Charting Global Economy: U.S. Sales Jump, Euro-Area Demand Lags

(Bloomberg) -- A record jump in U.S. retail sales offered some hope the world’s largest economy is emerging quickly from a deep recession, while demand is lagging behind an improvement in euro-area capacity.

Here are some of the charts that appeared on Bloomberg this week, offering insight into the latest developments in the global economy:

U.S.

American consumers are getting their groove back as a record surge in May retail sales offered some hope of a quicker recovery from the pandemic-induced recession. The 17.7% advance from the prior month, to $485 billion in receipts, was the biggest gain in data going back to 1992, following unprecedented declines in the prior two months.

About 30% of the increase in total U.S. unemployment from February to May can be explained by a reallocation shock, and so risks being long-lasting, according to Bloomberg Economics.

Europe

The bulk of the coronavirus hit to the euro area economy reflects the simultaneous fall in demand and supply as lockdowns took effect. As restrictions continue to be lifted, capacity is rising, but demand is not moving up in lockstep, according to Bloomberg Economics.

The Brexit-supporting regions that propelled Prime Minister Boris Johnson into power are now being disproportionately hit by coronavirus and will bear the brunt of the economic fallout.

Asia

Investment and trade have underpinned the U.S.-China relationship, though reciprocal tariffs introduced in 2018 reduced the strength of the bond. While progress in trade negotiations in late 2019 helped reduce tensions, the pandemic has posed a challenge for China to live up to purchase commitments it made in the deal signed in January.

Fewer than 5 million tourists could end up visiting Japan in 2020 as the government’s goal of welcoming 40 million visitors meets the reality of the coronavirus pandemic.

Emerging Markets

Once the growth engine of Turkey’s $750 billion economy, consumers are setting their sights lower in the post-lockdown era.

The central bank of Namibia, whose currency is pegged to South Africa’s, diverged from its neighbor’s moves on monetary policy for the first time in two years as the country seeks to balance supporting its economy with safeguarding investment inflows.

World

The latest U.S. salvo against the World Trade Organization is aimed right at the core of the global trade body’s mission to keep a lid on tariffs and prevent them from gumming up global commerce. Each country that joins agrees to cap its import levies at so-called bound rates, which establishes a ceiling for the range of tariffs that nations may legally impose on each other. That means some WTO countries have higher tariffs than the U.S. and some have much lower ones, a system the Trump administration says is no longer fair.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.