Japan Data Response Consumer Confidence (May) The small drop in consumer confidence last month masks a rebound in households’ income expectations, which suggests that they may increasingly be willing to spend some of the windfall from lower... 9th June 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Labour Force Survey (May) The fact that the economy generated a surprisingly strong 58,900 jobs in May suggests that it is holding up against the oil price shock better than we had expected. This supports the Bank of Canada... 5th June 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Back from the dead? The news last week that first-quarter productivity slumped while unit labour costs soared should be viewed with some scepticism, since the non-farm business sector figures are distorted by the... 5th June 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Employment Report (May) The 280,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in May, which was well above the 225,000 consensus forecast but bang in line with our own call, adds to the evidence that the US economy is regaining momentum... 5th June 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economic Outlook Prospects diverge Emerging Europe’s economy is likely to contract this year for the first time since 2009, but prospects differ substantially across the region. In Russia, while financial strains have eased, the... 5th June 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Labour market reform: can Mr Modi learn lessons from the states? Slow progress in liberalising India’s rigid labour market has been one of the biggest disappointments of PM Modi’s first year in power, but there are signs of improvement at state level, most notably... 5th June 2015 · 1 min read
Global Economics Chart Pack Rise in oil prices has eased risk of deflation The rebound in global oil prices since January means it is all but certain that headline inflation in advanced economies will pick up sharply towards the end of the year. For most countries, this has... 4th June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Italian households will be slow to feel recovery Italy’s economy looks set to grow again in Q2. But households there will remain under enormous pressure for the foreseeable future, which has implications for the strength of the recovery and support... 4th June 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Chart Pack Flagging economy will prompt more rate cuts The futures market indicates that most investors are now convinced by the Bank of Canada's view that the January interest rate cut will be enough to prevent the economy from being derailed by the... 3rd June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Outlook for periphery’s exporters is improving The depreciation of the euro over the past year or so appears to be finally starting to help euro-zone exporters. The latest data show that annual growth in euro-zone export values picked up to 7.3%... 3rd June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Reviving investment helping economy to rebalance Although net trade dragged on GDP growth in the first quarter, a more encouraging development from the point of view of a rebalancing of the economy was the 1.7% quarterly rise in real business... 3rd June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Unemployment (Apr.) & Retail Sales (Apr.) The latest euro-zone unemployment and retail sales data point to a further gradual improvement for consumers at the start of Q2, indicating that household spending is likely to remain a key driver of... 3rd June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash CPI & German Unemployment (May) May’s rise in euro-zone HICP inflation will offer some relief to the ECB, but with underlying price pressures still very weak and the recovery seemingly slowing, strong monetary policy support will be... 2nd June 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Labour Cash Earnings (Apr.) We wouldn’t read too much into the rebound in wage growth in April. In fact, we think that labour costs will continue to grow far too slowly to create broad-based price pressure. 2nd June 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Is real GDP really mis-measured? The evidence of a seasonal quirk in the first-quarter GDP growth figures is pretty overwhelming. The same skewed pattern appears to have repeated itself this year too, with the 0.7% contraction in GDP... 29th May 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Who benefits from the recovery in national income? Households have benefitted less from the plunge in energy prices and the surge in overseas investment income than other sectors. With wage growth set to remain subdued, we think that consumer spending... 29th May 2015 · 1 min read
