The latest report from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology showed that industrial new orders fell 0.9% month-on-month in May. Economists had expected an increase of 0.8%. This is for the sixth straight month industrial new orders are declining. The ministry revised April's monthly decrease to 1.7% from a 1.8% fall reported earlier. Year-on-year, new orders declined 2%, in contrast to a 2% growth forecasted.

France's budget deficit slightly narrowed to EUR50.1 billion in the first five months of the year from a deficit of EUR50.5 billion recorded in the year before, the Budget Ministry said.

The statistical office INE reported that Spanish industrial production, adjusted for calendar effects, declined 5.5% year-on-year in May. This comes after a 0.2% gain in the previous month. On an unadjusted basis, industrial output fell 7.3% year-on-year in May, after a robust 11.8% growth in April.

According to a report released by the Statistical Service of the Republic of Cyprus, the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices, or HICP, increased 5.2% year-over-year in June. The HICP inflation shot up from 4.6% in April.

The Central Statistics Office reported that the Irish Live Register total rose to 217,400 in June from 207,300 in May. The actual number of Irish signing on Live Register, which includes part-time workers, seasonal and casual workers entitled to Jobseekers Benefit or Allowance, increased nearly a third in the year to June. Ireland's standardized jobless rate stood at 5.7% in June, up from 5.4% in May and 4.6% a year ago.

Statistics Portugal announced that industrial turnover remained unchanged over the year-ago period in May. Domestic sales were up 1.7% during the period, while export sales fell 2.7%. For the quarter ended May, industrial turnover grew 2.5% year-on-year.

Statistics Austria announced that trade surplus for April stood at EUR62.63 million, down from EUR240.97 million a year ago. Exports rose 12.6% year-on-year, while imports were up 14.9%. For the period from January to April, Austria recorded a trade surplus of EUR468.84 million, with exports rising 6.8% and imports up 6.5%.

Motor vehicle registrations in Finland decreased 5.7% year-on-year to 24,157 in June, the Statistics Finland said. Meanwhile, new passenger car registrations increased 3% over the previous year to 12,132.

Rest of Europe

Hungary upwardly revised its trade surplus figure for April to EUR64.1 million from an earlier estimate of EUR54.2 million, the statistical office reported. However, it stood lower than EUR198.9 million recorded in March. A year ago, Hungary posted a trade deficit of EUR155.4 million in April.

The Czech statistical office announced that trade surplus stood at CZK9.2 billion in May, up CZK3.9 billion from the year-ago period. Trade surplus grew from the CZK8.28 billion recorded in April. Economists were looking for a surplus of CZK7.2 billion for May.

Statistics Denmark announced that industrial production, excluding ships, dropped 3.9% month-on-month in May. This comes after a strong increase in the previous month. Total industrial production fell 3.8% over the month ago in May, after an upwardly revised 11.6% increase in April. Industrial new orders grew 14.9% month-on-month, with a 23.6% surge in export orders.

In other news, the statistical office reported that Romania's industrial new orders rose 0.9% month-on-month in May. Year-on-year, industrial new orders surged 20.2%. The statistical office also announced that industrial turnover rose 2.2% on a monthly basis in May and 7.3% over the same month last year. In a separate communiqu?, the statistical office said Romania's BIM jobless rate for the first quarter of the year stood at 6.3%, up from 6.1% in the final quarter of last year. Copyright(c) 2008 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved