European Online Recruitment Up 6%

Data released Friday from the Monster Employment Index (MEI) shows positive online recruitment growth in Europe, up 6 percent from this time last year, with notable increases in trade worker occupations.

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US Needs 125,000 New Jobs Per Month

The Telegraph quotes figures quoted by AP - the US economy must create at least 125,000 jobs a month just to keep pace with population growth, with twice that number needed on a consistent basis to rapidly lower the unemployment rate.

Draghi's Inconvenient Truth

At Thursday's meeting in Barcelona, the ECB left interest rates unchanged. The ECB looks set to keep rates unchanged for a long while. ECB president Draghi's main message could be an inconvenient truth for those hoping for a quick fix of the euro crisis... ...read more

German Employment Is Under 3 Million

German unemployment dropped by a non-seasonally adjusted 64,600 in April, bringing the number of unemployment under the psychological threshold of 3 million for the first time since December 2011 ...read more

Oil Prices Press EU Inflation Lower

Inflation rates in four states dropped to 2% and below. Only inflation in Brandenburg remained above 2% (with 2.1%). As a result, German headline inflation should have dropped in April. Last month, German headline inflation stood at 2.1% YoY based on the national definition and 2.3% YoY based on the harmonised European definition. The April figure looks likely to get close to the ECB's definition of price stability. Looking at the available components at the regional levels shows that lower inflation is mainly a result of lower oil prices. In fact, most other prices in the economy increased compared with last month. Nevertheless, there are rather "normal" price increases in an economy without severe problems than signs of second-round effects. With a renewed weakening of the Eurozone economy and waning inflationary pressure in the Eurozone's economic powerhouse, the ECB looks likely to drop warnings about upside risks to price stability in the near term. The ECB tribute to the Bundesbank could have been short-lived. by Carsten Brzeski, Senior Economist, ING Belgium, Apr 27, 2012 10:15 AM GMT+0100

Needed: French Flair And Dutch Courage

The first round of the French presidential elections and political turmoil in the Netherlands could mark the beginning of new controversies on the Eurozone’s crisis management. François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy are the two finalists of the French Presidentialelections with 28.5% and 27.1%. Negotiations between the losing candidates and the finalists are likely to be tense. Both Hollande and Sarkozy will now try to get as much support as possible from the losing candidates to win the runoff elections in two weeks. It looks as if François Hollande can probably obtain all support from the left wing without major problems...  READ MORE by Carsten Brzeski, Senior Economist, ING Belgium, Apr 23, 2012 10:25 AM GMT+0100

Telegraph: George Soros and the Bundesbank’s Patriotic Putsch

Great article in Telegraph today, even if it makes unpleasant reading...

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