Eurozone Unemployment Falls For First Time in Two Years

The number of jobless in the eurozone fell for the first time in more than two years in June, but the unemployment rate stayed at a record 12.1%.

The jobless total fell by 24,000 to 19.26 million, the first decrease in the jobless total since April 2011.

The figures add to recent hopes that the economic situation in the eurozone may be stabilising.

The jobless rate was 26.3% in Spain, and 26.9% in Greece, but only 4.6% in Austria and in Germany it was 5.4%.

Last week it was revealed that private sector industry in the eurozone returned to growth in July. The Markit eurozone Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures business output, was 50.4 in July. A figure above 50 indicates expansion.

July’s figure was up from 48.7 in June, and marks an 18-month high. The eurozone has been in recession since the end of 2011.

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza