Europe Chart Pack Divergences continue to widen Further falls in euro-zone business confidence in June add to evidence that the economic recovery will fade in the second half of the year. But just as importantly, there are growing signs that... 7th July 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Fiscal crisis starting to weigh on confidence Markets’ continued concern about the euro-zone fiscal outlook has prompted the euro to depreciate further and peripheral government bond yields to remain high over the past month. Worryingly, there... 9th June 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Recovery defies fiscal crisis… for now The euro-zone’s fiscal crisis has clearly intensified, with Greek bond yields remaining extremely high despite the agreed bailout and concerns spreading to other peripheral economies. But the recovery... 5th May 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Fiscal worries darken the outlook The news on the euro-zone continues to be dominated by the fiscal crisis in Greece, which has prompted Greek government bond yields and the cost of insuring against default using credit default swaps... 7th April 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Recovery prospects weaken Recent weeks have brought signs that the recovery in the euro-zone might have ground to a halt. Q4’s GDP release confirmed that the region expanded by just 0.1% on the quarter. (See Chart.) And recent... 3rd March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack A sluggish start to the year The limited economic data so far released for January suggest that the new year has got off to a pretty sluggish start. The euro-zone composite Purchasing Managers’ Index fell for the first time in 11... 3rd February 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Core inflation pressures still very subdued December’s rise in euro-zone CPI inflation, from 0.5% to 0.9%, left it at a ten-month high. But the increase was due to a further rise in energy inflation, which should soon begin to moderate... 12th January 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Domestic spending still weak Q3’s GDP release confirmed that the euro-zone economy finally exited recession last quarter. But the expansion was largely down to a slower pace of destocking than in Q2. Unfortunately, despite the... 2nd December 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Recovery gathers momentum The past month has brought further signs that the euro-zone is recovering, albeit quite gradually. For a start, July and August’s increases in industrial production suggest that output in the sector... 4th November 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Export outlook brightens The recent news from the euro-zone provides further signs that the economy emerged from recession in Q3. The data from the external sector have been especially encouraging. July’s sharp rise in... 6th October 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Growing again? Q2’s modest 0.1% quarterly contraction in euro-zone economic activity was an encouraging sign that the recession is nearing its end. Admittedly, the improvement compared to Q1’s 2.5% drop was partly... 3rd September 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Consumers benefiting from falling prices Recent weeks have seen some signs of an improvement in the consumer sector. Although retail sales fell by 0.4% in Q2, the drop was not as sharp as Q1’s 0.8% fall. Together with a 12% surge in car... 5th August 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Deflation arrives Inflation fell below zero for the first time in the post-EMU period in June, probably courtesy of energy related base effects. We expect the inflation rate to remain negative for the next six months... 1st July 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Inventory correction has further to run The breakdown of Q1’s euro-zone GDP figures brought little comfort. The record 2.5% quarterly drop was driven mainly by falls in investment and inventories, while a sharp drop in exports was largely... 3rd June 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Q1 should mark the trough in the growth cycle April’s business surveys provided some tentative signs that the euro-zone economy may start to contract at a less rapid pace in Q2. But any improvement will be from a very low base. Indeed, the latest... 6th May 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Labour market downturn gathering pace The downturn in the euro-zone labour market is gathering pace. Another very sharp rise in unemployment in February took the total increase so far to over 2 million. With 1.6 million of that pick-up... 1st April 2009 · 1 min read
