Economy.com Daily Update: January 30, 2020

Today's Economy

The Bank of England stood pat at its January meeting.

Labor markets tend to lag the overall economy, especially in Latin America.

The technical recession was mostly the result of government actions.

The virus outbreak comes at a vulnerable time for Hong Kong's economy.

Commentary

We answer questions submitted in response to our recent webinar.

The EU must bridge diverging interests to hammer out its long-term budget.

The economy is gaining strength, and confidence is improving.

Existing-home sales rallied in December, and the trend remains favorable.

Today's Economic Indicators

Germany
Unemployment
Jan. 2020: 5.0%
The German unemployment rate stayed at 5% in January.

Italy
Unemployment
Dec. 2019: 9.8%
Italy’s unemployment rate held steady at 9.8% in December, in line with our expectations.

Euro Zone
Business and Consumer Sentiment
Jan. 2020: 102.8
The euro zone's business and consumer sentiment jumped up to 102.8 in January, from 101.3 in December, as the headwinds facing the euro zone eased.

Euro Zone
Unemployment
Dec. 2019: 7.4%
The euro zone’s jobless rate beat all expectations and fell to 7.4% in December, its lowest since May 2008, from 7.5% in November.

United Kingdom
Monetary Policy and Minutes
Jan. 2020: 0.75%
The Bank of England voted to leave interest rates at 0.75% in January, In line with our forecast.

Canada
Earnings, Hours and Employment
Nov. 2019: 3.1%
Average weekly earnings for total nonfarm employees came in at C$1,042 in November.

United States
Jobless Claims
January 25: 216,000
All is well with the U.S. labor market, as jobless claims remain very low.

United States
GDP
2019Q4: 2.1%
U.S.

United States
Housing Vacancies & Homeownership
2019Q4: 65.1%
The U.S. homeownership rate rose to 65.1% in the fourth quarter of 2019, up from 64.8% a year earlier.

United States
St. Louis Fed Financial Stress Index
January 24: -1.56
Financial market stress increased last week as fears of the spreading coronavirus caused investors to sell risky assets.

United States
Business Employment Dynamics
2019Q2: 7.6 mil
Employment flows, based on a near complete count of employer records, through the second quarter of 2019 point to some slowing in the labor market.

United States
Natural Gas Storage Report
January 24: -201 bil cubic feet
Natural gas inventory draws accelerated rapidly compared with the previous week, and the large drop in gas stocks matched analyst expectations.

South Korea
Retail Sales
Dec. 2019:

Japan
Employment Situation
Dec. 2019:

Japan
Industrial Production
Dec. 2019:

Japan
Retail Sales
Dec. 2019:

China
Manufacturing PMI
Jan. 2020: