Since 2015, job creation has been boosted by measures to reduce labour costs (CICE, PRS, SME hiring scheme) [I will come back to French structural reforms in more detail later]. Although the unemployment rate is still too high, 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  notably among young people, our latest projections forecast a steady decline until 2020. Net job creations are expected to remain strong as the economy improves. Following improvement in the labour market, wage growth is expected to build up, supporting households’ disposable income and underpinning solid private consumption dynamics. [Slide 6] Deflationary risks have disappeared in the euro area. Headline inflation printed at 1.3% in March while core inflation is stable at 1.0%. We are now out of the deflationary risk zone although inflationary developments still remain subdued. Yet, the ongoing economic upturn and the labour market improvements are expected to pave the way to increasing inflationary pressures, preparing for a return of inflation to a rate below, but close to, 2% over the medium term. Our forecast is 1.7% for 2020. [Slide 7] This gradual rise in inflation in the euro area and improvement in the outlook for inflation is due in large part to the accommodative monetary policy of the ECB. We are now increasingly confident that inflation will soon be on a sustained path of adjustment back towards our inflation aim, and so justify our course of gradual normalisation.
These measures should contribute to supporting the positive trend in private domestic and foreign investment in France. [Slide 12] All these reforms should be enhanced by further progresses made by the French government to improve the sustainability of public finances; I would also hope for an acceleration in this respect. Nevertheless, the present package is already impressive, and reinforces the attractiveness of France. As you know, France has many assets: it has many fast-growing techfirms. It offers high-quality infrastructures and a high-standard quality of life. But more importantly, its capital, Paris, besides being one of the most attractive cities in Europe, is in a strong position to become the main euro area centre for market activities, especially in the Brexit context. 3. Paris’ attractiveness as an integrated financial centre in a post-Brexit world Brexit was and remains bad news mostly for the United Kingdom but also for Europe. As for now, there is one principle which in our view is the corner stone of the future agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom – preserving the integrity of our common good, the EU single market. In practice, it means that we cannot separate access and rules and that UK based entities cannot get a European passport and access the EU single market if they do not fully comply with the single market’s rules and do not recognise the authority of the European Court of Justice.