Economic growth in the euro zone is still too weak to create a sufficient number of jobs, European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure told a French newspaper group EBRA on Friday.
“Growth is still not strong enough to create a sufficient number of jobs,” Mr Coeure told the group.
“When inflation is weak, the best way to bring it up to the 2 percent objective is to support economic activity,” Coeure said.
“Today, therefore, growth and employment are prerequisites for price stability.”
Mr Coeure’s comments come shortly before the European Commission is expected to unveil a major new proposal to tackle the problem of long-term unemployment. The plan aims to reduce the long-term unemployment rate by at least 5 million people.
The move comes as figures show the numbers of people who have been without work for 12 months or more in the EU doubled between 2007 and 2014.
The euro zone economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, data showed on Tuesday, mainly because of faster growth in Italy and Greece.
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said gross domestic product in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the April-June period for a 1.5 percent year-on-year rise.
This is a revision of the previously reported figures of a 0.3 per cent quarterly rise and a 1.2 per cent year-on-year gain.
Euro zone figures were revised also for the first quarter - growth was 0.5 per cent on a quarterly basis, instead of the 0.4 per cent reported previously. Year-on-year, the first quarter was revised up to 1.2 per cent from 1 per cent .
The revision is mainly driven by better-than-expected data in Italy, the third biggest economy of the euro zone.
The other major economies of the euro zone confirmed past estimates, with Germany growing 0.4 per cent on a quarterly basis, and 1.6 per cent yearly.
France confirmed no growth in the second quarter and a 1 per cent gain compared to last year.
Eurostat revised upwards also figures on Greece’s economy, which is now seen to have grown 0.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter rather than 0.8 per cent, as previously estimated.
Reuters
