UK Economics Weekly Still on track for a stronger Q2 Despite the dip in this week’s Markit/CIPS PMI surveys for June, they still provided some reassurance that growth will pick-up in Q2. But this week’s hard data for the industrial and construction... 7th July 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Labour Cash Earnings (May) The acceleration in base pay in May largely reflects a rebound in working hours. While strong growth in part-time pay points to faster overall gains, there is still a long way to go before wage growth... 7th July 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Unemployment (May), Final Manuf. PMI (Jun.) While the euro-zone unemployment rate was unchanged in May, survey indicators point to strong employment gains ahead. Nevertheless, the high degree of slack in some countries suggests that it will be... 3rd July 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Tankan (Q2) The jump in the Tankan’s headline index for large manufacturers suggests that economic activity accelerated last quarter. Capacity shortages have intensified and manufacturers are reporting the... 3rd July 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly What is the ECB trying to tell us? ECB President Draghi’s speech earlier this week prompted investors to re-assess the outlook for monetary policy. They now seem to expect the Bank to raise interest rates around the middle of next year... 30th June 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Chart Pack CEE labour markets tightening Strong growth in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the first half of the year has been accompanied by further evidence that labour markets are tightening. Unemployment rates have fallen to record... 30th June 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Slow wage growth to persist despite strong job growth While the recent run of positive news on the health of the Australian labour market is certainly encouraging, it doesn’t alter the bigger picture that there is still plenty of spare capacity. This... 30th June 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Ind. Prod., H’H Spending, Unempl. & Cons. Prices (May) Today’s activity data suggest that industrial production expanded at a decent pace in the second quarter. However, consumer spending appears to have eased a touch last month, while price pressures... 30th June 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Growth to remain subdued in Australia While GDP growth in both Australia and New Zealand in the first quarter was weaker than most had anticipated, this was partly the result of temporary factors that will fade. Nonetheless, while the... 29th June 2017 · 1 min read
RBA Watch Rate hikes a long way off despite improving labour market The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will almost certainly keep interest rates on hold at 1.50% when it meets on Tuesday 4 th July. And while the sustained improvement in the labour market in recent... 27th June 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Has the structural unemployment rate fallen? Better education, an ageing workforce and easier job searching via the internet have reduced Japan’s structural jobless rate and kept a lid on wage growth in recent years. Even so, employers report... 23rd June 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Flash Manufacturing PMI (Jun.) Even though the manufacturing PMI fell rather sharply in June, it still points to a robust expansion in industrial output. What’s more, today’s survey suggests that price pressures continue to... 23rd June 2017 · 1 min read
India Chart Pack RBI wields new powers The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started to put to use its new powers to clean up the banking sector. Earlier this month it instructed several commercial banks to begin insolvency proceedings... 22nd June 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Is Macron’s 7% unemployment rate achievable? While we think that President Macron’s labour reform plans will be broadly successful, his target for France’s unemployment rate to fall to 7% by 2022 still seems overly ambitious. With his planned... 21st June 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swedish & Finnish Labour Force Surveys (May) Swedish employment growth seems set to slow but the unemployment rate should nevertheless drift lower this year after being unchanged in May. And with over one third of firms suffering from a shortage... 20th June 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Macron’s majority bodes well, but reform won’t be easy The results of the French parliamentary elections revealing that Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche has achieved a huge majority bode well for the French economy and for EU relations. But he... 19th June 2017 · 1 min read
