| Consensus | Actual | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rate | 6.5% | 6.4% | 6.4% |
Highlights
Joblessness increased 38,000 in May but unwound only a portion of April's smaller revised 85,000 drop. Indeed, the rise was too small to lift the unemployment rate which, at 6.4 percent, remained at the previous period's record low and just short of the market consensus.
The stable headline reflected no change in Germany (3.3 percent), Italy (6.8 percent) and Spain (11.7 percent) but masked a 0.1 percentage point increase in France (7.4 percent).
In sum, the Eurozone labour market remains tight enough to ensure that the ECB adopts a cautious approach to future cuts in key interest rates. Combined with June's rather mixed inflation report, today's jobless update should ensure that the central bank will be embarking on its summer recess with its policy stance unchanged. Today's updates put the Eurozone RPI at minus 11 and the RPI-P at minus 24, both readings pointing to a limited degree of underperformance by economic activity in general.
The stable headline reflected no change in Germany (3.3 percent), Italy (6.8 percent) and Spain (11.7 percent) but masked a 0.1 percentage point increase in France (7.4 percent).
In sum, the Eurozone labour market remains tight enough to ensure that the ECB adopts a cautious approach to future cuts in key interest rates. Combined with June's rather mixed inflation report, today's jobless update should ensure that the central bank will be embarking on its summer recess with its policy stance unchanged. Today's updates put the Eurozone RPI at minus 11 and the RPI-P at minus 24, both readings pointing to a limited degree of underperformance by economic activity in general.
Market Consensus Before Announcement
Consensus for May's unemployment rate is a 1 tenth rise to 6.5 percent from a record low of 6.4 percent. The Eurozone labour market has been very tight.
Definition
The unemployment rate measures the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labor force.
Description
Unemployment data are closely monitored by the financial markets. These data give a comprehensive report on the state of the economy and its future direction. A rising unemployment rate can be a warning sign of hard times while a low rate can be a warning of inflation as wages are bid up to attract labor.
Unemployment data are expressed in both a numerical value and as a percentage of the labor force. Generally, the definition of those unemployed follows that of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It states that an unemployed person is one between the ages of 15 to 74 years of age who was not employed during the reference week, had actively sought work during the past four weeks and was ready to begin working immediately or within two weeks. The unemployment rate is the percentage of unemployed persons over the total number of active persons in the labor market. Active persons are those who are either employed or unemployed.
Eurostat provides an unemployment rate for each EU country as well as for the EMU and EU as a whole. It should be noted that the unemployment rate for a country will frequently differ with that reported by the national statistics agency. That is because of the varying interpretations of the ILO definition by member states and Eurostat.
Unemployment data are expressed in both a numerical value and as a percentage of the labor force. Generally, the definition of those unemployed follows that of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It states that an unemployed person is one between the ages of 15 to 74 years of age who was not employed during the reference week, had actively sought work during the past four weeks and was ready to begin working immediately or within two weeks. The unemployment rate is the percentage of unemployed persons over the total number of active persons in the labor market. Active persons are those who are either employed or unemployed.
Eurostat provides an unemployment rate for each EU country as well as for the EMU and EU as a whole. It should be noted that the unemployment rate for a country will frequently differ with that reported by the national statistics agency. That is because of the varying interpretations of the ILO definition by member states and Eurostat.
