Thursday 4 May 2006

US and euro zone show few signs of cooling

The strong data just keep coming. Reuters reports the data from the US:

The Institute for Supply Management's services index rose to 63.0 in April from 60.5 in March, with new orders hitting a two-year high, confounding Wall Street estimates for a slowdown to 59.2.

In addition, the government reported new factory orders rose a stronger-than-expected 4.2 percent in March, beating estimates for a 3.5 percent gain, as demand for transportation equipment, computers and electronics proved robust.

The data from Europe is also coming in hot. AFX/Forbes reports euro-zone PPI:

Euro zone producer prices rose 0.4 pct in March from February, and were up 5.1 pct from a year earlier, EU statistics office Eurostat said...

Excluding the energy sector, producer prices rose 0.3 pct from February, and were up 1.8 pct year-on-year.

...and unemployment:

Euro zone unemployment eased unexpectedly in March to a four-year low of 8.1 pct from 8.2 pct in February, EU statistics office Eurostat said.

But things looked a bit cooler in the UK yesterday, with construction growth slowing in April:

The Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply said its seasonally adjusted index for construction fell to 53.7 in April from 54.7 reported for March...

...and shop prices falling:

The British Retail Consortium said its shop price index for April showed overall prices down 1.28 pct on the previous year, the lowest inflation rate since January 2005 and following a steep 1.17 pct fall in March.

Prices have now fallen on an annual basis for seven months running.

The BRC added that prices fell by 0.10 pct between March and April, following the 0.35 pct fall recorded from February to March.

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