Eurozone CPI steady in July

The unemployment rate in Australia fell to a 3-year low in July at 5.70%, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday, which beat estimates of 5.80%. However, despite the better than expected unemployment rate, most of the job gains came from the part-time sector which has now become a trend. During the month, the Australian economy added 26.2k jobs, which was higher than forecasts of 10k. Full time jobs decreased by 45k while part-time employment increased by 71.6k. The participation rate remained steady at 64.90%, unchanged from the previous month. The number of people seeking full time work fell by 13k.

UK retail sales posted a surprise, rebounding in July on increased consumer spending on food and non-food stores, which increased following a brief contraction in June. Official data showed that retail sales volume including automotive fuel climbed 1.40% on the month in July, which beat estimates of a 0.10% gain. Likewise, excluding auto fuel, core retail sales volume were seen advancing 1.50% after falling 0.90% a month before. The pace of increase in the retail sales was faster than expected as economists were expecting to see another disappointing print. On a yearly basis, overall retail sales grew at a pace of 5.90% in July compared to a year ago while excluding auto fuels, retail sales advanced 5.40%.