The Lastest Macroeconomic News
15.07.2009 20:51 US industrial output down 0.4 percent in June 2009
After having fallen 1.2% in May, industrial production decreased 0.4% in June, the Federal Reserved reported on July 15. For the second quarter as a whole, output fell at an annual rate of 11.6%, a more moderate contraction than in the first quarter, when output fell 19.1%. Manufacturing output moved down 0.6% in June, compared with a 1.2% drop in May. Production of durable goods fell 0.7%. The indexes for machinery; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment, appliances, and components; and motor vehicles and parts all posted decreases of more than 1%. Output increased for several industries, most notably for wood products, primary metals, and miscellaneous manufacturing. The gain of 1.7% for primary metals follows 10 consecutive monthly decreases for the industry. The output of nondurable goods fell 0.4%. Declines in the indexes for food, beverage, and tobacco products; apparel and leather; paper; and chemicals were only partly offset by increases in the indexes for printing and support, petroleum and coal products, and plastics and rubber products. The output of business equipment fell 0.8% in June. The production of industrial and other equipment and of information processing equipment declined, while the output of transit equipment was unchanged. Transit equipment fell in the second quarter after having increased substantially in the first quarter, when the output of aircraft rebounded from a strike. The output of defense and space equipment increased 0.8% in June.
06.07.2009 22:45 Unemployment in the 16 countries that use the euro spiked to a 10-year high in May
Unemployment in the 16 countries that use the euro spiked to a 10-year high in May, reinforcing concerns any recovery will take time with so many people out of work. Eurostat, the statistics office of the EU, said Thursday the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for the euro zone in May stood at 9.5 percent, up from April`s 9.3 percent. The increase was expected in the markets in light of the ongoing fall in output across Europe — in the first quarter of 2009, the euro zone economy saw output plunge by 2.5 percent as the global recession hit the industrial sector in particular. The unemployment rate was at its highest level since May 1999. Spain is the euro zone`s biggest casualty. Its jobless rate rose to 18.7 percent in May from 18 percent in April. The lowest unemployment rate in the euro zone was in the Netherlands where only 3.2 percent of the working population were without a job in May, and Austria, where only 4.3 percent were jobless. The unemployment rate in Germany, Europe`s biggest economy, was unchanged at 7.7 percent in May. Unemployment is a lagging indicator, so the number of jobless will likely continue to rise for a while even when the recession officially ends. Recent economic releases have stoked hopes that the euro zone may start to see some sort of recovery towards the end of the year but that high unemployment levels will continue to weigh on consumption and sentiment. The unemployment news comes just hours ahead of the European Central Bank`s latest interest rate decision. Though the rate-setting governing council is set to keep its benchmark rate unchanged at the record low of 1 percent, its president Jean-Claude Trichet is expected to note the recent improving economic signals though maintaining his view that recovery will take time. Including the eleven countries that don`t use the euro but are in the EU, such as Britain and Sweden, the unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent in May from 8.7 percent in the previous month. May`s rate was the highest since June 2005. The EU-wide rate has been swelled by the Baltic countries, which are in a deep recession following the collapse of debt-fueled economic boom. Latvia, whose economy slumped by a staggering 18 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, saw its unemployment rate, climb to 16.3 percent in May from 15.3 percent in April. Analysts expect June`s U.S. unemployment rate to rise around 0.3 of a percentage point to 9.7 percent and that another 400,000 jobs were lost during the month. Though still high, the job losses are way down on the numbers recorded earlier in the year. That improving trend was evident in a survey Wednesday from the ADP private payrolls firm, which showed that private sector employment fell by 473,000 in June, down on the 532,000 jobs shed in May.
25.06.2009 22:44 Russia`s GDP plunged 11 percent in May compared to the same period last year
Russia`s gross domestic product (GDP) plunged 11 percent in May compared to the same period last year, Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said. The economy contracted 10.2 percent from January to May this year, compared to the same period of 2008, the Interfax news agency quoted Klepach as saying. "The economy is close to the lowest point of its contraction. In several sectors close to the global situation, a revival has been seen and exports can be expected to grow, but the sectors tied to investment demand are showing a major decline," Klepach said. Given the 10 percent decline over the first five months, Klepach said, lowering the economic slump to 6.8 percent for this year would be "a heroic act for our economy." Russia`s economy, heavily dependent on exports of energy and raw materials, was hit hard by the global financial crisis. Russian GDP contracted by 9.8 percent year-on-year in the first four months of this year. The Russian economy will shrink by 7.9 percent in 2009 despite a recent rise in commodity prices, the World Bank said on Wednesday, a much sharper contraction than the 4.5 percent it forecast earlier. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development expects Russia`s gross domestic product to fall 6.8% this year, a sharper contraction than forecast in March, citing further erosion of domestic demand, falling investment and declining output. However, it expects stronger GDP growth in 2010 than previously forecast. In March, the OECD forecast a 5.6% fall in GDP from a previous estimate of 2.3% GDP growth.
