Mixed data from the euro-zone: strong growth but weak inflation, similar to other regions in the world. GDP is up 0.6% in Q3 2017, better than 0.5% expected and on top of an upward revision for Q2: 0.7%. Year over year, we have a growth rate of 2.5%. The unemployment rate is down to 8.9%, also beyond expectations. However, inflation came out below expectations: 1.4% y/y on the headline and a big disappointment on core inflation: 0.9%.
EUR/USD is marginally lower on the inflation data.
The euro-zone was expected to report stable inflation figures: 1.5% y/y on the headline and 1.1% on core CPI, a repeat of the data released for September.
The initial GDP read for Q3 carried expectations for a growth rate of 0.5% q/q, slightly slower than 0.5% in Q2. Early data from Spain and France came out as projected and did not move the needle on the forecasts for the euro-zone GDP. The biggest country, Germany, has still not released its data.
In addition, the unemployment rate was projected to tick down from 9.1% to 9%.
EUR/USD has been very stable in its new range, between 1.1620 to 1.1670.
