the crisis have been offset. this stands in contrast to the largely jobless recovery of 2010 and is another indication of the sustained recovery in the euro area. the improving labour market combined with increasing household wealth, strong consumer confidence and favourable financing conditions are supporting robust private consumption. investment prospects also look promising, which reflects both the need to make up for forgone investment in previous years as well as the highly accommodative financing conditions which have been passed through to lower borrowing costs for euro area firms. business investment is now slightly above the 2007 level. 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches forward - looking indicators transmit a similarly positive message : business confidence is at a decade high, and survey data point to continued growth in the period ahead. broad - based, convergent recovery over recent quarters, the economic recovery has also become more broad - based across euro area countries and the different sectors of the economy. in fact, all euro area countries, for the first time since 2007, are now enjoying positive real gdp growth in annual terms. the convergence of cyclical growth is reflected in the fact that member countries growth rates were never so close to each other since the inception of monetary union. moreover, unemployment rates have receded almost everywhere across the euro area. despite the fact that unemployment is still too high in some countries, notably as regards young people, it is worth mentioning that it came down the most in several of those countries where it had previously been especially high. contribution from the accommodative monetary policy of the past years we recalibrated our policies following the positive economic outcomes, but these outcomes would not have materialised, at least not to the same extent, without the ecb ’ s expansionary monetary policy. when calibrating its monetary policy instruments, the governing council forms a view on the degree of accommodation that is necessary to achieve its price stability objective. concretely, our monetary policy measures have supported economic growth and the reduction in unemployment in a variety of ways. first and foremost, they have supported domestic demand and have facilitated the deleveraging process in the aftermath of the crisis. the recovery in investment also benefitted from very favourable financing conditions and improvements in corporate profitability. a precise quantification of the contribution of monetary policy to the current economic recovery is difficult, but current estimates suggest that the measures undertaken have been highly successful. recent ecb staff estimates indicate that our monetary policy measures are contributing to an increase in the euro area gdp of around

, persistent and salient downside risks to the growth outlook, and a further delay in the convergence of inflation towards our medium - term inflation aim ( chart 15 ). the case for a monetary policy response was clear, and a comprehensive package of measures was judged to be the most effective way to support the convergence of inflation to our aim. chart 15 actual and projected hicp inflation ( year - on - year percentage change ) source : ecb and eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections. the policy response to the continued shortfall of inflation from our aim also reflects our commitment to symmetry in the inflation aim, which we emphasised in the statement following the governing council ’ s july meeting. this was essentially a clarification of our reaction function : our determination to act when inflation falls short of our medium - term inflation aim is just as strong as our determination to act when inflation exceeds that aim. stating clearly our commitment to symmetry is important, since the formulation of our aim – “ below, but close to, 2 percent ” – risks being misunderstood, particularly in an environment of falling inflation expectations. we also stressed in july that both realised and projected inflation have been persistently below levels that are in line with our aim. this was also an important facet of our communication because the “ close to ” formulation of our inflation aim does not provide a precise numeric anchor for inflation expectations. in line with our commitment to symmetry, the downward revisions to the projected inflation path warranted a vigorous policy response. we therefore announced a broad - based set of measures designed to complement each other in providing monetary stimulus. our measures will lock in financial conditions across various segments of the market that are sufficiently supportive to foster a reacceleration of growth and the anchoring of inflation expectations. favourable financing conditions will pass through to the borrowing costs of businesses and households, which will sustain investment and consumption. greater business and household expenditure, in turn, is one key condition for inflation to converge to our aim. in addition, our policies create a cushion to insulate the economy from the materialisation of downside risks by reducing uncertainty about future financing conditions and underpinning confidence. let me first outline our adjustments to the instruments that primarily affect the expected path of short - term interest rates and thereby the expectations component of long - term interest rates : the level of the key policy rates and forward guidance on the expected path of these rates. https : / / www. ecb. europa. eu / press / key /