Europe Economics Update Macron victory provides relief but challenges remain Yesterday’s election of centrist liberal Emmanuel Macron as the next French President bodes well for the revitalisation of France’s lacklustre economy and the European project more generally. But he... 8th May 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Consumer Confidence (Apr.) We are not too worried about the drop in consumer confidence in April as the index remains near multi-year highs. What’s more, the survey remains consistent with a rebound in durable goods consumption... 8th May 2017 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Labour Force Survey (Apr.) The meagre 3,200 increase in employment in April, which included a big decline in full-time jobs, was a disappointment and will reinforce the Bank of Canada’s view that policy needs to remain highly... 5th May 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Will Macron galvanise the French economy? Centrist liberal Emmanuel Macron looks set to comfortably defeat populist eurosceptic Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s final round of France’s presidential election and might even manage to secure a... 5th May 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly An infrastructure Budget would be good for the economy We’re not too keen on the plans of the Australian Treasurer to distinguish “good” debt from “bad” debt in the Federal Budget on Tuesday, but we do like the sound of a budget that is expected to... 5th May 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Macron’s labour reforms now look more achievable Centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his proposals to overhaul the French labour market in last night’s head-to-head television debate with his rival Marine Le Pen. While his... 4th May 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack The inflation worm has turned The recent rises in underlying inflation suggest that the period of extremely low inflation in both Australia and New Zealand has come to an end. Underlying inflation, which excludes the temporary... 1st May 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Activity, Labour Market & Inflation (Mar.) Despite sharp falls in “core” household spending and industrial production in March, we expect GDP growth to accelerate from 0.3% q/q in Q4 to 0.7% in Q1. However, there is still no evidence that the... 28th April 2017 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Construction likely to slow again as property sales cool After falling for years, construction growth in China has stabilised since the start of 2016, supported by a rise in home sales. Dire warnings of developers collapsing have not materialised. But it is... 27th April 2017 · 1 min read
US Employment Report Preview Payrolls get back on track We estimate that non-farm payroll employment recovered from last month’s weather-related blip with a robust 185,000 increase in April. The unemployment rate probably ticked back up to 4.6%, but this... 27th April 2017 · 1 min read
RBA Watch Why we are no longer expecting more rate cuts The Reserve Bank of Australia will almost certainly leave interest rates on hold at 1.5% at the meeting on Tuesday 2nd May and, in a change to our central forecast, we now no longer expect it to cut... 27th April 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Small Business Confidence (Apr.) While the decline in small business confidence in April can largely be attributed to seasonal patterns, the survey remains consistent with a stagnation in industrial output. What’s more, there are no... 26th April 2017 · 1 min read
India Chart Pack Sensex rises to record highs Indian equities have rallied over the past few months, with the benchmark Sensex stock index hitting an all-time high in early April. This reflects in part a broader pick-up across most major EM... 25th April 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Is the surge in employment a sign of things to come? We doubt that the surge in Australian employment in March will mark the beginning of a sustained rebound in employment growth. Indeed, a deeper dive into the latest employment trends in different... 13th April 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Labour Market (Mar.) The huge leap in employment in March looks suspicious to us and we think the stagnation in the unemployment rate at a 14-month high of 5.9% is a better signal of the state of the labour market. That... 13th April 2017 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Data Response Employment (Feb.) Today’s Labour Force survey gave no worrying signs about the strength of occupier demand, either nationally or in the capital, despite a slowdown in job creation. 12th April 2017 · 1 min read
