Consumer spending in the US appears poised to slow further. Reuters reports:
The University of Michigan's final reading of its November index of consumer sentiment fell to 92.1 from October's final reading of 93.6. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a final November reading of 93.1...
Many Americans do not plan to spend lavishly during the holidays, despite a healthy job market and income gains this year as higher energy costs and tight finances still leave many families feeling stretched, surveys have found...
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the number of U.S. workers applying for jobless benefits rose by an unexpectedly steep 12,000 in the week ending November 18.
Overall, jobless claims rose to 321,000 in the week, which compares with Wall Street forecasts for claims of 310,000. This follows a revised 309,000 the previous week.
This comes as mortgage applications fell for the first time in three weeks.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and purchasing loans, for the week ended Nov. 17 dropped 3.7 percent to 623.6 from the previous week's 647.5.
Applications were 1.9 percent below their year-ago level.
On the other hand, leading indicators are pointing up.
The Economic Cycle Research Institute...said its Weekly Leading Index edged up to a 27-week high of 138.2 in the week ended Nov. 17 from a downwardly revised 138.1 in the prior week.
Japan could do with an improvement in consumer spending too, especially after yesterday's data. Reuters reports:
The October customs-cleared trade surplus was down 24.8 percent from the same month last year to 614.7 billion yen ($5.22 billion), well below analysts' median forecast of a surplus of 760.0 billion yen.
While exports rose 11.6 percent from a year earlier to 6.594 trillion yen, that was outstripped by a 17.4 percent rise in imports to 5.980 trillion yen, the Ministry of Finance data showed...
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the trade surplus rose 48.1 percent from September to 649 billion yen, the data showed...
Separate data on Wednesday showed that the all-industries index, which covers a broad range of economic activity including the tertiary activity index, fell 0.9 percent in September from the previous month.
The Japanese government has been forced to lower its assessment of the economy's prospects. Bloomberg reports:
Japan's government lowered its evaluation of the economy for the first time in almost two years, after sluggish wage growth prompted a slump in consumer spending.
"The economy is recovering, despite some weakness in consumption," the Cabinet Office said in its report for November in Tokyo today. "Private consumption is almost flat, " it added, cutting the assessment for the first time since December 2004.
There was better news on the consumer front in Europe. From Bloomberg:
In France, spending on manufactured goods, which accounts for about 15 percent of the economy, gained 0.9 percent in October from September, when it dropped a revised 2.5 percent, Insee, the Paris-based national statistics office, reported today. An index of Italian consumer confidence rose to 109.2 this month from 108.6, the Isae Institute said in Rome.
And while industrial orders fell in September, it was by less than expected. From AFX/FXstreet.com:
Euro zone industrial orders fell 1.3 pct in September from August, but were still up 7.6 pct year-on-year, EU statistics office Eurostat said.
The decline was milder than expected. Economists polled by AFX News were looking for a month-on-month fall of 2.7 pct following a sharp drop in German manufacturing orders.
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