In April, EU CPI Rose By Two And A Half Years, Which Is The Biggest Drag On Consumer Confidence.

　　 European Union The Statistics Bureau released a preliminary report on Friday that the euro zone in April inflation The rate rose from 2.7% in March to 2.8%, which was higher than economists had expected, which is the highest level in two and a half years. And 34 of the respondents. Economics Experts expect the euro area inflation rate to remain unchanged in April. According to the report, it is used to measure company executives and Consumer An index of confidence has dropped from 107.3 in March to 106.2, the highest decline since May 2010, while the unemployment rate in the euro zone remained unchanged at 9.9% in April. In the past 6 months, crude oil Price A sharp rise of 38%, pushing euro zone inflation to a level higher than the ECB's 2% target, prompted the ECB to raise the benchmark interest rate earlier this month, the first time it will raise interest rates in nearly 3 years.

At the same time, rising raw material prices are causing pressure on personal consumption and corporate profits, and governments in the eurozone are taking measures to cut spending in order to reduce budget deficits. The European Commission's report said that in April, the confidence index of the euro zone manufacturing industry dropped from 6.7 in March to 5.8, while the service confidence index dropped from 10.8 to 10.4. The confidence index of construction industry rose from -25.4 to -24.2, and the personal consumer confidence index dropped from -10.6 to -11.6.

The report also showed that in the second quarter, the capacity utilization in the euro area increased from 80.3% in the first quarter to 81.3% in the first quarter. The index used to measure the export orders of manufacturers in the euro area rose from 0.6 points in March to -0.7, and the output forecast index dropped from 17.9 to 15.7, and the employment expectation index dropped from 8.6 to 7.2. In March, the unemployment rate in the euro area was about 15 million 600 thousand, a decrease of 9000 compared to February. The EU unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.5% in March.