Is The Euro

Is The Euro zone Lagging Behind?
The economic growth remains fragmented and volatile, as the recovery process is just in its early stage and consumes are low in the U.S. The U.S. dollar is rebounding from the lows and the trend might continue for the short/medium term.
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U.S.: consumes still low As the economy is slowing moving out the worst recession since WWII, data remains fragmented and volatile. In June, the personal consumer expenditure (PCE) rose 0.4% (+0.2% expected) from +0.1% in May following the surge in spending on non-durable products. Personal income, at the contrary, slumped 1.3%, as social security payments run out of steam. However, numbers should improve tangibly in 2010, albeit the recovery process could be the shortest of the past seventy years. In fact, some productive capacity might have been lost forever, while consumes could decline along with the rising saving rates. The job market remains weak overall. In July, 247,000 people (320,000 expected) were out of work. Nevertheless, the number of unemployed was less then June¡¦s 443,000 and May¡¦s 303,000. In addition, the hours worked are increasing and might anticipate some new hiring along the way. The work week hours rose to 33.1 from 33.0. In effect, an increase of the global trade will help the industries in the coming months. After four months of improvements, the U.S. ISM non-manufacturing index declined to 46.4 in July from 47.0. In reality, the contraction of the index was minimal overall. The trend still points toward a recovery for the sector, since factory orders rose 0.4% (-0.7% expected) after having moved up 1.1% in May.