- Margio Draghi, European Central Bank President
The latest Eurostat data release reported no change in unemployment rate across 18-nation Euro bloc in comparison with the previous month, therefore staying at 11.5% mark, with 18.4 million jobless people. In comparison with the same period a year ago, unemployment decreased from 11.9%, or by 725,000 persons. Although unemployment has not increased for a long period, experts react negatively by underlying Europe's troubles in the labour market. The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in Germany and Austria, both at 4.9% level, and the highest in Greece and Spain, 27.2% and 24.5%, respectively. Compared with the same period a year ago, unemployment rate decreased in 22 countries, increased in three and remained unchanged in three. Mario Draghi, ECB President, issued a warning by stating that high unemployment stagnation could possibly transform it into structural, additionally pointing out that unemployment is key element of macro-economics, and a necessary tool in dealing with inflation. Furthermore, in the Spring Economics Forecast, the European Commission forecasted unemployment rate to be at 11.4% level in 2015, suggesting that underlying jobless issues are no yet resolved.
Separately, another report indicated that inflation dropped to a fresh five-year low, as consumer prices rose only by 0.3% year-to-year in August, following an increase of 0.4% in July, making it the weakest link since 2009.
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