Global| May 18 2009News From Eastern Europe Still Mainly Negative
Summary
While faint signs of recovery have begun to appear in various parts of the world, few have appeared in Eastern Europe and this remains the case with today's reports from Eastern Europe that include industrial production in Russia and [...]
While
faint signs of recovery have begun to appear in various
parts of the world, few have appeared in Eastern Europe and this
remains the case with today's reports from Eastern Europe that include
industrial production in Russia and the Ukraine, the labor force in
Slovenia and construction in Hungary.
Russia reported that industrial production in April declined
16.8% from April, 2008, greater than the 13.7% year to year decline of
March. This was the sixth consecutive decline and the largest recorded
since the Federal Statistical Service revised its methodology in 2003.
Production in manufacturing has shown similar trends but the declines
have been significantly bigger. In April, manufacturing production was
25.3% below April 2008.
The decline in production in Ukraine has been steeper than
that in Russia and in April was 33.5% below April of 2008, compared
with a shortfall of 30.8% in March. 
The first chart shows industrial
production in Russia and Ukraine.
The monthly decline in employment in Slovenia is slowing up. It was 4,635 in March, compared with 5,056 in February and 9,187 in January, but the unemployment rate continues to climb and was 8.4% in March. Slovenia's level of employment and the unemployment rate are shown in the second chart.
| EASTERN EUROPE | Apr 09 | Mar 09 | Feb 09 | Jan 09 | Y/Y Chg | Y/Y Chg | Y/Y Chg | Y/Y Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 09 | Mar 09 | Feb 09 | Jan 09 | |||||
| Russia IP 2005=100 | 100.1 | 102.4 | 102.5 | 97.4 | -16.8% | -13.7% | -13.2% | -16.0% |
| Ukraine IP2005=100 | 80.4 | 84.5 | 78.0 | 73.9 | -33.5% | -30.8% | -31.4% | -31.8% |
| Hungary Construction Exp Bil of Forints | -- | 179.7 | 164.1 | 142.1 | -- | 8.6% | -1.2% | -9.4% |
| Slovenia Unemp Rate (%) | -- | 8.4 | 8.0 | 7.5 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Slovenia Employ Persons | -- | 865,459 | 870,094 | 875,150 | -- | -4635* | -5056* | -9187* |
| * month to month change | ||||||||
More Economy in Brief
