Eurozone jobless
EU not working
The unemployment problem in the eurozone is worsening, according to the latest figures coming from the embattled economic block. Unemployment rose in April to 12.1 per cent, with youth unemployment running at least double that level and much higher in some countries such as Spain where more than 50 per cent of young people are out of work. Meanwhile, eurozone inflation has fallen as low as 1.2 per cent, which suggests there is considerable leeway for the European Central Bank to turn on the monetary policy taps again in a bid to kick-start some growth.
Sell in May?
Rally risk
The 'sell in May' brigade have been in full song this week as myriad commentators roll out the old stock market adage that it is best to sell in May and go away until the autumn begins to draw in again. And with stock markets posting cyclical highs again in recent days, the argument could well find a lot of supporters. History is firmly on the side of the believers who can point to a long trail of data that shows stocks perform better during the winter months than the summer. But, as Simon Thompson points out this week in his returning column, there is still plenty of money to be made while the sun is shining.
See Seasonal stock picking strategies
Italy rejects austerity
Letta steps up
The newly sworn in Italian prime minister Enrico Letta, who is running a coalition drawn from the left, right and centre of Italian politics, has indicated his support for growth policies over austerity as he seeks to drag Italy out of its current malaise, saying: "We will die of fiscal consolidation alone. Growth policies cannot wait any longer." Mr Letta has cancelled a proposed property tax and an increase in VAT. He is also advocating ever closer union between the eurozone member states, although he is under pressure from left and right in Italian politics to renegotiate Italy's fiscal compact with Brussels.
UAE goes green
£1bn pledged
The oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, is planning to commit £1bn to invest in renewable energy schemes in the UK in a landmark deal. The Gulf state's energy investment company, Masdar, will invest £1bn alongside the government's Green Investment Bank in a series of renewable energy projects, fulfilling one of the coalition government's pledges - to bring in more third-party investment into UK infrastructure. On top of this, fellow Gulf state Qatar is believed to have indicated its willingness to pump significant funds into UK infrastructure projects.
Makers on the march?
UK better, China worse
The manufacturing sector in the UK has shown signs of dragging itself back from the doldrums in the latest Purchasing Managers Index score for the sector. The score of 49.8 still remains below the 50 level with signifies expansion, but this was higher than March's score of 48.6, as new export orders from outside the eurozone helped drag the sector back towards growth. Elsewhere, economic activity indicators in the US such as the Chicago PMI have shown worrying signs of weakness, and this week China's manufacturing PMI for April reported a slowdown from 50.9 to 50.6, prompted by slowing export orders.
Housing hiatus
First fall in months
The increasingly vocal talk of recovery in the housing market was briefly quelled this week when the Nationwide measure of house-price growth registered its first negative monthly score in seven months with a 0.1 per cent decline in April. This followed on from a flat month in March. But longer-term data still points to a pick-up in activity in the housing market after a moribund period as mortgage availability loosens, and this is expected to be further boosted by more government initiatives to improve access to the housing market for first-time buyers and low deposit holders by guaranteeing mortgages.
