Unemployment in the 17-country euro currency bloc hit another record high in May -- 11.1% -- as the crippling financial crisis pushed the continent toward the brink of recession, official figures showed Monday.
The dollar is looking mighty attractive, thanks to a reviving U.S. economy and eurozone woes, and it will only get stronger as traders who gambled that it would fall buy dollars to unwind their bad bets. Add in China's desperate need to get its overheated economy in check, and commodities prices look like they have nowhere to go but down.
Major news stories ebb and flow, rising to the headlines and then slipping out of the spotlight. But even if they fade from attention, keep an eye on this handful of long-term issues, such as North Korea, which have the potential to disrupt the U.S. economy and global recovery.
Fitch Ratings has downgraded Ireland three notches from A to BBB , citing the costs of restructuring the Irish banking system, the country's weak growth prospects, and uncertainty about its economy due to the deepening financial crisis, despite the international economic assistance it received last month.
With the fears of a European sovereign debt crisis growing worse, the Spanish government said Wednesday that it's taking several measures to stop the fiscal contagion from reaching its shores, including selling a 30% stake in its national lottery business, Bloomberg reported.
Economic performance among EU nations is getting more divergent. While Germany and France continue to modestly expand, debt-plagued countries like Greece are shrinking. That makes it tough for the European Central Bank to set its monetary policy.
The capital markets have begun to believe the deficit and debt problems in Ireland and Greece may overwhelm political efforts to balance national budgets.
Officially, Europe's fiscal health is on the mend, but each time the Continent's debt crisis is declared history, some ugly financial news quickly emerges to undercut those claims. Indeed, the real eurozone meltdown may still lurking beyond the horizon.