Nordic & Swiss Economics Update What would a new government mean for Norway? The Conservative-led opposition is favourite to win the Norwegian election on the 9th September. But the party looks unlikely to tackle the economy’s twin addiction to energy exports and household... 3rd September 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Households back on their feet, but not yet ready to run Data released last week point to a brightening near-term outlook for euro-zone households, suggesting that consumption growth will gather pace in Q3. But given that a meaningful recovery in the labour... 2nd September 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Industrial Production, Unemployment & Consumer Prices (Jul.) Today’s industrial production and labour market data show that the recovery should continue in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the ongoing rise in consumer price inflation is still largely a reflection... 30th August 2013 · 1 min read
US Employment Report Preview Rebound in payroll growth would point to September QE3 taper A rebound in employment growth and an unchanged unemployment rate should reinforce expectations that the Fed will begin tapering its monthly asset purchases in September. Our econometric model of non... 29th August 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Retail Sales (Jul.) The sharp drop in retail sales in July casts doubt on the ability of “Abenomics“ to boost private consumption. While hot weather may have prevented consumers from spending, there are a number of... 29th August 2013 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update More is needed to encourage women to work Higher female participation could eventually provide a small but welcome boost to the potential growth rate of the Japanese economy. However, the government’s pledge to improve the availability of... 28th August 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone recovery could be jobless for some time The euro-zone’s nascent recovery is unlikely to prompt a significant improvement in labour market conditions for quite some time. This suggests that wage growth and consumer spending will remain... 27th August 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Will unemployment fall sooner than the MPC thinks? There seems to be a general view that the MPC is underestimating how quickly unemployment will fall to the 7% threshold set under forward guidance, helping to explain why markets expect interest rates... 22nd August 2013 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Jobs pick-up in Scotland and North West a better sign for rents The pace of employment growth has slowed in several regions over the past few months but picked up in Scotland and the North West. Other factors such as existing vacancy rates are obviously relevant... 21st August 2013 · 1 min read
US Chart Pack Residential investment growth set to slow We expect GDP growth to accelerate over the next few quarters as the Federal fiscal tightening begins to ease although, at the same time, it looks like the economic recovery will receive less support... 19th August 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Markets get over-excited by labour market news Market rate expectations rose further last week following some positive unemployment figures and the news that the Monetary Policy Committee was not unanimous in supporting forward guidance in the... 19th August 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: how is the wage negotiation season progressing? Agreements have now been reached in more than half of the sectors holding talks during South Africa’s current wage negotiation season. However, a lack of agreement in the mining sector means the risk... 15th August 2013 · 1 min read
UK Data Response MPC Minutes (Aug.) & Labour market (Jun./Jul.) MPC member Martin Weale’s vote against the introduction of forward guidance will hardly help to reassure the markets about the strength of the MPC’s commitment to keep interest rates low. 14th August 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update German minimum wage won’t rebalance the euro-zone Germany seems set to introduce a national minimum wage after September’s election. But it will probably do little to boost German consumer spending or to rebalance the euro-zone more generally. 13th August 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update What is driving nominal pay growth down? A notable development over the past year has been the further step down in the rate of nominal pay growth. This seems most likely to have reflected the previous slowdown in productivity growth... 12th August 2013 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Labour Force Survey (Jul.) July's surprising 39,400 decline in employment looks bad but, since it mainly reflects less hiring of younger workers this summer, the Bank of Canada should view it as a temporary shock that will be... 9th August 2013 · 1 min read