18.06.2009 20:50 U.S. industrial output tumbles 1.1 percent in May 2009
U.S. industrial production slid a steeper-than-expected 1.1 percent in May from the prior month with output off sharply at factories, utilities and mines, a Federal Reserve report showed. Economists polled by Reuters were expecting a 0.9 percent decline after a revised 0.7 percent drop in April, initially reported as a 0.5 percent decrease. The data suggest that any slowdown in the pace of the recession that many economists have pointed to in recent weeks may be uneven. The capacity utilization rate for total industry, a measure of slack in the economy, fell to 68.3 percent, the lowest level on records dating back to 1967.
15.06.2009 21:51 Russian GDP Shrank 9.8% in First Quarter of 2009 on Industrial Output
Russia’s economy contracted the most in 15 years in the first quarter after industrial production plunged and the government’s 3 trillion rubles ($97 billion) in stimulus spending failed to boost companies and banks. Gross domestic product tumbled an annual 9.8 percent, compared with growth of 1.2 percent in the previous quarter, the Moscow-based Federal Statistics Service said in a statement on its Web site today. The preliminary estimate on May 15 was a 9.5 percent contraction. The world’s biggest energy supplier is falling into its first recession in a decade after the global slowdown sapped demand for its commodities and companies struggled to find funds. The government’s stimulus package has failed to spur bank lending, even as the central bank cut its main interest rates three times since April. Manufacturing fell 23.5 percent in the first quarter, compared with a revised 6.6 percent expansion in the same period last year. GDP may slump as much as 8 percent in 2009, Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina said last month, after growth of 5.6 percent in 2008 and 8.1 percent the year before. President Dmitry Medvedev said on June 6 that the Russian economy will rebound “more quickly than had perhaps been expected.” The economy contracted in May at the slowest pace since October, shrinking 6.8 percent from a year earlier, as slumps in manufacturing and service industries eased after record declines in April, according to VTB Capital’s GDP indicator, a gauge of economic growth, published on June 4. Rising crude oil prices will help the country narrow its budget shortfall and reduce the use of the Reserve Fund, one of its two sovereign wealth funds, Prime Minister Vladimir Putinsaid during a meeting in Moscow on June 9. The deficit, Russia’s first in a decade, may reach 10 percent of GDP this year, according to the Finance Ministry. The Reserve Fund may be exhausted by the end of next year, Finance Minster Alexei Kudrin said. Goldman predicts a contraction of 7.5 percent in GDP this year, while the International Monetary Fund on June 1 said it expected the economy to shrink 6.5 percent. Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest privately owned bank, expects the economy to contract 5.7 percent.
08.06.2009 22:12 Russia`s foreign trade surplus fell to $31.3 billion in January-April
Russia`s foreign trade surplus fell to $31.3 billion in January-April from $70.1 billion in the same period a year ago, the Federal Customs Service said. It provided the following data: Exports $77.8 billion (-47.7 percent y/y), Imports $46.5 billion (-40.9 percent y/y). Central Bank data already released, the trade surplus fell to $6.7 billion in April alone from $6.8 billion in March and $14.8 billion in April 2008. Russia`s Central Bank estimates that the country`s net trade surplus for the period January-May 2009 was $35 billion, the bank`s deputy chairman told journalists at the St. Petersburg economic forum on Saturday. Alexei Ulyukaev also said that the Central Bank had purchased less than $1 billion to restrain the ruble on the exchange market, which was also lower than the period February 1 - May 25 when the bank spent more than $30 billion on strengthening the ruble. The top bank official predicted that Russia could move towards a free floating regime for the ruble in 2010, but only if conditions were suitable, including an acceptable balance of payments and a mechanism allowing the system to be regulated through interest rates. "I wouldn`t rule out 2010," Ulyukaev said, "We have a much more liberal system now that a year ago. We have an extremely wide corridor [currency basket] 26-41 rubles." He also dismissed reports that the Central Bank had stress-tested the Russian banking system. "We have not carried out a stress test, and have no negative information. We think that the situation with the banking system is completely acceptable," Alexei Ulyukaev said.
27.05.2009 21:16 Russia`s GDP Dropped 10.5 percent in April 2009
The Russian federal government now believes the country`s GDP in 2009 will shrink between six and eight percent. In April, the GDP dropped 10,5 percent. Deputy Minister of Finance Andrey Klepachsaid that the decline in Russian GDP in the four first months of 2009 totaled 9,8 percent. In April, the drop was 10,5 percent. The official still highlighted that the drop in April was lower than in March and that the 2009 might see a total decline of 6-8 percent. The main negative issue is the decline is investments, which totaled 15,2 percent and in April and 15,8 percent over the last four months. Mr. Klepach also said that his ministry expects a 9 percent budget deficit this year, the news site informs. In his forecast presented to government and the countries federal assemblies, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the Russian budget deficit in 2010 will continue to drop to an estimated seven percent.
