Week in review
- Australia real GDP 3Q 0.4% q/q and 1.7% y/y
- RBA keeps rates on hold at 0.75%
- U.S. PMI services 51.6
Week ahead
- UK general election
- U.S. Federal Reserve rate decision
- Australia retail sales
Thought of the week
Renewed fears about the timing of a China – U.S. trade deal rattled markets last week, but signs of economic improvement continued to show through. The fear this year was that the contagion from the contraction in the manufacturing cycle would feed into the services sector and weigh on employment. The PMI for services had been on a downward trend and was a reason that recession risks were rising. The November update to the global services PMI showed an uptick to the employment sub-index. This is not enough to reverse the risks around a global slowdown, but does reaffirm views that global growth may be higher in 2020 than it was this year. However, trade remains the wild card as was clearly evident last week.
Employment in services still a worry, but not as much
Sub-indices for PMI services