G7 leaders gather in Tokyo

French unemployment rate fell slightly in the first quarter to 10.20% following a downward revised Q4 print of 10.20% from initial estimates of 10.30%. The unemployment rate for Q4 2015 and Q1 2016 mark the lowest unemployment rate since Q2 of 2014. The latest dip in unemployment rate matches that of the European Commission estimates which has forecasted French unemployment rate to average at 10.20% in 2016 and then fall to 10.10% in 2017 marking a 5-year low. Geo-politics and economics however continue to be inter-twined in France. President Francois Hollande had passed a controversial set of labor reforms using a presidential decree making it easier for French businesses to hire and fire employees and simplified labor rules, sparking a wide spread protest among trade unions.

Manufacturing activity in Philadelphia area continued to contract in May, data from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve shows on Thursday. The index edged lower to -1.80 in May following -1.6 reading in April. The data was lower than what economists had forecasted who expected to see the index climb higher to 3.0. The Philly Fed manufacturing index follows the Empire state manufacturing index released earlier this week which also showed a contraction. Meanwhile, the US Labor department's weekly jobless claims showed that the initial jobless claims fell to 278k a decrease of 16k from the previous week's claims of 294k. The jobless claims continue to fall back after reaching the highest level in over fourteen months a week ago.