Eurozone Trade surplus Rises, GDP And Employment Record a Historic Low

The eurozone’s trade surplus with the rest of the world jumped in June to 21.2 billion euros (about $ 25 billion) as the bloc’s decline in commodity imports outpaced the decline in exports amid a global downturn in trade due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The European statistics office Eurostat said the bloc also saw the worst employment drop ever recorded in Q2 20.

Eurostat also confirmed the record decline in the gross domestic product of the euro area in the Q2, which fell 12.1% compared with Q1 year.

Eurostat said on Friday that the June trade surplus was higher compared to a year ago, when the bloc posted a positive surplus of 19.4 billion euros. The reading largely exceeded market expectations for a surplus of 12.6 billion euros.

The surplus is more than double the amount recorded in May, when the bloc posted a surplus of 9.4 billion euros.

The year-on-year improvement resulted from a 12.2% drop in imports, which offset an increase in exports by 10%, according to Eurostat estimates.

The larger European Union, consisting of 27 countries, recorded a surplus of 20.7 billion euros in June, also due to a greater decline in imports compared to exports.

In a separate statement, Eurostat said that euro zone employment in the April-June period fell 2.8% compared to the previous quarter, the steepest drop since data recording began in 1995.