Oil and central bank action dominated economic headlines in January, but lots of other chart-able stuff happened this month. (We’ve got your back, Greece.)
Let’s start with oil, though—because it’s hard to overstate the impact of what’s happening there.
The oil bust continues
Oil prices are still falling
US crude oil inventories hit a record high
The International Energy Agency cut its 2015 forecast for global oil production.
Moving on to low-flation…
US inflation is falling
UK inflation is falling
The euro zone fell deeper into deflation
In the zone
The European Central Bank finally unveiled its stimulus program, pushing the euro lower
Bond yields fell after the news, though they’ve been doing that for a while
The continent could use it, considering how unemployment has remained pretty high
But it’s nothing compared with Greece
Where government bond yields rose this week after the anti-austerity Syriza party formed a new government
Meanwhile, central banking was looking pretty de-centralized…
Switzerland cuts its benchmark interest rate twice in a month’s time
It also de-pegged the franc from the euro
The Central Bank of Brazil, meanwhile, hiked rates
The Nigerian naira fell after the Central Bank of Nigeria left rates alone
Made in China
China’s trade surplus grew
China GDP growth slowed
Chinese inflation is stable on the consumer side, but deflation deepened on the producer side
As for the Anglosphere…
The US economy grew a bit more slowly than expected last quarter
And US wages aren’t getting much of a boost
But US jobless claims are way down
So is US unemployment
So it makes sense that US consumers are feeling pretty good
As are US businesses
The British unemployment situation is similarly improving
As are British wages
