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The European Commission publishes twice-yearly main macro-economic forecasts. Its autumn 2008 forecast analyses the economic situation and outlook for the euro area and the 27 Member States of the European Union, the Candidate Countries, and its main economic partners. The forecasts show that the EU economies are being strongly affected by the financial crisis, which is also aggravating housing-market corrections in several economies at a time when external demand is fading rapidly. At the time of going to print (end-October 2008), although significant measures have been taken to stabilise financial markets and have begun to restore confidence, the situation remains precarious and downside risks remain significant. As a result, European Union economic growth is forecast to fall to 1.4% in 2008 - half what it was in 2007 - and to drop even more sharply in 2009, to 0.2%, before recovering gradually to 1.1% in 2010 (compared with 1.2%, 0.1% and 0.9% respectively for the euro area). Employment is set to increase only marginally in 2009-2010, after the 6 million new jobs that were created in 2007-2008, and unemployment is expected to rise by about 1 pp. over the forecast period. More positively, inflationary pressures are diminishing as oil prices fall, and the risks of second-round effects fade away. After its best performance since 2000, the overall budgetary position is also set to deteriorate while current and future rescue packages have the potential to raise public debt.