ECB's Job-Rich Recovery Shows Up in Portugal as Italy Struggles
- Portuguese unemployment has fallen below the euro-zone average
- Italy has seen little improvement since depths of the crisis
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The European Central Bank’s choice of Portugal for its annual forum puts its officials in a nation that shows what can be achieved by cheap funding and a program of economic reform -- and the limits.
Portuguese unemployment has dived since the euro area came out of a double-dip recession and debt crisis in 2013, and is now below the currency bloc’s average. The turnaround is partly due to economic reforms required as part of its 2011 bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, and partly because of the ECB’s ultra-low interest rates and bond-buying.