Economic Data

Yesterday the ISM Manufacturing Report on Business came out and it showed a large decline in the US manufacturing sector. The headline PMI number of 49.5% means that the US manufacturing sector is below the 50% threshold that separates…

By Michael Pettis The big news in the past two weeks has been the slew of economic data suggesting that China has firmly turned the corner on its economic closedown. Growth is up, investment is up, and inflation is down. Here, for example,…

 If you look at the recent economic data coming out of China, it is clear the economy is in a bottoming process. The question is whether the measures used to keep the economy from sliding further are sustainable. The most recent piece of…

Jeremy Grantham's quarterly piece is out now and the important topic is the lack of growth in the US. The way that Grantham paints the picture - and I believe this is an accurate depiction - the US is not just suffering from a cyclical…

The final monthly jobs report before election day was released at 830 ET in Washington. I will be discussing these numbers and the US economy generally later today at 1215 ET on BBC World News. Tune in. The key number, non-farm payrolls,…

Short commentary today because I think the articles and data below speak for themselves. I have a ton of data from various economies around the world: the US, UK, Germany, Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Mexico and more. And the data…

By Michael Pettis Chiwoong Lee at Goldman Sachs has a new report out (“China vs. 1970s Japan”, September 25, 2012) in which he predicts that China’s long-term growth rate will drop to 7.5-8.5%. I disagree very strongly with his forecast,…

Moody's released the following announcement on Friday in connection with a review it is now conducting regarding the Canadian banking sector. Moody's Investors Service has placed the long-term ratings of six Canadian banks (including the…

There has been a bit of talk about jobless claims since the abnormally large fall in claims two weeks ago. Those numbers were skewed by reporting anomalies that were adjusted in the subsequent week. Looking beyond the week to week data,…

Warren Buffett was on CNBC earlier today for the first time since his cancer treatments to speak to Becky Quick. As we see global US companies cut earnings forecasts during this earnings season, it is clear that the global economy continues…