From Eurozone, on Thursday, Spanish Manufacturing PMI figures were released. At 55.2 in January, from 55.8 in December, the PMI pointed to another marked monthly improvement in the health of the manufacturing sector. Business conditions have now improved in 50 successive months. Although the rate of expansion eased slightly from the previous month, manufacturing output rose sharply again in January. Higher production was mainly linked to new order growth and fed through to a fifth successive increase in stocks of finished goods.
On Friday, from Eurozone, Spanish Unemployment Change figures were released. The number of unemployed registered in the offices of the Public Employment Services has risen in January by 63,747 people in relation to the previous month. In the last eight years the increase registered on average was 108,866 people. In seasonally adjusted terms, unemployment has dropped by 24,161 people. With respect to January 2017, unemployment has been reduced by 283,703 people, and the year-on-year reduction rate stands at 7.54%. In this way, the total number of registered unemployed stands at 3,476,528, and remains at its lowest level in the last 8 years.
This week markets will be looking at:
Retail Sales (Monday 11:00)
German Factory Orders (Tuesday 8:00)
German Trade Balance (Thursday 8:00)
