… GE’s Spinoff Move and Quarterly Profit, China’s Trade Surplus, India’s Industrial Output and MORE.

French Manufacturing Falls
Like the Fourth of July for the United States, if the backyard barbecues were replaced by raucous parties, Bastille Day commemorates the symbolic crux of the first French Revolution. When it comes to manufacturing in France, however, the cause for celebration is less than overwhelming this week.

French industrial production dropped sharply in May — representing the steepest decline since October 2005 — adding to the accumulating evidence of a slowdown in the eurozone economy. The output of French factories and utilities fell 2.6 percent from April, according to the nation statistics office’s latest data (via RTT News). The decline was widespread in all industries in May, from automotive and energy to durable production and consumer goods

India Industrial Production Slows Sharply
In May, India’s industrial production slowed to its slowest pace in six years, the statistics office said in New Delhi said late last week (via Bloomberg News). Production at factories, utilities and mines in Asia’s second largest economy was at 3.8 percent in May, against 10.6 percent in the same month last year.

Manufacturing output rose 3.9 percent in May against 11.3 percent for the corresponding period a year earlier.

Rising inflation, high input costs and monetary tightening are cited as the chief causes of the sharp slowdown.

China’s Trade Surplus Falls in First Half of 2008
China’s trade surplus fell nearly 12 percent in the first half of 2008, official data showed last week.

“The surplus for the first six months of the year came in at $99.04 billion, with strong domestic consumption also helping to boost imports and ease the trade imbalance,” AFP reports on the data.

In addition to a slowing global economy, other factors fingered as the cause of Chinese exporters’ decreasing authority include currency appreciation, rising costs of labor, raw materials, land and environmental protection, and the removal of favorable policies toward exports.

Aluminum Hits Record High
Aluminum for delivery in three months hit an all-time high of $3,380 (U.S.) per ton on Thursday, after China’s top 20 smelters said they would cut production by up to 10 percent to reduce power consumption, Reuters reports. The energy-intensive metal closed at $3,290 per ton on the London Metal Exchange (LME), up $100 from Wednesday.

Aluminum, the most traded contract on the LME, has more than doubled in five years as rising power prices buoy production costs. Energy accounts for 30 percent to 40 percent of the cost of producing the metal.

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall
The number of individuals filing new claims for unemployment declined by the largest amount in nearly three years, but that was largely due to seasonal adjustment factors, the United States Dept. of Labor said last week.

In the week ending July 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted first-time claims filed fell by 58,000 to 346,000, well below the 399,000 claims economists polled by Thomson Reuters IFR Markets were expecting. That was the largest weekly decline since Sept. 2005.

Typically, the first couple weeks of July are marked by an increase in claims due to annual retooling of assembly lines primarily in the automotive industry. The Labor Department said it did not see the full increase that was expected — labor was expecting an increase in claims of around 90,000 but instead received an increase of 30,000 — so the large decline in claims during the latest week is a response to the seasonal expectation.

GE’s Spinoff Move and Quarterly Profit
General Electric (GE) said on Thursday it is likely to spin off its industrial unit including its appliance division as part of planned reorganization. The spinoff would mark the first time in 100 years that GE isn’t in the appliance business.

A day after GE announced that it intends to seek options for spinning off its consumer and and industrial division, the company reported that its quarterly profit fell 6 percent from a year ago, weighed down by weakness at its financial unit, which was battered by a weak housing market, flagging consumer confidence and inflation concerns.

Nonetheless, the company’s results “were a welcome relief to investors after an unprecedented miss for the first quarter due to turmoil in the financial markets,” MarketWatch reports. While its second-quarter earnings were flat, the conglomerate’s revenue increased. With businesses in aircraft engines, oil-drilling equipment and wind turbines, GE said revenue for the quarter rose 11 percent to $46.89 billion from $42.4 billion.