According to the EU’s statistics office, during April, production from eurozone factories unexpectedly rose by 0.4 per cent over March, when it notched up a revised 0.9 per cent. A survey by Bloomberg News forecasted no increase at all. From April of last year, production fell by 0.6 per cent.

The highest increase in production was in Ireland with a three per cent rise. Output in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, ex­panded by 1.2 per cent during the same month. French output rebounded with 2.3 per cent growth after a 0.6 per cent contraction the previous month. Production in Italy and Spain decreased. Finland and Holland suffered sharp declines. This release shows that, although the data is relatively encouraging, the eurozone manufacturing sector is not yet out of the woods.

In the UK, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors published its measure of house prices which, in May, rose to its highest level in three years. In the meantime, the April figure for UK industrial production came in at its strongest quarterly performance in almost three years. This adds to signs that the economy is gaining momentum after returning to growth in the first quarter.

According to the Office for National Statistics, output notch­ed up 0.1 per cent in April from March. The median forecast of a Bloomberg News survey predicted stagnant output.

Finally, in the US, according to the Labour Department, non-farm employment increased by 175,000 in May, after a revised 149,000 rise in April. The April figure was revised downwards. Economists polled in a Bloomberg News survey forecasted a gain of 163,000.

The unemployment rate rose to 7.6 per cent from 7.5 per cent the previous month. This indicates that more workers were encouraged to enter the labour force. At the same time, some investors speculated that the job market still has room to grow and will delay the Federal Reserve’s decision to start tapering the monetary stimulus.

This article was compiled by Bank of Valletta for general information purposes only.

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