Europe’s economic growth is extremely fragile

The good news does not stop there. Employment is growing, albeit more slowly than before. Wage growth is outpacing inflation, too, leading to rising living standards. In the Netherlands, which has the continent’s most up-to-date labour-market data, centrally negotiated wages rose by 7% in July, twice the pace of inflation. Union-negotiated wages are similarly strong in Germany. Nevertheless, the European Central Bank (ECB) still felt confident enough to cut interest rates in June, and is expected to do so again in September.