Unemployment in Bulgaria declined in June to a new historic low of 4.4%, compared to 4.5% in May. A year earlier the level was 5.2%. This is a record low since the 1995 figure when unemployment started to be included in statistic data. 149,000 Bulgarians were unemployed in June 2019, compared to 150,000 in May and 174,000 in June 2018. Bulgaria ranks 9th in the EU in terms of low unemployment and is one of the 18 EU Member States where it is lower than the average European level - 6.3%. Data show that unemployment among women is 4.1%, compared to 4.8% a year ago. Unemployment among men reaches 4.8%, while in June 2018 it was 5.7%.

Bulgaria’s Finance Ministry has said that the consolidated Budget surplus for the first half of 2019 was BGN 3.23 billion, or 2.8 per cent of this year’s estimated gross domestic product, exceeding the ministry’s forecast of BGN 3.2 billion issued last month. The figure represented an increase of 1.2 percentage points of GDP compared to the same period of 2018, when Bulgaria recorded a Budget surplus of BGN 1.71 billion, the ministry said in a statement. For July, the ministry forecast a Budget surplus of BGN 3.25 billion at the end of the month. The state Budget had a surplus of BGN 3.11 billion and the EU funds surplus was BGN 116.9 million. Bulgaria’s contribution to the EU budget for the first six months of 2019 was BGN 717.5 million. Revenue in January-June was BGN 22.29 billion, an improvement of 16 per cent compared to the same period of last year. Tax revenues were up 10.4 per cent compared to the first half of 2018, at BGN 17.69 billion. Budget spending was BGN 19.06 billion in January-June, up from BGN 17.5 billion in the same period of 2018. In part, that was due to higher pension and health insurance payments resulting from the pension hikes in 2018, wage hikes in the education sector and higher state subsidies, the ministry said.

Bulgaria's government will open a procedure for awarding a five-year oil and gas exploration permit for Block 1-26 Tervel, in the country's sector of the Black Sea. The winner will be required to carry out 2D and 3D seismic surveys, identify potential drilling targets through geological mapping, and carry out drilling if such targets are found, the government said in a statement following its weekly meeting. Block 1-26 Tervel, spreading on 4,032 sq km, is part of the larger exploration block Burgas - Deep Sea. U.S.-based Vintage Petroleum International carried out exploration works at the block between 2002 and 2008 but did not drill any exploration wells.

The German car concern Volkswagen is still looking for the best place for its new plant in Southeast Europe. This is reported by the national daily Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). "There is no final decision by the Supervisory Board," said Lower Saxony Prime Minister Stefan Weil (GSDP), who is part of Volkswagen's governing body. It was recently reported that Turkey has already been selected to build the billion-dollar plant. The company denied the information, which means that Bulgaria is still in the race. From April to June, Volkswagen sales increased by nearly seven percent over the previous year, although fewer cars were delivered. The company's profits also increased substantially during this period by almost a quarter.

The Canadian DPM is already reporting on the results of its company in Krumovgrad. The Chelopech Mine is a major manufacturing company of the Canadian company, although production and cash flow are expected to increase significantly with the launch of the complex near Krumovgrad. For the first half of the year, Chelopech DPM produced 4% less copper-gold concentrate due to the lower copper content of the ore. The production of the so-called pyrite concentrate containing gold also shows lower results. This leads to a decrease of the concentrate of the extracted metals (gold, copper and silver). This affects both the revenue, which falls by more than 18%, and the profit of the company.

Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) said that it has entered a capital increase issue of 3.4 million shares in Opportunity Bulgaria Investment into the register of public companies, allowing the company to seek its admission to trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. Opportunity Bulgaria Investment increased its capital to BGN 6.8 million from BGN 3.4 million through the issue, the FSC said in a statement. Earlier this month, the company said it has raised BGN 4.76 million through the capital increase, as it placed the shares at a price of BGN 1.4 each. Opportunity Bulgaria Investment shares last traded on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange at a price of BGN 1.3 apiece.

