EURO-ZONE unemployment held stable at 10 per cent in May, a sign that a long and steady deterioration in the labour market may have stalled. However, the outlook remained pessimistic as austerity programmes bite.
The European Union’s statistical office also said prices at euro-zone factory gates remained subdued in May, in line with expectations, pointing to low underlying inflation pressure.
Eurostat said 15.789 million people were jobless in the 16-state euro zone in May, 35,000 more than in April. For that month, the figure was revised to 10 per cent from 10.1 per cent.
“The recent reduced rise in the number of unemployed suggests that a limited pick up in euro-zone economic activity since early 2010 is currently helping the labour market,” said Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight.
Euro-zone joblessness was unchanged thanks to a drop in Germany, the currency area’s biggest economy, to 7 per cent from 7.1 per cent, although it increased in Spain to 19.9 per cent from 19.7 per cent.
It held steady in France and Italy. The lowest unemployment was registered in Austria at 4.0 per cent and the highest in Latvia at 20.0 per cent.
“Encouragingly, the German rate fell, boosting hopes of a modest consumer revival there. But the news from the periphery was more downbeat. The Spanish, Portuguese and Irish rates all rose, supporting our view that a sustained recovery in domestic spending in these economies remains a long way off,” said Ben May, analyst at Capital Economics.
But he noted that German subsidies that had kept many workers in employed will start expiring later this year.
Spending cuts ordered by many governments to ward off the sovereign debt crisis are also likely to hit the job market and reduce economic growth, economists have said. Unemployment is a lagging indicator, slow to react to the fragile economic recovery from the worst economic crisis in decades. But after hitting 10 per cent, the figure has held flat.
Analysts expect unemployment to remain high this year and next, putting a drag on the economy, which needs strong consumer demand to help make any recovery self-sustaining.
Separately, Eurostat said euro-zone producer prices rose 0.3 per cent month-on-month in May and 3.1 per cent annually, in line with economists’ expectations. The annual figure was boosted by energy prices, which were at low levels a year ago. – (Reuters)