19.05.2009 21:18 Industrial production in Russia dropped 14.9% in the January-April period
Industrial production in Russia dropped 16.9% year-on-year in April, faster than a 13.7% fall in March, the Federal State Statistics Service said. Economists expected a decline of 14%. Industrial output dropped for the sixth consecutive month in April. Month-on-month, industrial output slipped 8.1% in April, following an 11.1% growth in the previous month. In the January-April period, industrial production dipped 14.9% compared to the same period in the previous year.Rosstat bases its manufacturing output index on data from the resource extraction (mining) and manufacturing sectors, and includes the production and distribution of electricity, gas and water. The metric showed that the first quarter of 2009 stood at 85.1 percent over the previous year. Output in April 2009 was 83.1 percent from April 2008, and was down from March 2009 by 8.1 percent. Similarly, a report on the state of the economy published on May 15th showed that GDP had fallen 9.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. The International Monetary Fund predicted last month that Russian GDP would fall 6 percent in 2009.
16.05.2009 14:55 Euro area and EU27 GDP down by 2.5% in the first quarter of 2009
GDP declined by 2.5% in both the euro area (EA16) and the EU27 during the first quarter of 2009, compared with the previous quarter, according to flash estimates published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In the fourth quarter of 2008, growth rates were -1.6% in the euro area and -1.5% in the EU27. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 4.6% in the euro area and by 4.4% in the EU27 in the first quarter of 2009, after -1.4% in both zones in the previous quarter. During the first quarter of 2009, US GDP decreased by 1.6% compared with the previous quarter, after -1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2008. US GDP decreased by 2.6% compared with the same quarter of the previous year (-0.8% in the previous quarter). In March 2009 compared with February 2009, seasonally adjusted industrial production fell by 2.0% in the euro area (EA16) and by 1.9% in the EU27. In February production decreased by 2.5% and 2.2% respectively. In March 2009 compared with March 2008, industrial production declined by 20.2% in the euro area and by 18.8% in the EU27. In March 2009 compared with February 2009, production of capital goods fell by 0.5% in the euro area and by 1.3% in the EU27. Non-durable consumer goods decreased by 1.0% and 0.5% respectively. Durable consumer goods dropped by 2.5% in the euro area and by 1.8% in the EU27. Energy declined by 2.8% and 3.1% respectively. Intermediate goods fell by 3.1% in the euro area and by 2.7% in the EU27. Among the Member States for which data are available, industrial production rose in five and fell in fourteen. The highest increases were registered in Portugal (+3.1%) and Finland (+2.2%), and the most significant falls in Luxembourg (-7.2%), Lithuania (-6.3%), Italy (-4.6%) and Spain (-3.5%). In March 2009 compared with March 2008, production of non-durable consumer goods fell by 7.2% in the euro area and by 5.3% in the EU27. Energy decreased by 9.2% and 9.0% respectively. Durable consumer goods declined by 23.2% in the euro area and by 20.5% in the EU27. Capital goods dropped by 23.5% and 23.0% respectively. Intermediate goods fell by 27.0% in the euro area and by 25.6% in the EU27. Industrial production fell in all Member States for which data are available. The largest decreases were registered in Estonia (-29.7%), Luxembourg (-29.6%), Spain (-24.7%) and Italy (-23.8%), and the smallest in Greece (-5.8%), Portugal (-7.9%) and Poland (-10.0%). Euro area1 annual inflation was 0.6% in April 2009, unchanged compared with March. A year earlier the rate was 3.3%. Monthly inflation was 0.4% in April 2009. EU annual inflation was 1.2% in April 2009, down from 1.3% in March. A year earlier the rate was 3.6%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in April 2009.
12.05.2009 20:48 IMF said Europe must do more to exit recession in 2010
Europe should take bolder steps to fix its banks, starting with stress tests of vulnerability, and better coordinate national policies to improve chances of the region shaking off recession during the course of 2010, the International Monetary Fund said. A report from the Washington-based agency, which has provided economic rescue funds for emerging market European countries hit hardest by the global financial crisis, stressed the need for Europe to adopt policies that helped west and east. "Europe is facing the economic storm of a lifetime and it urgently needs to weatherproof its institutions," Marek Belka, who is head of the IMF`s European department, and presented the publication in Paris, said. ECB interest rates cuts had probably gone about as far as was useful, or near in any case, said Belka, whose main point was to stress the IMF`s call for measures to restore confidence in the banking system, starting with stress tests. "We are coming quite close to the point where the efficiency of interest rate actions is exploited," said Belka. The IMF report repeats the macroeconomic forecasts contained in the IMF`s April 22 World Economic Outlook. It foresees deep recession in 2009 and flat to sub-zero growth for 2010 as a whole despite a pickup that should take place as long as government measures are effective. It sees both advanced and emerging economies in deep contractions in 2009 but the emerging market region returning to growth for 2010 as a whole while advanced economies still struggle, if much less so than this year. The IMF said fiscal stimulus should continue in 2010 and focus on infrastructure and direct transfers rather than tax breaks and subsidies for companies and consumers. "Crisis measures, regulatory, and supervisory actions have been unhelpfully diverse especially in Europe`s well-integrated financial sector," the IMF said.