US Employment Report Preview Unemployment rate will decline more gradually Our econometric model, which takes into account a wide range of indicators, suggests that payroll employment rose by around 200,000 in March. That would be the fourth monthly increase of 200,000 or... 29th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Economic Outlook Will the external sector rescue the recovery? There are a number of reasons to remain optimistic about the outlook for the UK’s external sector. Admittedly, these are likely to be outweighed in the near-term by the knock on effects of the euro... 28th March 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Who in Asia will benefit from rising labour costs in China? After years of strong growth, China’s textile and apparel exports are now losing market share abroad. Indeed, high and rising labour costs in China mean the migration of low-end manufacturing out of... 28th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Budget 2012: Not rocking the boat This was a neutral, steady-as-she-goes budget, with few implications for the macro-economy. From his speech, the Chancellor came across as wanting to be radical, but the measures failed to live up to... 21st March 2012 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Still waiting for stimulus to be felt The data for the first two months of the year were in general downbeat. Everything from imports to electricity and cement production slowed. Still, Q1 was always likely to be weak. Policy loosening... 21st March 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russia continues its strong start to 2012 The usual raft of monthly activity data, released earlier today, confirmed that Russia’s economy remains in a decent shape, helped by the recent rise in the oil price. As things stand, GDP seems on... 20th March 2012 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Crunch time for Egypt Egypt’s talks this week with the IMF over a $3.2 billion package could prove to be a defining moment in the post-Mubarak era. With FX reserves now at dangerously low levels, external financing is... 20th March 2012 · 1 min read
US Chart Pack Inflation still set to fall The recent rise in gasoline prices won’t prevent inflation from falling, but it will limit just how far and fast it drops. What’s more, evidence of a strengthening in underlying price pressures... 20th March 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Weak labour market underlines divergence with US Labour market data published last week confirmed that, in contrast to their counterparts in the US, euro-zone firms continued to lay off workers at the end of last year. Timelier indicators suggest... 19th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Labour Market Data (Jan./Feb.) Today’s labour market figures painted a pretty weak picture, with unemployment rising further and pay growth weakening sharply. 14th March 2012 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Labour Force Survey (Feb.) February's surprising 2,800 decline in employment, which continued a run of disappointingly weak jobs reports, is at odds with the better economic growth figures. Although we expect some improvement... 9th March 2012 · 1 min read
US Data Response Employment Report (Feb.) February's Employment Report adds to the evidence that the labour market has turned a corner. Non-farm payrolls increased by 227,000 in February, slightly above the consensus forecast of 210,000... 9th March 2012 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update North Africa’s new parliaments at risk of losing sight of economy A lack of policy direction in North Africa is jeopardising the already-sluggish economic recovery. Unemployment has reached record highs in both Egypt and Tunisia, fiscal and external positions are... 8th March 2012 · 1 min read
Canada Chart Pack Economic growth likely to slow further in 2012 Canada's economy grew by 2.5% in 2011, down from the 3.2% rebound in the year before. Both households and businesses contributed 1.5 percentage points to overall growth last year. While the government... 7th March 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Consumer outlook darkens The prospect of stronger growth in the euro-zone economy has been dented by a slew of bad news on the consumer sector. Not only did household spending contract by 0.4% in the last quarter of 2011 -... 7th March 2012 · 1 min read
US Employment Report Preview Labour market conditions still improving The labour market appears to have strengthened markedly over the last few months, with non-farm payrolls increasing by a 10-month high of 243,000 in January and the unemployment rate falling to a... 1st March 2012 · 1 min read
