Eurozone shows decline signals during third quarter

Tensions in the Ukraine have pushed investors to head to safer assets, particularly since economic data by Germany, France, and Italy showed decline signals at Eurozone's economic growth during the third quarter of 2014, said a report by the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) on Sunday.
The NBK report also said that retail sales slightly changed in July, recording the worst performance in six months, as car demand slowed and slow wage growth restrained US consumers.
It also noted that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, but the increase did little to change views that the labor market was strengthening. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 311,000 for the week ended 9-August, said NBK.
As for European economy, the report said that German investor confidence declined to the lowest level since 2012 as the crisis in Ukraine and a sluggish euro-area recovery damp the outlook for Europe's largest economy.
It also added that the Bank of England has pledged not rush to raise interest rates as he highlighted overseas risks to the UK's recovery and the weakness of wages.
British workers earned less between April and June than they did in the same period last year, even as the unemployment rate fell once again, noted the report, adding at the same time that the unemployment rate fell as expected to 6.4 percent in the three months to June, its lowest level since the end of 2008 and down from 6.5 percent a month earlier.