Euro-Area Economy in the Danger Zone. The economist January 11th,2014
If future proof was needed that the euro crisis has ended as far as bond markets are concerned, it was provided by Ireland's successful bond auction on January 7th. But the legacy of the acute phase of the crisis, when weak governments on the periphery of the euro area were besieged by bond markets, remains a grim one. The euro-wide unemployment rate stayed stuck at 12.1%, according to official figures published on January 8th.
Even so, unemployment across the euro zone does appear to have stabilised. The hope now is that it may start to edge down as a weak recovery continues. An index of private-sector output compiled by Markit, a data provider, suggests that the euro area grew by 0.2% in the final three months of 2013.