"The financial markets appear to have survived the government debt crisis, but the leading economic indicators have recently declined"
-Joerg Kraemer, Chief Economist at Commerzbank AG
Producer prices in Europe's largest economy slowed for the third consecutive month in April, suggesting weak domestic demand and raising concerns that the economy is far away from the recovery. The measure of producer prices for industrial products inched up only 0.1% from the corresponding month of the prior year. In March 2013 the annual reading stood at +0.4%, while in producer prices registered a 1.2% gain. On a monthly basis PPI fell by 0.2%, from the same reading a month earlier and down from a 0.1% contraction in February 2013. German economy returned to growth in the first quarter of this year, recording a 0.1% growth and recovering from a 0.7% decline in last quarter of 2012. Even as the economy was hit by problems in the neighbouring Eurozone countries, it is still in better shape than almost all the 17 European Union countries that use the shared currency.
"The financial markets appear to have survived the government debt crisis, but the leading economic indicators have recently declined," said Joerg Kraemer, Chief Economist at Commerzbank AG. There is "a significant risk that, contrary to analysts' expectations, the economy will not pick up in the spring. Industry is gaining pace as order books have started to fill again and companies are cautiously stepping up their investment plans," he said.
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