Japan Data Response Consumer Confidence (Feb.) While the strong rebound in consumer sentiment in February is welcome, there are increasing signs that household inflation expectations are declining. 12th March 2015 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Employment (Feb.) The 15,600 increase in Australian employment and slight fall in the unemployment rate last month may be seen by some commentators as a cause for relief. But the bigger picture is that Australia’s... 12th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Fed Watch Fed close to embarking on return to normality With the labour market still evidently on fire in February, we expect the FOMC statement next Wednesday to omit the language that the Fed can be "patient" in beginning to normalise monetary policy... 11th March 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Is German wage growth finally taking off? The latest data on German wage growth suggest that pay is finally beginning to respond to the long labour market recovery. With deflation offering a further boost to real wage growth, we expect the... 11th March 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Why are the public finances not already fixed? If the fiscal squeeze had gone to plan, no more austerity would now be needed. The assumption that the recovery would be strong and tax-friendly was misplaced. The next government should be dealt a... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
UK Data Response BRC Retail Sales Monitor (Feb.) The latest BRC Retail Sales Monitor provided more evidence that the recovery in retail spending has lost some pace at the start of this year, after a stellar fourth quarter. But falling unemployment... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Economy Watchers Survey (Feb.) The jump in February’s Economy Watchers Survey (EWS) suggests that economic conditions are improving strongly. However, the survey still points to a slowdown in manufacturing activity in coming months... 9th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Employment Report (Feb.) The 295,000 increase in payroll employment in February (consensus forecast 235,000) and the further fall in the unemployment rate to 5.5% illustrate that, even if wage growth is still subdued, the Fed... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB’s hopes unlikely to be met President Draghi was sounding rather smug last week as he announced the start of the Bank’s quantitative easing programme and forecast that inflation would rise back to target in the medium term. But... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Without tighter rules, migration to stay strong We doubt that the recent strength in net migration will be temporary. The recent rise has been primarily driven by increased immigration from Europe, reflecting its weak economy compared to the UK and... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Was that it? The end of the so-called income recession late last year appears to suggest that the direct hit to the Australian economy from the fall in the prices of key commodity exports has already come and gone... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Global Economics Chart Pack Consumers beginning to spend their oil windfall Household spending has picked up sharply in response to the collapse in oil prices. In January, the growth rate of underlying retail sales in advanced economies reached its highest level since 2006... 5th March 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Misery index on track for 50-year low Households are considerably better off than they were just a year or two ago. Indeed, the so-called “misery index” – a sum of the prevailing inflation and unemployment rates – has halved over the last... 4th March 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Deflationary pressures remain intense Although headline consumer price inflation rose from -0.6% to -0.3% in February, this was driven entirely by a rise in energy prices as oil prices reversed some of their recent falls. Core inflation... 4th March 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Labour Cash Earnings (Jan.) Wage growth remained strong in January even though the winter bonus season came to an end, and may pick up further after the spring wage negotiations. 3rd March 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash CPI (Feb.) & Unemployment (Jan.) February’s continued fall in euro-zone consumer prices and the still-high rate of unemployment in January confirm that the ECB faces an uphill battle against the threat of deflation. 2nd March 2015 · 1 min read
