The world’s industrial production decreased 1.1% in May

The world’s industrial production declined 1.1% in May month-on-month, reported the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB).

After growing 0.3% in March, this indicator stagnated at 0% in April of the current year.

Above all, the fall in May was caused by negative rates in Japan (-6.5%), China (-1.6%) and other emerging economies (-4.0 percent).

In the United States, industrial production increased 0.7% in May compared to the immediately previous month.

The European Central Bank projects that economic activity in the United States will expand thanks to strong political support and a gradual reopening of the economy.

Industrial production

Following strong annualized quarter-on-quarter growth of 6.4% in the first quarter of 2021, US activity is expected to rebound further in the second quarter amid strong consumer spending supported by the outlay of direct government income support. to homes.

Meanwhile, in the labor market, the unemployment rate remained high, while the unemployment rate remained relatively high.

This suggests that skills mismatches in the labor market and worker shortages in contact-intensive service sectors may create some headwinds as the economy reopens.

Annual headline consumer price inflation rose to 4.2% in April.

While the increase in headline inflation was mainly due to a strong annual increase in the energy component, core inflation also rose significantly as the sectors most affected by the pandemic have increased prices significantly as the economy reopens. , for example, prices of airfares and accommodation.

Finally, according to the same central bank, the disruption of global supply chains affected car production in the United States and is likely to have contributed to the rise in used car prices in April.

On the other hand, the volume of world trade registered a month-on-month drop of 0.3 percent.