Charting Global Economy: Confidence in European Recovery Grows By Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Confidence in Europe’s economy is building as governments gradually lift pandemic-related restrictions, while fresh data on business investment and consumer spending point to solid growth prospects for the U.S.

At the same time, the firming of demand is generating faster inflation that includes higher commodity prices. An increase in risk appetite may also explain the recent pickup in input costs, according to Bloomberg Economics.

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

Confidence in the euro-area economy improved in May to the highest level in more than three years as restaurants, hotels and shops across the region start to reopen and faster vaccine roll-outs support the recovery.

Annika Saarikko became Finland’s new finance minister, bringing the number of women in that role in the European Union to six.

Orders placed with U.S. factories for business equipment rose in April by the most in eight months, marking yet another robust month of capital investment fueled by a broader reopening of the economy.

Personal spending rose at a steady, yet moderate pace in April after a stimulus-fueled binge a month earlier. The reading is consistent with sustained growth in the biggest part of the economy and partly reflects faster inflation.

China’s strong economic momentum eased slightly in May, as surging raw material prices squeezed profits, businesses turned more cautious and property and car sales underperformed.

South Korea last year registered more deaths than births for the first time in recent history.

Emerging Markets

Surging prices of tortillas and other ingredients of Mexico’s widely consumed tacos are squeezing consumers and becoming a headache for policy makers.

Costa Rica became a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — the 38th country in the Paris-based entity that was founded six decades ago.

Bloomberg Economics’ model shows movements in commodity prices this year have been mainly driven by risk appetite, not fundamental demand or shortages of supply.

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