Australia is looking like a good candidate for being the next to see the start of interest rate hikes after reporting its second quarter GDP on Wednesday. From Bloomberg:
Australia’s economic growth unexpectedly accelerated in the second quarter, driving the nation’s currency higher on expectations the central bank will raise borrowing costs from a half-century low.
Gross domestic product rose 0.6 percent, the biggest gain in more than a year, from the previous three months when it grew 0.4 percent, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today. The median estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.2 percent expansion.
The euro area is still waiting to return to growth though. Wednesday saw confirmation that the eurozone economy contracted by 0.1 percent in the second quarter.
In the US, the latest data continue to point to an upturn soon for the economy, although job growth is likely to lag. From Bloomberg:
A survey by ADP Employer Services showed businesses reduced payrolls by 298,000 after a 360,000 decline in July. The Labor Department in Washington said productivity, a measure of employee output per hour, rose at a 6.6 percent annual rate in the three months through June...
A separate report today showed factory orders advanced in July by the most in a year as companies sought to rebuild inventories after a record draw-down in the first part of 2009. The Commerce Department said orders increased 1.3 percent after a 0.9 percent gain in June.
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