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May 23, 2025
Eurozone: Waging War on Wages
May 23, 2025 1:35 PM UTC
After a protracted period of elevated EZ cost and price pressures, a reversal seems to be very much underway. Headline and underlying HICP inflation have moved back toward target, but to reinforce this downtrend there are an increasing array of softer cost pressure signals. ECB wage tracker and
Canada March Retail Sales rise, with autos strong and gasoline weak, April seen firmer
May 23, 2025 12:51 PM UTC
Canada’s 0.8% rise in March retail sales is slightly stronger than a 0.7% preliminary estimate made with February’s release, but the rise is more than fully explained by what was the first rise in three months for autos, possibly related to concerns about upcoming tariffs. Ex auto sales fell by
May 22, 2025
ECB April Account: Neutral Rate Not Necessarily a Terminal Rate
May 22, 2025 12:46 PM UTC
The account of the April 16-17 ECB Council meeting suggested that the policy decision was more of a clearly agreed consensus, this papering over continued divides regarding the outlook; the risks from tariffs; and where inflation risks lie. The seventh and widely expected 25 bp deposit rate cut (w
Eurozone: Services Offer Sobering News
May 22, 2025 9:00 AM UTC
The May flash composite PMI data may have fallen into apparent contraction territory as the index dropped to 49.5 in May from 50.4 in April, below the 50.0 no-change mark for the first time in five months and thereby signalling a reduction, albeit a marginal one. We do not take much issue whether
May 21, 2025
German Data Preview (May 30): Lower Headline as Easter Effect Reverse Services Inflation Surge
May 21, 2025 11:54 AM UTC
Germany’s disinflation process continues, but there have been signs that the downtrend was flattening out and this impression was accentuated by the small (ie 0.1 ppt) drop in the headline in April to 2.2%, still a seven-month low. Most notable amid a drop caused by lower m/m fuel prices, was th
May 20, 2025
May 19, 2025
Eurozone: The European Commission Diverges From the ECB on Inflation
May 19, 2025 10:07 AM UTC
The European Commission (EC) Spring Forecast projects real EZ GDP growth in 2025 at 0.9%, some 0.4 ppt below its previous (autumn) view. There is also a downgrade to the 2026 growth picture by 0.2 ppt to 1.4%, projections that carry downside risks and where we think they are still too optimistic