Market Information Friday 18 June 2021

Eurostat has published the final Eurozone inflation figures for May and this has matched the initial estimate of 2.0%. In April, annualized inflation was still 1.6%. On a monthly basis, May inflation came in at 0.3%, in line with the earlier estimate. Core annual inflation did come out a touch higher than Eurostat’s earlier estimate, namely 1.0% versus the estimated 0.9%.

Unemployment in the Netherlands fell again in May. Statistics Netherlands estimated the unemployment rate at 3.3%, equivalent to 309,000 unemployed. In August 2020, unemployment peaked at 4.6% or 426,000 people without a job, the highest absolute number since August 2017. Since August 2020, the number of unemployed has only declined.

The 2021 World Competitive Rankings were recently released. These rankings, published by IMD business school, compare the economies of 64 countries based on their ability to maintain a healthy competitive environment and thus realize economic value in the long term. Switzerland came in first this year, up two places. Sweden is the second most competitive country, rising four places compared to 2020, and Denmark place third, falling one place. The Netherlands came in fourth again and the top five concludes with Singapore, last year’s number one on the list.

The 6M Euribor is unchanged at -0.52% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap is unchanged at 0.09% compared to previous business day.

In the attachment, today’s market data on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented.