Recent Updates
- France: **France Wages and Earnings Rebased to Q2-2017=100**
- Flash PMIs: Japan, France, Germany, Euro Area, US (Sep)
- Canada: CPI (Aug), Retail Trade (Jul)
- Canada Regional: CPI by Province (Aug), Retail Trade by Province (Jul)
- Norway: International Reserves (Aug), Government Debt (Q2); Finland: Quarterly Sector Accounts, Government Balance (Q2); Denmark: Property Price Indexes (Q2); Iceland: Wage Index (Aug)
- Turkey: IIP & Intl Reserves (Jul); South Africa: Retail Survey (Q4); Mauritius: PPI (Jun); Lebanon: CPI (Aug)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
EMU Sinks on New Flash PMI Readings
The EMU PMI sank to its cyclical low in mid-2016 then hit its cycle higher in 2018...
U.S. Financial Accounts See Borrowing Ease with Downswing in Federal Government Needs
Borrowing in U.S. financial markets slowed in Q2 2018...
U.S. Leading Economic Indicators Increase
The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.4% (6.4% y/y)...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Hold Steady
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes during August were unchanged at 5.340 million (SAAR, -1.5%)....
Philadelphia Fed Factory Conditions Improve; Prices Weaken Again
The Philadelphia Fed that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index rose to 22.9 during September...
by Robert Brusca October 3, 2007
Retail volumes grew by just 0.1% in the Euro area 13 in August. This follows an upwardly-revised +0.4% in July. That is not an auspicious start to the quarter. However since Q2 ended on such a strong note, again of 0.6% that has sent Q3 off on a relatively firm note so that the gains so far in the quarter have been helped by that momentum. As a result, quarter-to-date growth in EMU is strong. Sales volumes overall are expanding at a 3% pace with food expenditures up at a pace of 0.6%; nonfood spending is expanding at a pace of 4% all annualized at the two-month market in the new quarter.
Still the individual country results are disparate. For Germany, sales are up at just a 2.1% pace in the quarter; for the UK the pace is a very hefty 8.1%. French figures are not yet available but France has been tracking on the high side. Still for EMU as a whole the pace of retail sales seems to be slowing. What the EMU post for the quarter will still depend importantly on what consumers do in September.
| Euro Area 13 Retail Sales Volume | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug-07 | Jul-07 | Jun-07 | 3-Mo | 6-MO | 12-Mo | |
| Euro Area 13 Total | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 4.5% | 1.9% | 0.7% |
| Food | 0.2% | 0.3% | -0.1% | 2.0% | 0.6% | 0.3% |
| Nonfood | -0.1% | 0.4% | 1.1% | 5.6% | 2.2% | 0.8% |
| Textiles | #N/A | 0.8% | 2.9% | 0.6% | 5.6% | 4.9% |
| HH Goods | #N/A | 0.2% | 1.4% | 4.9% | 3.3% | 3.7% |
| Books news, etc | #N/A | 0.2% | 1.6% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 3.3% |
| Pharmaceutical | #N/A | 0.3% | 0.2% | 3.8% | 3.7% | 3.3% |
| Other Nonspecified | #N/A | -0.1% | 1.3% | 2.2% | 3.4% | 1.1% |
| Mail order | #N/A | 0.9% | -0.1% | 9.3% | 9.5% | 1.6% |
| Nonfood Country Detail Volume | ||||||
| Germany | 0.9% | -0.5% | 3.0% | 14.5% | 2.1% | -2.7% |
| France | #N/A | 0.4% | 1.3% | 7.9% | 6.5% | 5.8% |
| Italy (Total; Value) | #N/A | -0.1% | 0.0% | -1.1% | -1.6% | -1.1% |
| UK (EU) | 0.7% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 10.2% | 7.5% | 7.0% |
| Shaded areas calculated on a one-month lag due to lagging data | ||||||
| The EA 13 countries are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. | ||||||
