ECONOMIC HEADLINES 7.8.08

Financial Times
French trade deficit hits record level
France’s trade deficit widened sharply in June to a record €5.64bn,
exacerbated by the higher cost of oil and energy imports and weaker
car exports

Germany suffers steep drop in orders
Figures for June underline the rapid deterioration of the national
economic performance and raise fears about the health of the overall
European economy
Germany wobbles
If something looks unsustainable, it probably is. Even as the rest of
the eurozone was grinding to a halt, Germany seemed able to escape
the global downturn. No longer. A leaked report on German output
growth due out next week shows Germany has finally succumbed to the
pressures affecting the rest of Europe.

Fall in output fuels Spanish recession fears
Spain’s industrial output plummeted in June, stoking fears of an
imminent recession in Europe’s fifth-largest economy.
Activity in mining and manufacturing dropped 9 per cent year on year,
figures released on Wednesday by the National Statistics Institute
showed, the steepest fall since the 1993 recession and far worse than
economists’ forecasts of a 3 per cent fall.

-Times
Halifax piles on housing misery
UK's largest mortgage lender says the annual drop in prices
accelerated from 9% to 11% in a month

Credit crunch sends Barclays' profits reeling
Britain's third largest bank writes down a further £1bn after hedge
fund and Spanish property market losse

-Guardian
US housing slump 'worst since 1930s' •
Motor industry: New car sales down by 13%
Sales of new cars in Britain fell sharply last month, adding to the
evidence of falling consumer confidence and the impact of the rise in
living costs. Some 153,420 cars were registered last month, a fall of
13% and the sharpest decline since December 2006.

-Telegraph
Freddie Mac rings alarm bell after $821m dip into red
American mortgage giant Freddie Mac has warned that the US is only
halfway into its current downturn, as it slumped into the red on the
back of $3.5bn (£1.75bn) of writedowns and credit losses.
Freddie Mac, which with Fannie Mae owns or guarantees around $5
trillion worth of American mortgages, showed the housing crisis is
far from over as it booked an $821m loss in the second quarter and
slashed its dividend.