European Union Jobless Rate Dropped to Record Low, Spain's Inflation Accelerated In May

Bridgette Randall
30 May, 2024
Frankfurt

 European stock markets halted a two-day slide and paused a bond market selloff, and investors reviewed the latest updates on unemployment and inflation. 

Benchmark indexes in London, Paris, and Frankfurt rebounded slightly, and bond market selloffs paused as investors looked ahead to the release of inflation updates in the eurozone and in the U.S. on Friday. 

Spain's annual consumer inflation accelerated for the third month in a row in May to 3.6% from 3.3% in April, the National Statistics Institute, or INE, reported Thursday. 

 

Eurozone Jobless Rate Eased in April 

The unemployment rate in the eurozone eased to a record low of 6.4% in April from 6.5% in March 2024 and April 2023, the statistical agency Eurostat reported Thursday. 

The number of unemployed in the European Union eased to 13.15 million, including 11 million in the eurozone. 

The jobless count decreased by 103,000 in the European Union, including 100,000 in the Eurozone. 

The jobless rate among young workers remained high as businesses limited expenses. 

The unemployment rate in Germany held steady at 3.2%, in France it decreased to 7.3% from 7.4%, in Spain it was unchanged at 11.7%, and in Italy it decreased to 6.9% from 7.1% in the previous month, respectively. 

In April, 2.8 million young people under the age of 25 were unemployed in the European Union, including 2.3 million in the eurozone. 

The youth unemployment rate edged lower to 14.4% in the European Union, down from 14.7% in March, and 14.1% in the eurozone, down from 14.3% in the previous month.

 

Europe Indexes and Yields

The DAX index increased by 0.01% to 18,475.13; the CAC-40 index rose by 0.3% to 7,954.08; and the FTSE 100 index advanced by 0.2% to 8,014.34. 

The yield on 10-year German bonds edged down to 2.57%; French bonds inched higher to 3.15%; the UK gilts edged lower to 4.40%; and Italian bonds inched higher to 3.98%.

The euro edged higher to $1.081; the British pound inched higher to $1.272; and the U.S. dollar gained to 90.63 Swiss cents. 

Brent crude decreased $0.43 to $83.12 a barrel, and the Dutch TTF natural gas rose by €0.32 to €34.16 per MWh.

 

Europe Stock Movers

Telecom Italia SpA declined 5.7% to €0.23 despite the telecommunications company reporting an increase in revenue in the first quarter and reiterating its full-year outlook. 

Banco BPM SpA soared 2.8% to €6.61 after the company's chief executive officer, Giuseppe Castagna, said that there are no conditions for the merger with the rival Monte dei Paschi. 

Bayer AG increased 2.8% to €27.70 after the German pharmaceutical and life science company said its clinical-stage cell therapy to treat Parkinson's disease has received the U.S. FDA's Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy designation. 

BHP Group declined 0.9% to 2,333.0 pence after the company withdrew its £39 billion takeover offer for Anglo American. 

Anglo American edged up 0.1% to 2,481.0 pence. 

Auto Trader increased 12.1% to 819.20 pence after the UK-based online marketplace reported better-than-expected full-year results.

The company announced a dividend of 6.40 pence to shareholders on record on August 29 and payable on September 27. 

Vinci SA advanced 0.8% to €114.05 after the French construction company announced the receipt of a $159 million project from the Melbourne Airport in Australia.