Brussels
(Brussels) “The pace of growth in the EU is expected to remain robust in 2018 on the back of sustained consumption and strong exports and investment”. In other words, consumer and business confidence is back, which is a key factor in the economy. This is according to the EU Commission, which presented the Spring Economic Forecast. “Both the EU and the euro area are forecast to grow by 2.3% this year. Growth in both areas is projected to ease to 2.0% in 2019 as bottlenecks become more apparent in some countries and sectors, monetary policy is adjusted to circumstances and global trade growth calms somewhat”. At the same time, unemployment “continues to fall and is now around pre-crisis levels”: unemployment in the EU is set to continue to decline, from 7.6% in 2017 to 7.1% in 2018; while unemployment in the euro area is forecast to fall from 9.1% in 2017 to 8.4% in 2018. “The number of people in work in the euro area is now at its highest since the introduction of the euro. While in certain Member States unemployment is still high” (Greece, Spain, Italy, Croatia), “in others, job vacancies are already getting harder to fill”. Unemployment is below 4% in Germany, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic. Inflation is rising “slowly”, “public finances are improving”, and no country has a deficit of “over 3% of GDP”.
