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1 Apr 2014
EUR/USD holds ahead of US data
FXStreet (London) - EUR/USD has climbed through the session ahead of US data. February Eurozone unemployment held at January’s level, but German data helped to give the euro some buoyancy.
Data from Eurostat showed that unemployment in the Eurozone dropped slightly in February, although the rate held at 11.9 percent following downward revisions of January and December’s unemployment numbers.
The Eurostat data indicated that 18.97 million people were unemployed in February, a decrease of around 35,000 from January.
Unemployment in Spain dropped to 25.6 from 25.8 while unemployment rose in France, Italy and Holland.
Further German unemployment declines
Data from the German Federal Labour Agency showed that German unemployment fell for a fourth consecutive month in March. The number of people out of work decreased by 12,000 to 2.901 million, beating consensus expectations of a 10k drop. The jobless rate held at 6.7 percent after the February rate was revised downwards from 6.8 percent.
The absence of a further decline in the Eurozone’s already-weak labour market has helped to cut bets that the European Central Bank will make any drastic announcements when it meets on Thursday. The near-universal consensus expectation is that the ECB will hold benchmark rates at 0.25 percent.
EUR/USD is currently trading at USD1.3807, up 0.22 percent ahead of US ISM numbers due this afternoon.
Data from Eurostat showed that unemployment in the Eurozone dropped slightly in February, although the rate held at 11.9 percent following downward revisions of January and December’s unemployment numbers.
The Eurostat data indicated that 18.97 million people were unemployed in February, a decrease of around 35,000 from January.
Unemployment in Spain dropped to 25.6 from 25.8 while unemployment rose in France, Italy and Holland.
Further German unemployment declines
Data from the German Federal Labour Agency showed that German unemployment fell for a fourth consecutive month in March. The number of people out of work decreased by 12,000 to 2.901 million, beating consensus expectations of a 10k drop. The jobless rate held at 6.7 percent after the February rate was revised downwards from 6.8 percent.
The absence of a further decline in the Eurozone’s already-weak labour market has helped to cut bets that the European Central Bank will make any drastic announcements when it meets on Thursday. The near-universal consensus expectation is that the ECB will hold benchmark rates at 0.25 percent.
EUR/USD is currently trading at USD1.3807, up 0.22 percent ahead of US ISM numbers due this afternoon.