Eurozone GDP Growth Revised Down

Producer prices increased 0.30% in March, slightly above forecasts of a 0.10% increase, according to data from Eurostat released on Tuesday. Despite the monthly price increase, on a year over year basis, the PPI was down 4.20% in March, the same as in February, but slightly above forecasts of a 4.30% decline. Excluding energy, producer prices fell at an annual pace of 1.10% in March compared to 0.80% in February. Energy prices fell strongly, declining 12.01% while the prices of intermediate goods were down 2.60%. The PPI data comes following a modest increase in the Eurozone GDP. Last week the euro area's GDP showed a quarterly increase of 0.60%, while earlier this week, the manufacturing PMI in the region increased to 51.7, indicating only mild growth.

The quarterly unemployment rate in New Zealand climbed to 5.70% in the first quarter of this year, up from a revised 5.40% in the previous quarter, data from Statistics New Zealand showed late yesterday. On a quarter over quarter basis, employment was up 1.20%, rising above forecasts of 0.60% and accelerating from the 0.90% increase seen in the previous three months. On a yearly basis, New Zealand employment increased by 2.0%, rising above forecasts of a 1.30% increase. In the quarter ending March, New Zealand's labor force grew by 38,000 marking the largest increase in 12 years.