Europe May 2007

• France’s February unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percent from the previous month to 8.4 percent, a 1.1-percent drop from the same month in 2006.
  
  
• The first round of France’s presidential election began April 22 and ended with a runoff between two diametrically positioned candidates. Segolene Royal is a socialist and, if elected, would be France’s first female leader. Nicolas Sarkozy, a conservative who aims to cut taxes and relax labor laws, led in April polls. The second round of elections is May 6.
  
  
• Germany’s March jobless rate fell 0.3 percent from the previous month to 9.8 percent, its lowest level since December 2006. The rate fell 2.2 percent from the same month a year earlier.
  
  
• UK’s fourth-quarter GDP increased 0.8 percent from the previous quarter and 3 percent from a year ago. Preliminary numbers for Q1 show a 0.7-percent rise compared to Q4 2006 and a 3 percent annual increase. Unemployment in the region for the three months ending February 2007 increased 0.1 percent to 5.5 percent from the previous three-month period, and rose 0.3 percent from the same period a year earlier.