Christine Lagarde: IMFC Statement (17.4.2026)

The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank of the European Union countries which have adopted the euro. Our main task is to maintain price stability in the euro area and so preserve the purchasing power of the single currency.

EU’s employment rate grew above 76% in 2025

In 2025, 76.1% (197.7 million people) of the EU’s 20 to 64-year-olds were employed, the highest share recorded since the start of the time series in 2009. The employment rate was up 0.3 percentage points (pp) compared with 2024 and 0