There's Just No End To The Bad Economic Data Out Of Europe
Earlier today, we learned that the number people unemployed in Germany unexpectedly climbed by 2,000 in August. Economists were expecting this number to decline by 5,000. The unemployment rate in Europe's largest economy held at 6.7%.
The eurozone's consumer confidence index fell to 100.6 in August from 102.2 in July. This was worse than the 101.5 expected by economists.
All of this bad and worse-than-expected news only confirms the string of awful data recently coming out of the eurozone, where growth has grinded to zero and prices are going nowhere.
"Based on sentiment surveys, the eurozone is off to a poor start in Q3, and while we are yet to see any decisive hard data, it does not leave much optimism for a strong rebound in GDP growth," said Pantheon Macroeconomics' Claus Vistesen. "Flagging business confidence makes sense given tensions in Ukraine, poor economic data and weakness in equity prices."
All of this bad news further bolsters the market's expectations that the European Central Bank will fire back with further monetary stimulus.
"We stand ready to adjust our policy stance further," said ECB President Mario Draghi on Friday at the Kansas City Fed's Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
"A more aggressive ECB should help towards the end of the year, but the overall picture remains of an economy struggling not only to grow, but simply to maintain the status quo," said Vistesen.