While the global economy has been improving, Dwaine Van Vuuren at RecessionAlert notes that growth has been slower than normal coming out of recession. This is a concern because, according to him, “below par recoveries remain below par recoveries”.
Indeed, Monday brought some signs of slowing in the US economy. The Chicago Federal Reserve reported that its national activity index fell to -0.53 in April from -0.23 in March.
However, the index's three-month moving average edged up to -0.04 in April from -0.05 in March. According to the Chicago Fed, this suggests that growth was near its historical trend.
Earlier on Monday, the Japanese government did upgrade its assessment of the economy, saying that it is “picking up slowly”. However, business investment remains weak.
Over the weekend in China, the government reported that home prices rose in April in 67 of 70 major cities it monitors. This was down from 68 in March.
Calculations by Reuters showed that home prices rose 4.9 percent in April from a year ago, the fastest pace since April 2011. However, on a monthly basis, prices rose 1.0 percent, down from 1.2 percent in March.
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