Fed semi-annual testimony - more upbeat than usual

Jul 15, 2015 17:33 pm UTC| Commentary Economy

In the July semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress, Chair Janet Yellen reiterated the message from her speech on Friday that a first fed funds rate hike this year is likely to be appropriate. In general, the...

South Korea resurgent hiring in manufacturing offsets MERS impact on services

Jul 15, 2015 02:25 am UTC| Commentary Economy

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.9% in June (Barclays: 3.9%; consensus: 4.0%), after ticking lower in March and April from a February high (Apr and Mar: 3.7%; Feb: 3.9%; Jan: 3.4%). The...

Labour market slack to diminish faster than Fed projects

Jul 14, 2015 17:20 pm UTC| Commentary Economy

A key reason why we expect the Fed to hike in September rather than wait to December is developments in the labour market. The June summary of economic projections showed that the Fed sees the unemployment rate falling to...

US Small business sentiment takes a hit in June

Jul 14, 2015 15:03 pm UTC| Commentary Economy

The NFIBs small business optimism index tumbled by 4.2 points in June to 94.1 - the lowest reading in more than a year. The headline number came in considerably below the consensus estimate, which called for the index to...

Recession confirmed in Russia

Jul 14, 2015 04:45 am UTC| Commentary Economy

The trends in Russian economy reflect the sharp drop in real household revenues, as consumers anticipated the upsurge in inflation and made early purchases in late 2014. Investment continued to contract. The recession...

The slowdown continues in Indonesia

Jul 14, 2015 02:03 am UTC| Commentary Economy

In Q1 2015, GDP growth continued to slow to only 4.7% yoy (down from 5% in Q1-2014), the slowest pace since the 2009 crisis. Household consumption remained relatively robust, but exports continued to contract for the...

Korea waits for the fiscal spending impact

Jul 12, 2015 02:54 am UTC| Commentary Economy

The Bank of Korea held the policy rate at 1.5% this week, after cutting rates in June. Precipitated by government pressure over the MERS outbreak, the decision to ease in June was the fourth rate cut since August 2014 and...