Spain PM says economy will grow in 4th quarter (AP)

MADRID (Reuters) - More than six million Spaniards were out of work in the first quarter of this year, raising the jobless rate in the euro zone's fourth biggest economy to 27.2 percent, the highest since records began in the 1970s. The huge sums poured into the global financial system by major central banks have eased bond market pressure on Spain, but the cuts Madrid has made in spending to regain investors' confidence have left it deep in recession.

LONDON — The eurozone’s economic downturn deepened this month, even before Cyprus’ bailout troubles, but China’s factories took a completely different path and moved up a gear, business surveys showed on Thursday. Figures due later from the United States are expected to show a pick up by factories in the world’s largest economy. The eurozone survey results will add to the headache of policymakers battling to revive the currency bloc’s fortunes and now to deal with the potential default of one of its members.

Reuters reports Eurozone Unemployment Reaches Near 15-Year High Unemployment in the euro zone reached its highest level in almost 15 years in February, with more than 17 million people out of work, and economists said they expected job office queues to grow even longer later this year.

Japan’s monetary stance has seen a big decline in the yen, while the euro has risen against a basket of currencies, reports The BBC. The value of a country’s currency has a big impact on its trade and there are fears nations may try to influence markets to help boost their economies. The G20 has previously asked nations to refrain from market intervention.

  The following is a excerpt from a recent client letter.   The house of cards that is Europe is close to collapsing as those widely held responsible for solving the Crisis (Prime Ministers, Treasurers and ECB head Mario Draghi) have all been recently implicated in corruption scandals.  

Interest rates on the 10-Year Spanish bond touched 6.7% today after the ECB shot down prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Ponzi plan to recapitalize banks. The Spanish banking condition is in such precarious shape that Matthew Lynn of Strategy Economics proposed 'Spexit' Will Come Before a 'Grexit'. “The euro debt crisis, like any really spectacular geo-economic event, is spawning its own special vocabulary” said Matthew Lynn of Strategy Economics on Wednesday.

My friend Bran who lives in Spain writes ... Hello Mish Here are thoughts from the last couple of days on the strikes, protests, and violence in the wake of more austerity plans by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Pro-government news played down the strike to a virtual non-event, giving much criticism of the unions methods and exaggerations. Reality however, is that there is enough support by strikers to shape future politics, especially as austerity starts to bite.