The eurozone’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 8.5 per cent in April, down from 8.6 per cent in the previous month and from 9.2 per cent in April 2017, figures published by Eurostat showed last week. This is the lowest unemployment rate recorded in the countries that make up the single currency since December 2008.

For the European Union, the unemployment rate was 7.1 per cent in April, stable compared with the March figure and down from 7.8 per cent in the same month last year. This remains the lowest unemployment rate recorded in the block since September 2008.

Meanwhile, British house prices fell by 0.2 per cent in May, the third time this year they have declined on a monthly basis, figures from lender Nationwide showed last week.

During the year to May, house prices were up by 2.4 per cent, down from a rise of 2.6 per cent in the year to April. This contrasted with economists’ expectations of an increase of three per cent.

House prices are rising much more slowly than before the 2016 referendum decision to take Britain out of the European Union.

The Bank of England has said it expects to raise interest rates only gradually over the next three years.

Finally in the United States, the Federal Reserve’s latest evaluation of the economy – known as the Beige Book – showed that the US economy grew “moderately” from late April to early May, indicating that the central bank remains firmly on track to raise interest rates next month. Although companies have responded to chronic shortages of skilled workers by boosting pay and overall compensation, the Fed found that “wage increases remained modest” in most of the country.

Prices for goods and services rose “moderately” in most regions.

The central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates at its next meeting in June and the latest Beige Book does nothing to dispel that notion.

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