Thomas Watts, Investment Analyst, abrdn, comments on the economic data releases this week.
He said: “After an eventful week for global markets, there is little time to rest, especially for domestic investors. Tuesday will show us how many people are actively looking for work at with the Office for National Statistics releasing its claimant count data. The numbers will describe the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits during the previous month and whilst the data is considered a lagging indicator, it acts as an important signal of overall economic health, consumer spending is highly correlated with labour market conditions.
“Economists will also have a job on their hands come Wednesday as not only does BoE chief, Andrew Bailey, hold a press conference about the bank’s Financial Stability Report, released the same day, there is also big news scheduled across the pond. US CPI data is set to be released on Wednesday afternoon, a set of numbers that could really set the tone for the remainder of the week. Falling headline inflation but persistent core inflationary price rises (stripping out more volatile sectors such as energy and food), have characterised the US economy during the course of the first part of the year.
“With the minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting showing that although their rate setting committee will examine upcoming data on its merits, they do see more hikes on the horizon. With a 0.25% hike nearly fully priced in by markets during the next meeting later on in the month, and then a 50/50 chance of another such move later on in the year, a strong reading this coming week could help tip the balance into make that second hike a formality as well.”
