Spain Pulls Ahead Of The Periphery

Peripheral Eurozone countries have taken the brunt of the crisis over the last few years, requiring successive bailouts and garnering the derisive nickname PIGS (for Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain). Spain has managed to keep inflation in line with the rest of Europe and manufacturing profits higher than the periphery, mostly on the back of cheap labor, though Societe Generale analyst Herve Amourda warns that the situation may not last long.

Profit margins improved materially in Spain

“Since 2009 trends in euro area economies have differed significantly from one another, with a severe recession in peripheral countries, generally combined with a sharp decline in ULC [unit labor cost] and an impressive rise in unemployment,” says...