Eurozone edges out of deflation - as it happened

• Eurozone inflation hits zero in April
• Greek exit fears rise
• US jobless claims at lowest level since 2000
• Spain's recovery accelerates with 0.9% growth in Q1
• German unemployment disappoints in April

3.45pm BST

Just one more thing...

The question is, is the Netherlands prepared, or is the eurozone prepared for eventualities. The answer to that is yes.

3.44pm BST

Another headache for Greece, as an apparent "technical hitch" delays pension payments.

The Greek government was struggling on Thursday to complete payments to more than 2m pensioners after claiming that a "technical hitch" delayed an earlier disbursement.

Elderly Athenians waited at branches of the National Bank of Greece, the state-controlled lender handling the bulk of pension payments, which are staggered over several days.

Pensioners brake into board mtng of #Greece's biggest pension fund IKA, demand rejection of funds' transfer to State pic.twitter.com/nuufNM1J7p

3.17pm BST

Before we close the blog for the day, here is a quick summary of the main news and events.

2.53pm BST

Wall Street has opened lower, suggesting Wednesday's surprisingly weak growth figures are still weighing on investor minds.

2.00pm BST

The US data appears to have boosted European stock markets somewhat, while the euro trimmed gains against the dollar. The dollar hit session highs against the yen and the dollar.

1.58pm BST

Here's some good news on the US economy, after yesterday's GDP shocker: the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level since 2000.

Jobless claims fell 34,000 to 262,000 for the week ended 25 April, the lowest reading since April 2000, the Labor Department said. The figures are seasonally adjusted.

1.22pm BST

Time for a look at European stock markets: all the main indices are in positive territory, just about. The FTSE 100 index in London has edged up 0.1% (nearly 9 points) to 6995.07. The Dax in Frankfurt is up 0.5% at 11,491.05 while the CAC in Paris is up 3 points at 5042.44. The Ibex in Madrid is 0.26% ahead at 11,408.8 and the FTSE MiB in Milan gained 0.5% to 23,118.73.

12.52pm BST

Yanis Varoufakis, the embattled Greek finance minister apparently sidelined in negotiations with the country's creditors, has been speaking to the Greek parliament.

He insisted that the latest negotiations with its creditors on a reform package would end in agreement.

The negotiation will be successfully concluded, the climate will calm down, and then we will be speaking of the post-June recovery.

Greek Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, speaking in the parliament, briefly referred to his recent assault in Exarcheia neighbourhood.

"We all try not to resort to 'easy solutions' when it comes to violence matters. It's imperative not to look for easy solutions. It is not a solution to fighting violence with violence, or by running away".

Varoufakis on his assault: 'We should not fight violence with violence' - VIDEO - http://t.co/yLs1H2VsXG

12.10pm BST

This morning's French consumer spending figures are not so gloomy once the fall in energy consumption is taken into account.

Energy consumption has been a drag on GDP and consumer spending figures for the first quarter across much of Europe.

11.56am BST

Russia has lowered its key interest rate to 12.5% from 14%, in a bid to boost the faltering economy amid signs that inflation has peaked.

Economists had predicted a smaller cut to 13%.

Russia Lowers Key Rate More Than Forecast as Economy Slumps http://t.co/8yYaES16OT via @business pic.twitter.com/vCOnsQkXB2

RUSSIAN CENTRAL BANK LOWERS KEY RATE TO 12.50%; EST. 13%

11.39am BST

Moody's has issued another warning on Greece, a day after downgrading its credit rating and plunging it deeper into junk territory.

The direct economic and financial impact of a Greek exit from the euro area would be small, but an exit would undermine the euro area's longer-term resilience somewhat and could yet trigger a more immediate confidence shock, disrupting government debt markets.

Moody's expects Greece (Caa2, negative outlook) to reach an agreement with its creditors and avoid default. However, lack of progress so far means the probability of a default, and of exit, is rising.

11.12am BST

Some reaction now to the eurozone inflation and unemployment data.

