At 9.5 %, the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been for eight years. The growth rate of 0.5 % in the first quarter means that the economy has been expanding for 15 consecutive quarters. For full-year 2017, the ECB staff projections prepared in early March forecast growth of 1.8 %.
6  To be clear, if an initial forecast of a particular number had been close but less than say 2¼ per cent, for example, it would have been rounded down to 2 per cent, but a minor upward revision of less than ½ percentage point could mean it subsequently rounds up to 2½ per cent.