Retail sales in Great Britain flatline as households continue to feel squeeze Alex Kerr, an assistant economist at Capital Economics, said the outlook for 2024 was brighter because of the prospect of interest rate cuts and a boost to consumers from falling inflation and the 2p... 19th April 2024 · The Guardian
China Economics Weekly Service sector picking up, overcapacity worsening The GDP breakdown suggests that the acceleration in growth last quarter was driven by the service sector, although the parts most dependent on consumer spending fared less well. And despite the recent... 19th April 2024 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Interest rate purgatory to continue for a while Much to the RBNZ's chagrin, inflation in New Zealand continued to have a four handle last quarter. The main culprit was non-tradables inflation, which remained uncomfortably high, at 5.8%. With the... 19th April 2024 · 5 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What do Germany’s struggles mean for CEE? The continued weakness in the German economy that we expect over the rest of this decade presents a challenge to the export-orientated economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). While GDP growth... 18th April 2024 · 4 mins read
US Chart Pack US Chart Pack (Apr. 2024) The recent upturn in activity and employment growth and the resilience of core inflation suggest that the Fed won't start cutting interest rates until later this year. But although it is taking a... 18th April 2024 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack Emerging Markets Chart Pack (April 2024) Aggregate EM GDP growth will enter a slower phase over the coming quarters. But the headline figure masks large variation in prospects at a country level, with many EMs experiencing a reversal of last... 18th April 2024 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Focus German manufacturing: from growth driver to drag Germany’s manufacturing sector has been in relative decline since around 2017. We think it will continue to shrink in the coming years and expect productivity growth in the sector to remain relatively... 18th April 2024 · 8 mins read
Africa Economics Update South Africa’s economy may be turning a corner South Africa’s latest hard activity data provided some encouraging signs that the economy may be turning the corner even if it comes too late to help the ANC’s hopes of keeping its majority in... 17th April 2024 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update Swiss economy not as strong as first meets the eye The resilience of Swiss GDP over the past two years has been largely due to the merchanting sector, which buys and sells goods without them ever entering Switzerland. Excluding that sector, the... 16th April 2024 · 4 mins read
China Rapid Response China GDP (Q1) & Activity (Mar. 2024) Stronger-than-expected official GDP figures indicate that China’s economy gained momentum in Q1, thanks to policy support. But monthly activity data suggest that this policy-driven recovery is shaky... 16th April 2024 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update The Iran drone strike & the oil market implications There are clearly many ways in which tensions between Iran and Israel could escalate and push up oil prices following the Iranian drone strike at the weekend. But the risk that a conflict involving... 15th April 2024 · 4 mins read
Europe Rapid Response Euro-zone Industrial Production (February 2024) Euro-zone industrial production rose in January, but the level of output is still weak and the outlook is poor. 15th April 2024 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Productivity malaise may last until end of this decade Weak capital spending is a key reason for Australia’s poor productivity performance. While investment growth has been strong recently, we think it will take until the second half of this decade before... 15th April 2024 · 4 mins read