Key takeaway – On September 16-17, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will take a difficult decision: to hike rates for the first time in nearly a decade – or wait. It is a close call: US domestic economic conditions could justify tighter policy but remain fragile. While the GDP is growing, inflation is below the […]
Today’s real retail sales gave the ECB and EU heads of state another reason to keep their fingers crossed for stability of the Euro area economy (.pdf of release). In January, volume adjusted retail sales increased 0.3% in the Euro area (EA) and broke a 4-month trend downward. On a 3-month annualized basis, though, real retail sales […]
