the flagging economy.

France, Poland join forces ahead of EU budget showdown – http://news.yahoo.comThe French and Polish presidents agreed Friday to lobby for strong development and farm spending as economic stimulus at upcoming European Union budget talks, despite the bloc’s paymaster Germany wanting austerity.

Finland

The Periphery Just Got Bigger – econintersect.com  by Dirk Ehnts, Econblog101  The Autumn Forecast of the EU Commission features revealing graph.  One could argue that the periphery just got bigger, with Finland turning into a deficit country, too. Many economists argued that the countries in crisis must find ‘the next Nokia’, and then would return to their growth path…

Klondike in Lapland: Mining Companies Swarm to Finland’s Far North – http://www.spiegel.de/Mining companies are flocking to northern Finland as new deposits of gold, nickel and other minerals promise vast profits. But the area’s fragile wetland ecosystem is paying the price. Conservationists are so far fighting a losing battle.

Spain

Thousands of police march in Spain austerity protest – http://news.yahoo.comAbout 5,000 police officers marched through the centre of Madrid on Saturday to protest salary cuts and the thinning of their ranks as Spain grapples with its sovereign debt crisis.

Santander plans to invest in Spain’s bad bank – http://www.reuters.com/MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Santander plans to invest in the country’s so-called bad bank in a sign that healthy domestic lenders are willing to support the entity created to clean up the aftermath of a 2008 property crash.

Other

Monti says Italy austerity may have saved eurozone – http://news.yahoo.comItalian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Saturday defended the biting austerity measures imposed during his first year in power, saying without them the eurozone might have broken up or collapsed altogether.

Moody’s to review Cyprus for possible downgrade – http://news.yahoo.comRating firm Moody’s said Friday it would review Cyprus for a possible downgrade, citing dragging bailout talks with international lenders on an aid package.

30,000 Slovenians protest austerity measures: organisers – http://news.yahoo.comTens of thousands joined a demonstration on Saturday called by Slovenia’s main unions amid Europe-wide rallies this week to protest government austerity measures to tackle the economic crisis.

Buttonwood: Converging world – http://www.economist.com/ALL around the developed world politicians are struggling to figure out the best way of balancing their budgets, at least over the medium term. But is it easier to get spending down or taxes up?The charts show the recent record on tax and spending for America, the euro zone and the OECD as a whole. The spending numbers are slightly more variable and consistently higher than the tax take…

Ireland lifts EU debt crisis gloom – http://cnn.com/Investors looking for good eurozone news this week should have heeded Village People’s advice: “Go West.” Ireland became the first eurozone member, excluding tiny Estonia, to see a positive rating action by one of the big three US ratings agencies since the region’s debt crisis erupted in late 2009.

Free exchange: Border follies – http://www.economist.com/ IN BAD economic times the temptation to bash immigration is overwhelming. “Get the stench out of Greece,” runs a slogan of Golden Dawn, an increasingly popular anti-immigrant party there. David Cameron has pledged to more than halve annual net migration into Britain by 2015. In America Republicans are wondering how much anti-immigration rhetoric contributed to Mitt Romney’s defeat in the presidential election…

Off the Charts: Industrial Production Sags, and Even Germany Is Affected – http://www.nytimes.com/Figures reported this week showed that industrial production in the euro zone fell 2.5 percent in September from the prior month, the largest monthly decline since January 2009. Production in Germany was off 2.1 percent.

Tango with the Tax Man: Multinationals Find Loopholes Galore in Europe – http://www.spiegel.de/Large multinationals, many of them based in the United States, are masters at avoiding taxes on profits made abroad. Apple, for example, paid just $100 million in taxes in 2010 on overseas profits of $13 billion. But Germany would like to put a stop to the practice, and is finding some influential support…

Latin Americans Question EU Austerity – http://online.wsj.com/Latin American leaders warned that Europe’s budget-slashing measures alone are ineffective.

Corruption Scandal: Investigation into Dubious EADS Austria Deal Intensifies – http://www.spiegel.de/A scandal over dubious transfers of millions of euros is creating turbulence for European defense giant EADS. If suspicions by investigators that the company committed corruption in a deal to sell Eurofighters to Austria are proven, it could mean the end of the sale — and billions in losses.

Daily Economic Overview [15 Nov]: Equities extend their losing streak as eurozone slips into a new recession – http://www.markit.com/The FTSE All World share price index is down to its lowest since 3rd August, dropping 0.2%. The index has fallen in each of the past seven sessions, slumping some 4.1%. Of the major bourses, only Tokyo has seen an increase, linked to improved prospects for the country’s exports following a 2% fall in the yen over the past two days.

Steven Hansen and John Lounsbury