Figures released by statistics agency Eurostat showed that the eurozone slipped further into recession in the fourth quarter of 2012, as the region’s GDP as a whole contracted by 0.6 per cent during the quarter compared with a 0.4 per cent decline in the third quarter. This was the worst performance in almost four years.

This GDP data was also negative on a country-by-country basis, with Germany slipping into a contraction of 0.6 per cent. France’s GDP also contracted after hovering above zero for a long while.

But on a positive note, eurozone industrial production (IP) rose 0.7 per cent in December compared to November, when eurozone IP had fallen by 0.7 per cent monthly. Year-on-year, output dropped 2.4 per cent compared with a 4.0 per cent fall a month earlier.

In the meantime, according to the UK Office for National Statistics, inflation in January held steady, above the Bank of England’s target rate of two per cent, as the headline measure of consumer prices held firm at 2.7 per cent compared to a year earlier. This is the fourth month in a row that inflation has stayed at this level, the highest since May 2012. Economists polled by a Bloomberg News survey expected consumer prices to rise by 2.7 per cent from a year earlier. Later in the week, the Bank of England released its inflation report, saying inflation will not return to target until early 2016, 18 months later than forecast in November.

Finally, in the US, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), during the fourth quarter of 2012 the median price of single-family homes in the US rose at the highest year-over-year pace since 2005. The 10 per cent jump, which saw the national median price jump to $178,900 (€133,844) from $162,600 (€121,649), is the sharpest increase since the 13.6 per cent rise in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Foreclosures and short sales accounted for 23 per cent of sales during the quarter, down from the 30 per cent during the same quarter last year. An improving jobs market and low interests rates are underpinning demand and driving home prices higher amid tighter supply.

This article was compiled by Bank of Valletta plc for general information purposes only.