Japan Data Response Japan Economy Watchers Survey (Feb. 2021) The sharp rebound in the Economy Watchers Survey in February suggests economic activity is ending the quarter with some momentum. That supports our non-consensus view that the state of emergency won’t... 8th March 2021 · 2 mins read
Japan Data Response Japan Labour Market (Jan. 2021) & Capex (Q4 2020) The unemployment rate fell in January despite the state of emergency, and it should fall further over the course of this year as employment rebounds in line with the economic recovery. Meanwhile... 2nd March 2021 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Wage growth near its trough Labour markets in both countries have tightened in recent months. In Australia, the unemployment rate has fallen from a peak of 7.1% to just 6.4% in January. And other measures of spare capacity have... 1st March 2021 · 11 mins read
US Employment Report Preview Recovery back on track With virus cases falling and containment measures being eased, we expect the partial reopening of the leisure and hospitality sector to translate into a 500,000 increase in non-farm payrolls in... 25th February 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update Soaring earnings growth not as good as it looks The surge in average earnings growth to a ten-year high is not what it seems as it’s partly due to large numbers of lower-paid workers losing their jobs. As such, the upward pressure on inflation from... 25th February 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Pessimistic RBNZ set to be surprised The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) sounded dovish when it left policy settings unchanged today, but we still expect the Bank to begin increasing rates next year. 24th February 2021 · 3 mins read
India Chart Pack Activity returning to pre-virus levels Indian GDP data due to be released on Friday are likely to show only a small contraction in annual growth in Q4 2020, and high-frequency indicators point to a relatively strong start to 2021. Indeed... 24th February 2021 · 9 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Wage Price Index (Q4) The jump in wages in Q4 was partly due to temporary wage cuts implemented during the pandemic unwinding, but it supports our view that wage growth will rebound more sharply than most anticipate. 24th February 2021 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Arrears to rise when policy support is withdrawn Mortgage arrears have remained very low, casting doubt on our view that we will see a substantial rise in forced selling later this year. But new evidence from the Resolution Foundation shows that... 23rd February 2021 · 3 mins read
Canada Chart Pack Oil sector strength mitigating weakness elsewhere The pandemic has thrown up many surprises for the Canadian economy, the latest of which is the speed at which oil production has rebounded. Even though global fuel demand remains weak amid ongoing... 23rd February 2021 · 9 mins read
Global Economics Update Mixed picture for pay pressures in major economies With vaccines improving the economic outlook and labour market data surprising to the upside, we have revised down our unemployment forecasts for almost all major economies. But wider measures of... 23rd February 2021 · 4 mins read
UK Data Response Labour Market (Dec./Jan.) The rise in the unemployment rate in December is another step up on the climb towards the 6.5% peak we expect by the end of the year. But if the government follows the roadmap that it laid out on... 23rd February 2021 · 2 mins read
Japan Chart Pack GDP will soon be back at pre-virus path The strong rise in output in Q4 2020 to just 1.2% below Q4 2019 levels bolsters our view that Japan’s economy will be back to the level it reached before the tax hike and close to its pre-virus path... 22nd February 2021 · 10 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus Pandemic-driven staff shortages could lift wage growth Even though the unemployment rate is still as high as it was during the mining bust, job vacancies and the share of firms reporting staff shortages have surged. We suspect that this has been driven by... 22nd February 2021 · 11 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Economy increasingly shrugging off lockdowns Short localised lockdowns are becoming increasingly common in New Zealand and Australia as governments seek to contain virus outbreaks. But the impact on consumption is typically short-lived and... 19th February 2021 · 7 mins read
Japan Data Response Japan Flash PMIs (Feb. 2021) The rebound in the composite PMI in February supports our view that the economy is coping with the second state of emergency better than most had anticipated. 19th February 2021 · 2 mins read
