020 7898 0500There were several releases from across the eurozone yesterday and it was always going to be fascinating to see how the economy had performed in the first quarter of 2018. After what amounted to an impressive 2017, the year hasn’t started quite as well this year; there has been a raft of economic data that has disappointed and led many to believe the economic forecasts at the start of the year were too optimistic.
It will therefore be of some comfort that the GDP growth rate for the first quarter of 2018 came in as expected at 2.5% on a year-on-year basis and 0.4% month-on-month. The unemployment rate for March also held steady at 8.5%, while manufacturing PMI for the eurozone actually beat forecast at 56.2. Still, the euro lost ground against the dollar and sterling, although the moves weren’t too dramatic.
Today we have the inflation rate for April which is expected to remain at 1.3%.
