The euro area (EA19) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.3% in February 2016, down from 10.4% in January 2016, and from 11.2% in February 2015. This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since August 2011. The EU28 unemployment rate was 8.9% in February 2016, stable compared to January 2016, and down from 9.7% in February 2015. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since May 2009.
From Eurozone, on Tuesday, Spanish and Italian Services PMI data was released. Growth in the Spanish service sector quickened at the end of the first quarter of the year, with both activity and new orders rising at the fastest rates in four months. The headline seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index rose to 55.3 in March, up from 54.1 in February and pointing to the sharpest increase in activity since last November. Business activity has now expanded in each of the past 29 months, with higher new orders and rising customer numbers supporting the latest increase.
Business activity in Italy’s services economy rose at the slowest rate for 13 months in March, reflecting a weakening of new business growth. Employment increased only marginally as companies recorded the steepest drop in backlogs of work since December 2014. The headline Markit/ADACI Business Activity Index dropped from February’s 53.8 to 51.2 in March. That was its lowest reading since February 2015, and one that was indicative of only a modest rate of expansion overall.
Thursday brought ECB Meeting Minutes. The European Central Bank is willing to ease monetary policy further, according to three top officials including its president, who echoed his U.S. peers’ concerns about an uncertain outlook for the global economy. This year would be another challenging one for the ECB, Mario Draghi wrote in its annual report released on Thursday. “We face uncertainty about the outlook for the global economy. We face continued disinflationary forces. And we face questions about the direction of Europe and its resilience to new shocks,” he wrote.“If further adverse shocks were to materialize, our measures could be recalibrated once more commensurate with the strength of the headwind,” he said.
This week markets will be looking at:
Industrial Production (Wednesday 11:00)
Final CPI (Thursday 11:00)
Trade Balance (Friday 11:00)
