Languid Economies of Spain, S Korea, UK and Brazil

choi

Only click the URL for (4). There is no need to read the rest of *1) to (3), besides what is shown.

(1) Financial Times, Jan 25, 2013.
(a) Spain Jobless at Record High.

full text:

"The bleak situation in the Spanish labour market grew darker still in the fourth quarter of last year, as unemployment rose above 26 per cent for the first time in the country's history and the number of Spaniards seeking jobs rose to nearly 6m, writes Tobias Buck in Madrid.

"The latest data, released by Spain’s national statistics office yesterday [Thursday, Jan 24], highlighted the striking divergence between the country's improved standing among bond investors and the worsening economic situation on the ground.

"Now, 5.97m Spaniards ae jobless, a rise of 363,000 compared with the third quarter of 2012. The unemployment rate stands at 26.02 per cent from 25 per cent, the second-highest in the EU, behind Greece,

"Young Spaniards have been the wprse hit. The data show 60 per cent of under-25s are unemployed.
  
(b) Simon Mundy, South Korean Growth Falls to Three-Year Low.

"[C]apping a year of disappointing performance in which struggling exports and fragile domestic sentiment took their toll * * * [g]ross domestic product in the last quarter of 2012 was just [annualized rate of] 1.5 per cent higher than a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said yesterday. That pace pulled full-year growth down to 2 per cent, the weakest figure since 2009.

"Export rose 4 per cent year on year but fell 1.2 per cent from the previous quarter. Declining foreign sales of ships and general machinery cancelled out stronger performance from technology exporters.


(2) Ainsley Thomson and Cassell Bryan-Low, UK Economy Turns Back Down; Surprisingly large fourth-period decline has dome economists worried about 'triple dip' recession. Wall Street Journal, Jan 25, 2013
(preliminary real--minus inflation, that is--annualized GDP growth rate -1.2% for 4Q12)

My comment:
(a) The annualized rate is the quarterly figure times (or multiplied by) 4.
(b) The bar chart that accompanies the report shows that after the financial crisis, there have been five negative GDP growth rates: about - 1.8% in 4Q10, around -1% each for three consecutive quarter (4Q11, 1Q12 and 2Q12), and the latest release for 4Q12.

(4) Brazil’s economy  | Wrong Numbers; More inflation, less growth. Economist, Jan 19, 2013.
http://www.economist.com/news/am ... rowth-wrong-numbers

My comment: View the graphic ONLY. I knew Brazil's GDP growth rates for the past several years have been barely positive. What I did not know, until now, was those rates did not substract inflation rates.