This applies first and foremost to the Russian Federation. The concept of a common European economic space is a clear indication of this. In this respect we welcome the bilateral agreement that has been reached with the EU on the accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO.
The unemployment rate, which seems not to have been noticeably affected by the hurricanes, declined further to 4.2 percent, down about 1/2 percentage point from the end of 2016 and below the median of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants’ estimates of its longer-run normal level.