The Institute for Supply Management’s purchasing managers index was 54 last month, its highest reading since May 2022. Readings above 50 indicate sectoral expansion. Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal expected a reading of 53.2.
The eurozone’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in April, demonstrating resilience despite heightened economic uncertainty due to from the war in Iran.
Inflation expectations steadied in April, but at a level that was much higher than before the war in the Middle East, likely underpinning expectations that the ECB will raise its key interest rate next week.
Over the past two decades, Chinese businesses have received three to eight times more support than their competitors, according to the Paris-based research body.
A private gauge showed China’s manufacturing activity expanded at a slower pace in May, marking a sixth straight month of expansion amid easing, though still elevated, inflationary pressures.
South Korea’s exports grew at the fastest pace in more than four decades in May, as artificial intelligence-driven demand for chips pushed the value of shipments to a record.
The path forward offers historic opportunity, marked by continuing innovation and prosperity. But it is also filled with potholes and potential wrong turns.
China’s manufacturing activity stayed flat in May after expanding for two straight months, reflecting the pressure from rising energy costs since the Middle East conflict began.
Fed governor Michelle Bowman said reacting to temporarily elevated energy-price inflation would add unwarranted policy restraint, weighing unnecessarily on economic activity and labor-market conditions.
Canada’s economy unexpectedly shrank for a second consecutive quarter as activity stalled at the start of the year, raising the likelihood the country dipped into a recession.
U.S. jobs data and ISM surveys on manufacturing and services activity will be in focus as investors assess the outlook for Federal Reserve interest rates.
