EU business investment rate picks up in Q2

The business investment rate rose slightly in the European Union (EU) in the second quarter of 2011, while household savings remained stable, according to data released by Eurostat, the EU statistics office Friday. In the second quarter of 2011, the gross investment rate of non-financial companies was registered at 20.3 percent in the EU's 27 member states, up from 20 percent in the first three months this year, said Eurostat. Over the same period, the business investment rate in the eurozone stood at 20.9 percent, slightly higher than that of the EU, said the statistics office. However, the eurozone's investment rate was slightly lower than the 21 percent rate for the previous three months, as investment grew slightly less than gross value added, Eurostat said. In the meantime, the non-financial businesses in the EU saw their profit share slightly down from the 37.3 percent in the previous quarter to 37.1 percent. In the eurozone, the profit share remained unchanged at 38.2 percent in the second quarter, and Eurostat attributed this to value added growing at the same pace as wage costs.