Strong euro strangles Euroland growth

Euroland remains in the doldrums and a slow recovery is predicted due to persistently sluggish consumer spending. Farida Hasan, global economist at Henderson, says: "We have downgraded our forecast for the Eurozone area because employment growth has been less sanguine. Although companies have restructured they are still under pressure to reduce costs because of the strength of the euro." Although the strong euro has made imports cheaper and given consumers increased purchasing power, according to Hasan, the strength of the euro has not helped the consumer as much as it was once thought...