Slowdown concerns in the US were heightened after Thursday's economic data. From Bloomberg:
Claims for U.S. jobless benefits jumped to the highest level since November and Philadelphia-area manufacturing shrank for the first time in a year, indicating the economy may be slowing faster than forecast.
The number of unemployment claims unexpectedly shot up by 12,000 to 500,000 in the week ended Aug. 14, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington...
Another report showed the index of leading indicators increased 0.1 percent in July after dropping 0.3 percent the prior month. The New York-based Conference Board’s gauge, which measures the economic prospects over the next three to six months, has shown a see-saw pattern over the past four months that indicates slower growth through the end of the year...
The Fed Bank of Philadelphia’s factory index fell to minus 7.7 this month, the lowest reading since July 2009, from 5.1 in July. Economists surveyed projected it would increase to 7. The area covers eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.
There were also some weak data from the UK. From Reuters:
Lending to UK businesses fell for a fourth consecutive month in June and mortgage approvals hit their lowest in more than a year in July, data from the Bank of England showed on Thursday...
The Bank's Trends in Lending report showed the net monthly flow of lending to UK businesses contracted by 3.5 billion pounds in June, after May's 2.2 billion pound drop. The annual rate of decline held steady at 8.1 percent.
Mortgage approvals for house purchase made by Britain's six biggest lenders -- Santander, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide and RBS -- dropped to 47,000 in July from 48,000 in June, its lowest since May 2009.
But there were also positives from the UK. Again from Reuters:
British retail sales volumes rose nearly three times faster than expected in July, and a surge in corporate tax receipts cut public borrowing sharply, data showed on Thursday, suggesting the recovery remains strong...
The Office for National Statistics said retail sales rose 1.1 percent on the month, the strongest growth since February and well above analyst forecasts for a 0.4 percent rise. On the year, retail sales rose 1.3 percent in volume terms, again above forecasts of a 0.6 percent rise...
The government's preferred measure of borrowing, on which its fiscal forecasts are based, "public sector net borrowing excluding financial sector interventions," came in at 3.8 billion pounds in July, down 2.3 billion pounds from a year ago.
And Reuters also reports that UK manufacturing continues to recover.
An index of British factory orders rose to its highest level in two years in August after overseas demand rebounded from a dip in July, the CBI's monthly industrial trends survey showed on Thursday.
The Confederation of British Industry survey's total order book balance rose in line with expectations to -14 this month, up from -16 in July.
No comments:
Post a Comment