Bulgarian Real Estate Fund REIT (BREF) said that its net profit rose to BGN 2.3 million in the first six months of the year from BGN 1.9 million in the comparable period of 2018. However, net profit per share fell to BGN 0.065 in the review period from BGN 0.093 the year before, as the company increased its capital in November 2018, figures from BREF's interim financial statement showed. Last year, BREF raised BGN 27.5 million via the issuance of 14,491,925 new shares, lifting its capital to BGN 34.64 million. BREF's revenue from property leases increased to BGN 3.7 million in the first half of 2019 from BGN 3.3 million in the same period of last year. The real estate investment trust did not sell any property in the review period, same as last year. The company's expenses remained flattish year-on-year at BGN 1.4 million in the period under review.

The administrative court in Sofia overturned the suspension of the construction of the Zlaten Vek skyscraper in the Lozenets district. Its construction was stopped in April after a scandal with the construction permit of Arteks. The decision was taken by a three-member panel and could be appealed. The Zlaten Vek project was suspended because, according to the building control, it had a number of violations which did not correspond to the received construction papers. The court found that there were violations, but stopping the whole project was a too heavy penalty and only parts of the construction should be stopped. Special attention is paid to the obtained and re-certified several times a building permit, which judges believe is valid until 2028.

The 19-member eurozone inflation is expected to be 1.1 percent in July 2019, down from 1.3 percent in June, the European Union's statistical office Eurostat revealed. Looking at the main components of euro area inflation,food, alcohol & tobacco is expected to have the highest annual rate in July (2.0%, compared with 1.6% in June), followed by services (1.2%, compared with 1.6% in June), energy (0.6%, compared with 1.7% in June) and non-energy industrial goods (0.4%, compared with 0.3% in June). In the meantime, the European Central Bank (ECB) maintains the basic interest rate constantly at zero. The deposit rate for banks is even at the level of minus 0.4%. The ECB's aim is to bring inflation in the euro area closer to its target of just under 2%. In addition to lowering the base rate, the bank also bought bonds for more than EUR 2 trillion. To counteract fears of an economic downturn in the euro area, ECB President Mario Draghi hinted at further monetary easing.

U.S. jobs growth rose faster than expected in July, based on a report Wednesday from payroll firm Automatic Data Processing. Private employers added 156,000 jobs during the month, ADP said, exceeding economists' average forecast for a gain of 150,000. The month also marked an increase from the 102,000 jobs added in June. Economists have been scrutinizing data releases for indicators on future growth, as President Donald Trump's ongoing trade war with China casts a shadow over financial markets. Yet many economists and investors say that the Federal Reserve's move toward cutting official interest rates - expected to happen Wednesday afternoon - as soon also has helped to stimulate the economy, since traders' mere anticipation of the cuts is reflected in financial markets as if they had already taken place. The ADP report could serve as a preview for the U.S. Labor Department's official monthly report on national employment, due out Friday. That report is expected to show that employers including federal, state and local government agencies added 163,000 jobs in July, in a slowdown from the 224,000 reported for June.

Huawei's revenue rose to about USD 58.3 billion in the first half of 2019, with a net profit margin of 8.7 percent, according to the company's semiannual report released Tuesday. After being added to the "Entity List," Huawei's overseas smartphone business was affected but has now returned to 80 percent of its pre-ban level, said Liang Hua, the company's chairman. The company's smartphone shipments reached 118 million units in H1, representing a 24-percent growth year on year. Rapid growth was also observed in the shipments of tablets, PCs and wearables, the report said. Huawei's year-on-year growth of more than 23 percent in H1 indicates that the "Entity List" impact is within control and the company's main products remain basically unaffected, according to Liang. U.S. suppliers are resuming supplies in a few nonessential fields, but supplies of key components, including licensing of some modules for Android systems, have not been restored, Liang said. "Our attitude has always been that if the U.S. allows us to use the Android operating ecosystem, we will continue to choose the system," Liang said.