Recent Economic Developments and Upcoming Events in the UK, EU, Eurozone, and US

Economic data, news & events

■ UK: Monthly GDP contracted by 0.5% mom in July, reversing the rise of 0.5% in the prior month. The main downward contribution came from services, where output fell 0.5% mom in July. Within services, the largest downward contribution came from healthcare activity, where industrial action increased. But there were also falls in industrial production and construction in July. Monthly GDP has been particularly volatile recently due to: 1. an additional bank holiday in May; 2. exceptionally warm weather in June, which boosted hospitality, tourism and construction; and 3. Industrial strike action. Looking instead at the less volatile 3M/3M growth rate, GDP rose 0.2% in July, unchanged from June. We continue to expect the economy to enter a recession around the turn of the year.

■ EU: Today, European Commission President von der Leyen will deliver her speech on the State of the Union 2023 during the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg. She is expected to outline the main priorities and flagship initiatives for the year to come, based on the EU’s achievements of the past years (9:00 CET).

■ Eurozone: We forecast a 0.7% mom decline in industrial output for July, following a contraction of 1% qoq in 2Q23. The expected contraction will have come about in a difficult environment for the industrial sector, which faces weak global demand for goods and fading support from backlogs of orders. The latest surveys of industrial activity do not point to a turnaround any time soon. The manufacturing PMI and its gauges of output and new orders remain stuck far below the expansion threshold (11:00 CET).

■ US: Headline monthly CPI inflation likely jumped to 0.6% mom in August, from 0.2% mom in July. In yearly terms, CPI inflation likely rose to 3.6%, from 3.2%. Such an acceleration was likely entirely driven by energy prices, as we estimate that gasoline prices rose by around 10% mom in seasonally adjusted terms and utility (piped) gas prices probably followed wholesale prices higher. Core inflation, on the other hand, is likely to come in at 0.2% mom for a third consecutive month, taking the yoy rate down to 4.4% from 4.7% in the prior month. We expect the disinflation process continued in housing, while inflation for core-goods and for non-housing core services (referred to as supercore) likely continued to moderate (14:30 CET).