Unemployment In Europe (excerpt)

On Thursday, the ECB is expected to lower its official rate from 0.75% to 0.50%. This expectation was in the financial markets even before Eurostat yesterday reported that the euro zone’s CPI rose only 1.2% y/y in April, easing from March’s 1.7% reading. That’s well below the ECB’s target of 2%.

Yesterday, Eurostat also reported that euro zone unemployment rose to 12.1% during March, an all-time high. Youth unemployment for workers under 25 years old rose to 24%. Unemployment is especially high in Italy (11.5%) and Spain (26.7%). In Italy, youth joblessness is significantly higher at 38.4%, and shockingly high at 55.9% in Spain.

Today's Morning Briefing: Jam-Packed. (1) Two policy meetings and lots of economic data. (2) Carbon copy FOMC statement? (3) Inflation may be too low for Fed and ECB. (4) Unemployment rate is certainly too high in euro zone. (5) Will ECB copy BoE’s Funding for Lending Scheme? (6) A deluge of PMIs confirming recession in Europe, slowdown in China and US, and better growth in Japan. (7) Fed district surveys for April are uninspiring. (8) Will frigid March heat up April’s payrolls? (9) Consumer confidence blossoming in the spring. (10) Fundamental Stock Market Indicator is looking up again. (11) Focus on overweight-rated Financials. (More for subscribers.)