According to Eurostat, the unemployment rate in the Eurozone stood at 7.9% in May, lower than expectations of 8% and April’s 8.1%.
Markit Economics also published the Manufacturing PMI for June, which stood at 63.4, signaling an expansion of the sector. The figure surpassed expectations of 63.1 and matched the reading for the previous month.
Despite the signs of an improving economy, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned that even though the massive vaccination campaign avoided the most severe scenarios, the current recovery process still faces uncertainty.
“The improved economic outlook on the back of rapid progress in vaccination campaigns has reduced the probability of severe scenarios,” Lagarde commented. “Of course, the nascent recovery still faces uncertainty also due to the spread of virus mutations.”
Just like the rest of the world, Europe has been struggling with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which made the continent’s GDP fall by 2.3% in 2020.
The number of cases in Europe have risen by 10%, according to the World Health Organization.
The Delta variant is now spreading across the continent, which could end up being a huge problem given the contagiousness of this strain. According to the ECDC, the Delta variant could account for about 90% of the new cases in the European Union by the end of August, while criticizing the speed of the vaccine rollout, which despite increasing is behind its goal.
So far, 48,008,428 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Europe, including 1,103,558 total deaths. France is the most affected country in the region, with 5,775,301 reported cases since the beginning of the pandemic including 111,082 confirmed deaths, followed by Russia, UK, Italy and Spain.
Since the beginning of the week, the euro has fallen by 0.47% against the US dollar, giving up part of the gains it made the previous week. However, in monthly terms, the euro remains in positive territory, gaining 0.19% and recovering from the previous month's 3.03% drop.
By 12:52 GMT, the euro went up by 0.20% against the US dollar to the 1.1879 level.