EU & UK Economies Slow, US Consumers Take On More Debt
Thu, May 8 2008, 19:40 GMT
by Andrei Pehar
The European Union and United Kingdom both saw figures
pointing to a slowing in their economies this week. In the UK we saw a decline in the services
purchasing manager’s index, consumer confidence, industrial production, and
manufacturing production. On the EU mainland, the declines were felt primarily
in investor confidence, as well as a slight drop both in German factory orders
and industrial production, and a widening negative trade balance in France.
Both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank have left their key
interest rates unchanged.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in the United States, we saw a large
increase in crude oil inventories and even sharper increase in the total amount
of outstanding consumer credit ($15.3 billion compared with 6.5 billion the
prior month). Last week’s figures also showed a decline in personal income
and at the same time an increase in personal spending. Retailers benefiting the
most seem to be ones carrying basic necessities of life. Pending home
sales also declined slightly for another month, but only half as much as the
prior month.
