Charting the global economy: FDI into China collapses
European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged for a fourth meeting as a softer outlook for inflation and economic growth bolstered expectations for cuts starting in June.
Separate data showed the euro-area economy stagnated at the end of last year, underscoring the central bank’s forecast for slower growth in 2024 than previously estimated.
In the US, the unemployment rate climbed to a two-year high in February even as hiring remained healthy, pointing to a cooler yet resilient labour market. In Japan, inflation in Tokyo last month surged back above the central bank’s target, bolstering the case to raise interest rates.
Here are some of the charts that appeared on Bloomberg this week on the latest developments in the global economy, geopolitics and markets:
Europe
The ECB’s latest quarterly outlook puts inflation at 2.3% this year — down from 2.7% in December — and revises the 2025 forecast down to 2%. The economy, meanwhile, is seen expanding by 0.6% in 2024 versus 0.8% previously. The majority of officials have been converging around a June rate-cut timeline — even if some would like swifter action as the continent’s economy struggles to exit more than a year of stagnation.
The euro-area economy’s failure to expand in the fourth quarter was down to a plunge in trade. The region’s outlook for this year isn’t much better. The ECB this week cut its 2024 growth forecast to just 0.6%, saying gross domestic product will only rise 0.1% this quarter.
US
Nonfarm payrolls advanced 275,000 last month following a
