- France’s economy grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter. GDP was boosted primarily by recovery in net foreign trade and acceleration in household consumption expenditure. The country’s March unemployment rate fell 0.1 percent to 9.5 percent, a 0.6-percent drop compared to the same month in 2005. This unemployment data doesn’t reflect a recent change in the way the French government calculates unemployment.
- Germany’s first quarter GDP increased 0.5 percent from the previous quarter and 3.2 percent from Q1 2005. The unemployment rate for Q1 dropped 0.5 percent to 11.5 percent, the same decrease as the previous quarter and the same quarter from a year ago.
- Romano Prodi, a center-left leader and former European Commission president, officially became Italy’s prime minister May 18. Prodi’s coalition held onto mayoral seats in major cities throughout Italy, except Milan, which remained a stronghold for former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
- The UK’s first-quarter unemployment rate increased 0.1 percent on the previous quarter to 5.2 percent, a 0.5-percent gain from the same period a year ago.
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