Market Information Tuesday 17 May 2022

The European Commission announced at the Spring 2022 Economic Forecast press conference that it is lowering its growth forecast for this year. Earlier, a growth of the gross domestic product of 4.0% was expected, but this expectation was adjusted to 2.7%. On the other hand, the expectation for inflation was raised to 6.1%. The European Commission expects to see a peak in inflation in the second quarter of 2022, which will then slowly decline.

The tension on the Dutch labor market has further increased in the first quarter of 2022, according to the figures published by Statistics Netherlands. For every 100 job seekers there are 133 vacancies open, whereas at the end of 2021 there were 106. The increased tension on the job market is the result of the constant growth in the number of vacancies combined with declining unemployment. Most vacancies can be found in trade, business services and care which together account for about half of all vacancies.

Figures published today by the UK’s Office for National Statistics, ONS, show that UK unemployment continued to fall in the first quarter of 2022. Whereas the unemployment rate was 4.0% at the end of 2021, it fell to 3.7% in early 2022.

The 6M Euribor is unchanged at -0.21% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap decreased with 3 basis points to 1.69% 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.