GDP and inflation in the euro zone rise, unemployment lowest level since 2011 – publico

 
         

                 

                         
                     

                 

 
 

The prices continue to rise slightly in the euro area, unemployment is at the lowest level in five years and the economy of the countries that share the single currency grew between April and July.

Eurostat, the EU statistics office, announced on Thursday that the gross domestic product of the euro zone rose 0.3% in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter. Compared to the same period of 2015, GDP growth was 1.6%. But the European Union’s GDP rose by 0.4% in the previous three months and an increase of 1.8% compared to last year.

Already the rate of annual inflation in the euro zone should be fixed at 0.2% in July this year, an increase compared to 0.1% the previous month, according to an estimate published by Eurostat, which will be updated in August. A inflation rate returns so the figure recorded a year earlier, in July 2015, after June already have come out of negative territory (was -0.1% in May).

Considering the main components of inflation in the euro zone, the power sector, alcohol and tobacco will have known the most significant increase (1.4% compared to 0.9% in June), followed services (1.2% versus 1.1% in the previous month).

it is also reported that the unemployment rate in the euro area and throughout the European Union, which remained stable in June from the previous month, at 10.1% and 8.5%, respectively, remaining at the lowest values ​​in recent years.

The unemployment rate in the euro area represents a decline year on year, compared to 11.0% in June last year, and remains at the lowest level since July 2011, while the EU-28 at 8.5% is a point below that recorded a year ago (9.5%), and continues to be the lowest since March 2009.

Portugal followed this trend to register in July a stable unemployment rate from the previous month, 11.2% (against 12.3% in June 2015), which remains the sixth highest in the EU, behind Greece (23.3%, April value), Spain (19.9%), Croatia (13.2% ), Cyprus (11.7%) and Italy (11.6%).

at the other end, the Member States with the lowest unemployment rates in June were Malta (4.0%), Czech Republic (4.1%) and Germany (4.2%).

with regard to youth unemployment, the rate fell slightly in both the euro area (from 20.9% in May to 20, 8% in June) and in the Union (18.7% in May to 18.5% in June), and the most significant falls in annual terms, for a year before were fixed in 22.5% and 20 , 6%, respectively.

Malta (6.9%) and Germany (7.2%) recorded the lowest youth unemployment rates, while Greece (47.4% in April) and Spain (45.8%) continue to have the highest.

in Portugal, the youth unemployment rate fell to 27.2% compared to 28.1% in the previous month and 31.8% YoY.