Economy
In reply to the discussion: STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 30 November 2012 [View all]Demeter
(85,373 posts)WELL, THAT'S ALL RIGHT, THEN. IT WAS WORTH IT
http://news.yahoo.com/euro-zone-joblessness-hit-record-inflation-eases-110005977--business.html
Euro zone joblessness has reached a new high and the poor state of the economy is reducing inflation to near two-year lows, raising the prospect of further interest cuts by the European Central Bank.
As the euro zone sinks into its second recession since 2009, the number of people out of work in the euro zone rose by 173,000 people in October to almost 19 million people unemployed, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said on Friday. That pushed joblessness to the highest level since the euro was introduced in 1999, at 11.7 percent of the working population, illustrating the human impact of a public debt and banking crisis that has reverberated across the world.
Struggling companies and indebted households have also lost the confidence to spend and invest, evident in the annual consumer price inflation reading for November, which dropped to 2.2 percent in November from 2.5 percent in October. Consumer price inflation was at its lowest level since December 2010. One of the smallest rises in energy price inflation in a year helped to bring inflation to near the ECB's target of near, but just under 2 percent, opening the door to more rate cuts by the bank...