Inflation increased to zero in April, ending a four-month run of deflation. The jobless rate was unchanged at 11.3% in March.

The latest eurozone inflation and labour market data paint a mixed picture, with deflation ending - for now at least - but unemployment stuck at a very high level.

The general picture remains one of very weak underlying price pressures in the eurozone, reflecting both the weakness of pipeline cost pressures and the spare capacity left in the economy.

After four months with negative inflation rates, the eurozone officially exited deflation in April. However, this is not yet a sign of fading domestic disinflationary pressures, as the painfully slow decline in unemployment evidenced in today's unemployment data for March reminds us.

Eurozone inflation will move up further towards the end of the year and then gradually beyond. But to get back to the ECB's 2% target, it is still a long way to go.

Headline deflation is over. The drag of energy prices on headline inflation should gradually diminish further in the course of this year and our baseline scenario is for headline inflation to slowly rise, surpassing 1% by the end of the year.

Taken together with an improving macro outlook, a pickup in bank lending and absent a deepening of the Greek crisis, ECB-president Draghi could face increasing questions about the continued need for quantitative easing in the second half of the year.

Highly welcome news for the ECB as the Eurozone exited deflation in April as consumer prices were flat year-on-year.

Adding to the good news Eurozone unemployment dropped 36,000 in March which was a fourth successive decline. However, it was the smallest decline since November, largely due to Italian unemployment rising by a disappointing 52,000. Nevertheless, the number of Eurozone unemployed has fallen by 418,000 since November 2014.

10.37am BST

The jobless rate in the eurozone was unchanged in March at 11.3% according to official Eurostat figures.

It disappointed expectations of a fall to 11.2%.

10.11am BST

Eurozone inflation picked up in April to 0%, from -0.1% in March. It brings to an end a four-month run of deflation.

The biggest driver behind the increase was a rise in food, alcohol, and tobacco inflation according to the flash estimate from Eurostat.

10.06am BST

Greek shares are down this morning, with the banks the main losers. The ATG index in Athens is down 1% at 790.

Confidence about a deal between Greece and its creditors over a set of crucial reforms is faltering as time ticks on.

Majority sees Greece headed for euro exit in Bloomberg user poll http://t.co/EyPbmkcfSM

9.26am BST

The number of people out of work in Germany dropped by 8,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, to 2.792m. A bigger fall of about 15,000 had been expected.

It left the unemployment rate unchanged at 6.4%, as expected.

Despite some unsolved structural issues (think of female labour market participation, demographic change or the low-wage sector) and still some room for improvement, the extremely solid labour market remains the showcase model of the German recovery.

8.57am BST

Christian Schulz, economist at German bank Berenberg, says stronger-than-expected Spanish growth in the first quarter is positive on many levels, with lessons to be learned by Greece.

It shows that reforms work, it should help reduce unemployment much further and thus political fragility and it serves as a shining example to Greeks of what their country could have if its government finally returns to the path of virtue.

Sustained performances like this, in particular when core countries like Austria and Belgium underperform, show that the periphery can grow faster than the core of the eurozone.

Eurozone GDP growth may well have picked up to 0.5% quarter-on-quarter in first quarter given improved growth in Spain, Belgium & Austria

8.46am BST

Spain's recovery gained momentum in the first quarter of 2015, with growth of 0.9% following 0.7% growth in the fourth quarter of 2014.

It beat expectations, with economists polled by Reuters forecasting growth of 0.8%.

GDP rises 0.9% in #Spain in Q1, strongest gain since end of 2007. Economy has grown continually since mid-2013 pic.twitter.com/4MZa75TluV

8.33am BST

Europe's major indices are down this morning following Wall Street losses on Wednesday.

8.10am BST

Consumers were less willing to part with their money in March according to figures from INSEE, the national statistics office.

7.57am BST

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

Following's yesterday's shockingly weak US growth numbers (read our full story here), the key data out this morning is the flash estimate of eurozone inflation at 10am.