Datastream Chart Blog

A full set of UK economic accounts for 2012 Q4 was published last week. Private consumption is now estimated to have grown by 0.3% in 2012 Q4, the fifth consecutive quarterly rise. Private consumption growth has averaged 0.4% over the past five quarters, stronger than its average of 0.2% since the economy emerged from its [...]

Housing starts and building permits both rose in February as the housing market recovery remained on track. The US real estate market was at the epicentre of the crisis five years ago as steep house price falls delivered a substantial blow to bank balance sheets and households’ net worth. However, buoyed by a rapid correction [...]

As part of its international rescue package, Cyprus will impose a one-off tax on depositors at its banks. Depositors in other peripheral countries may feel their savings are less secure. If that is the case, we would expect to see a surge in the absolute size of Target 2 balances, with the core balances becoming [...]

The US economy created 236,000 jobs in February, which was considerably more than the 160,000 that economists polled by Thomson Reuters had been looking for. Meanwhile the US unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 7.7% – its lowest level in four years. However, long-term unemployment remained extremely high, and was essentially unchanged on the [...]

Investors remained focused on risk assets throughout much of February, in spite of sharp reminders that the economic backdrop still offers plenty of challenges to growth. As winter storms blew across North America, uncertainty and volatility returned to financial markets over the course of February, as the outcome of the Italian election campaign reminded investors [...]

The British pound fell below $1.50 for the first time since 2010 last Friday one week after Moody’s stripped the UK government of its prized triple-A credit rating. Sterling has had a torrid 2013, as investors have sold sterling on the back of domestic weaknesses, stubbornly high inflation and a still-large fiscal deficit. Absent a [...]

A dire set of Q4 GDP data showed that much of the euro area was either in recession, or heading in that direction. This week’s COTW takes a look at how individual economies have fared since the introduction of the common currency. Despite their recent crises, Ireland and Spain stand out as the big winners [...]

The US trade balance narrowed sharply in December, highlighting the country’s increasing energy independence. The data suggest that the advance estimate of GDP in the fourth quarter, which was released at the end of January and showed the first fall in output for more than three years, is likely to be upwardly revised. Refresh Chart [...]

Investors threw themselves into “risk-on” investments at the start of the new year, although the odds of greater volatility and uncertainty remain high. After a wary and uncertain end to 2012, investors celebrated the advent of 2013 by once again embracing the concept of risk. They seized on respectable if not dramatic gains in corporate [...]

After a welcome boost from the Olympics, the UK ended 2012 on a disappointing note, contracting by 0.3% in Q4. We expect the UK economy will return to positive, if weak growth in 2013. While a fresh approach to monetary policy offers hope, unless banks can be encouraged to write down their bad debts, and [...]