International Economic Week in Review: A Very Light Week

This was a very light news week for the major, OECD economies.Call it a summer slow-down in data news. 

China: since the end of last year, there had been concern that China, which is trying to move its economy from a manufacturing based to a consumer based economy, would have a “hard landing.” That does not appear to be happening.In the latest release, industrial production increased 6% Y/Y. Fixed asset investment was up 8.1%. However, the strongest investment growth occurred in the state-owned sector, where spending increased over 20%; private investment increased a far smaller 2.1%. Most importantly, the Chinese consumer continues to spend at a solid pace: retail sales rose 10.2% Y/Y.

UK: Production increased 2.1% while manufacturing rose 1.8%. But as the following chart shows, the increase occurred before the Brexit vote; since then, both production and manufacturing have declined:

Canada: the Canadian housing is still in the doldrums: building permits declined 5.5% while housing starts were off 9.1%. The former has declined for most of 2016 while the latter has had wild swings:

EU: GDP increased .3% Q/Q and 1.6% Y/Y. The Y/Y figures have been consistent for the last 4 quarters. Industrial production rose .6%. However, IP has declined in 3 of the last 6 months, more or less moving sideways during that time.