Later today official figures are expected to reveal a fall in unemployment across the eurozone to 7.3 percent in February from 7.4 percent the month before. This will bring unemployment in the area down to its lowest level since 1993, when records charting the area began.
And looking forward the prognosis is good too. According to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), euro unemployment is set to fall to 7.2 percent during 2007, and then to just 6.8 percent in 2008.
To put this in context, unemployment in the UK is currently 4.7 percent, the second best figure in the EU.
And that slowly awakening economic giant, Germany, seems to be leading the charge downward. According to official German government figures, 65,000 fewer people were unemployed in March, which dragged the unemployment rate down to 9.2 percent for the month, the lowest level in six years.
And then there is France. Unemployment across the channel is down, way down, according to official figures, although analysts are sceptical.
The official data says French unemployment has fallen from 9.6 percent last year to 8.4 percent, taking it to a 24 year low. Furthermore, labour minister Jean-Louis Borloo said: “I am convinced we will be at 7.9% at the end of the year.”
But some believe the data is potentially flawed, so while it’s improving, maybe the outlook in France is not quite so rosy.
The two top stars of the EU economic scene though are Ireland and Luxembourg, where unemployment in 4.3 and 4.5 percent respectively. The UK and Netherlands are next, both with 4.7 percent, and the only other country where unemployment is below 5 percent is Denmark where it stands at 4.8 percent.
It’s all very good news, but inevitably, as the figures improve, inflationary pressure builds, and the promising data is likely to make future rate of interest rises that little bit more likely.
Copyright #169;#169; 1996-2007 Find.co.uk Limited. All rights reserved
Comments
Trackbacks