Monday, May 09, 2011

The Fall of Greece: March 2011

Looking at the most recent OECD economic indicators, Greece makes by far the weakest showing in all the Eurozone as it continues to plod through difficult economic times.

Industrial production remains in severe contraction territory, consumer has fallen off a cliff, business confidence though trending up is clearly depressed and the leading index is turning down fast dropping 0.43% since January (delayed data) and 6.44% below the level seen in February 2010.

For April (more timely data), consumer confidence declined 0.09% from March and dropped 1.32% below the level seen in April 2010 while business confidence declined notably from March dropping 0.67% but remaining 0.97% above the level seen in April 2010.

Industrial production remains weak but jumped 0.75% between November and December 2010 (much less timely data) remaining near the lowest levels seen since the late 1990s.