Eurozone: Expect a further decrease in unemployment rate in April to 9.4% - Danske Bank

According to the research team at Danske Bank, the euro-area unemployment figures are likely to show that the labour market continued to strengthen in April.

Key Quotes

“We observed an unemployment rate of 9.5% in March and we expect a further decrease in April to 9.4%. Note that despite the falling unemployment, we still see few signs of wage growth picking up to support higher inflation. Note that the German unemployment rate is due for release an hour in advance of the euro-area figure.”

“In Germany, we get retail sales for April. In March, retail sales increased 0.1% m/m following the 1.1% monthly increase in February. We estimate another monthly increase for April of 0.4%, as Easter is likely to have boosted retail sales in April.”