Economic and financial indicators.

The article presents data on economic conditions in developed countries as of June 11, 2005. After last week's retreat, the euro recovered a little, rising above $1.23 on June 8th. Bonds continue to boom. During trading this week, yields on the ten-year German government bond fell to a record low of 3.12%. Hiring in America was much weaker than expected. Non-farm businesses added just 78,000 workers to their payrolls in May, having added 274,000 the month before. Unit labour costs also increased faster than previously thought, rising by 3.3% in the first quarter compared with previous estimates of 2.2%. The unemployment rate fell to 5.1%. In the euro area, the volume of retail sales shrank by 0.9% in the year to April, after growing by 1.4% in the year to March. But the NTC survey of purchasing managers in services was more encouraging. It suggested that the services sector was in its best shape since October. In the Netherlands, industrial production contracted by 0.7% in the year to April. In Germany, it expanded by 1.8%, largely due to a rebound in construction, which grew by 18.6% over the month of April. In Britain, seasonally-adjusted house prices fell by 0.6% in May, according to Halifax, a mortgage lender. The year-on-year rate of house-price inflation is now 5.7%, compared with a peak of 22.1% in the year to July 2004. Statistics on 15 developed economies, plus closer looks at economic forecasts, and derivatives.