| Today's Economy
Economic Roundup: Consumer Spending Plunges The new data on U.S. consumer spending lowered our second-quarter GDP tracking estimate to -50.4%. Canada Weekly: Early Labor Losses Numbers through the second quarter are going to get worse before they get better. Plunge in Spending Puts Enormous Dent in U.S. Q2 GDP Tracking Estimate GDP is now tracking -50.4% at an annualized rate. Historic Help for the U.S. Unemployed Unemployment insurance payments surged in April. » VIEW MORE TODAY'S ECONOMY
Commentary
U.S. COVID-19 Tracker Update: Economy Missing a Spark Housing is doing well, but mobility data have not improved significantly. Latin America Weekly Highlights and Preview, May 29, 2020 Argentina’s industrial output likely contracted 30.5% y/y (NSA) in April amid the pandemic. Europe Weekly Highlights and Preview: 29 May, 2020 ECB will likely further raise quantitative easing purchases. South Korea Outlook: Braced for Trouble The economy faces its sharpest slowdown since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1998. » VIEW MORE COMMENTARY
Today's Economic Indicators
Japan
Consumer Confidence
May. 2020: 24.0
Japan’s consumer confidence index improved slightly in May, inching up to 24 in May from 21.6 in April, when it fell to a record low. France
GDP
2020Q1: -5.3%
Revised numbers showed that France’s GDP slumped by 5.3% q/q in the first quarter after a 0.1% contraction in the fourth, better than the initial estimate of 5.8% but still the sharpest contraction since records began in 1949. France
Household Consumption Survey
Apr. 2020: -20.3%
Household consumption on goods plunged by 20.3% m/m in April, adding to the upwardly revised 16.9% decline in March. Germany
Retail Sales
Apr. 2020: -5.3%
Real, calendar and seasonally adjusted retail sales excluding motor vehicles dropped by 5.3% m/m in April following an upwardly revised 4% decline in March. Thailand
Foreign Trade
Apr. 2020: US$2.5 bil
Thailand's trade surplus rose to US$2.53 billion in April, largely because of a fall of 17% y/y in imports. Italy
GDP
2020Q1: -5.3%
Final numbers show that Italy's GDP contracted by 5.3% q/q in the first quarter, the sharpest on record, below preliminary estimates of a 4.7% slump. Euro Zone
Preliminary Consumer Price Index
May. 2020: 0.1%
Preliminary numbers showed that euro zone inflation cooled to 0.1% y/y in May from 0.3% in April. India
GDP
2020Q1: 3.1%
India’s real GDP growth for the fourth quarter (January-March) of the 2019-2020 fiscal year came in at 3.1% y/y, down from 4.1% in the December quarter. Brazil
GDP
2020Q1: -0.3%
Brazil’s economy contracted in the first quarter, affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Chile
Employment
Apr. 2020: 9.0%
The national unemployment rate averaged 9% in the February-April rolling quarter, up sharply from 7.1% a year earlier. Canada
GDP
2020Q1: -8.2%
The sharp contraction in first-quarter GDP forewarns of worse to come. Canada
Industrial Product and Raw Materials Price Indexes
Apr. 2020: -2.3%
Prices for products manufactured in Canada, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index, fell 2.3% in April, mostly because of lower prices for refined petroleum products. Canada
Industry Output
Mar. 2020: -7.2%
Canadian GDP took a predictable nosedive in March because of the effects of COVID-19. United States
Advance Wholesale and Retail Inventories
Apr. 2020: 0.4%
Wholesale inventories increased by 0.4% from March to April but were 2.6% lower than April 2019. United States
International Trade in Goods - Advanced
Apr. 2020: -$69.7 bil
Trade volumes plummeted in April as business closures were in full swing throughout the month. United States
Personal Income
Apr. 2020: 10.5%
Fiscal stimulus significantly boosted personal income in April, more than offsetting the impacts of the pandemic. United States
PCE Deflator
Apr. 2020: -0.5%
Disinflation pressures from COVID-19 are mounting. United States
Personal Spending
Apr. 2020: -13.2%
Real consumer spending continued to tumble in April as closures of nonessential businesses and stay-at-home orders were at or near their peak. Chile
Manufacturing Production
Apr. 2020: -5.9%
Chile’s industry reported a significant contraction in April, the month that the coronavirus outbreak paralyzed economic activity. Chile
Retail & Wholesale Sales
Apr. 2020: -24.7%
Chile’s retail and wholesale sales index dropped 24.7% in April as the effects of COVID-19 ravaged the economy. United States
University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey
May. 2020: 72.3
The free fall in consumer sentiment is over, but confidence is now at a level consistent with a recession, although maybe not one of the magnitude the U.S. economy is suffering. Colombia
Monetary Policy
May. 2020: 2.75%
Colombia’s central bank board cut the reference interest rate by 50 basis points after Friday’s regular meeting. United States
Agricultural Prices
Apr. 2020: -9%
The Agricultural Prices Received Index decreased 9% from March to April because of a deterioration in livestock prices. » VIEW MORE ECONOMIC INDICATORS | 