German and Eurozone Unemployment Disappoint the EUR

It was a relatively busy morning on the Eurozone economic calendar. German and Eurozone unemployment figures were in focus.

Germany Unemployment Rate Holds Steady

In April, the number of unemployment declined by 13,000 following an 18,000 fall in March. Economists forecast a 15,000 decrease.

As a result, the unemployment rate held steady at 5.0%.

Eurozone Unemployment Rate Disappoints

In March, the Eurozone’s unemployment rate fell from an upwardly revised 6.9% to 6.8%, versus a forecast decline to 6.7%.

According to Eurostat,

• An estimated 11.274 million men and women were unemployed in March.
• Compared with February 2022, the number of unemployed persons declined by 76,000.
• When compared with March 2021, unemployment decreased by 1.931 million.
• In March 2021, the unemployment rate stood at 8.2%.

Market Impact

Ahead of today’s stats, the EUR fell to a pre-stat low of $1.04945 before rising to a pre-stat and current day high $1.05179.

In response to today’s stats, the EUR rose to a post-stat high of $1.05258 before falling to a post-stat and current-day low of $1.04925.

At the time of writing, the EUR was down by 0.05% to $1.05034.

Looking at the European equity markets, it has been a bullish start to the session. At the time of writing, the CAC40 was up 0.88%, with the DAX gaining 0.57%.

Next Up

ECB President Lagarde is scheduled to speak later today, ahead of key stats from the US.

The markets will be looking for any commentary on ECB monetary policy and the economic outlook for the Eurozone. While sentiment towards ECB monetary policy has shifted to a more hawkish stance, monetary policy divergence remains strongly in favor of the Dollar.

From the US, economic data includes factory orders and JOLTs job openings for March,

With the FOMC monetary policy meeting starting today, job openings may draw greater market interest.