Among the most liquid currencies, the euro is considered to be one of the most fundamentally sound. This may be hard to reconcile with a significant recession and lingering financial troubles with Eastern European loans; but a relatively hawkish ECB and surprise return to growth through the second quarter for the Euro Zone’s two largest economies has nonetheless offered a platform for such speculation.
Today’s data furthered these projections. While the regional unemployment ticked up to a more-than-10-year high as expected, the leading German employment report more than made up for it. Eurpope’s largest economy saw the number of jobless drop by 1,000 in August, marking the first back-to-back contraction since the incredibly consistent series ended its steady rise in jobs last October. This may be a very early sign of strength; but it ultimately has the same impact that the positive 2Q GDP reading had last month.