After a substantial drop in ADP nonfarm employment figures in the middle of last week confirmed the downtrend in unemployment gains, US nonfarm payrolls printed at 126,000. This marked the worst figure since 2013, missing expectations of 245,000 by a wide margin. There were some bright spots in US data including the gains in pending home sales and personal income, while personal spending and the deceleration in home price gains gave way to concerns that US economic expansion was faltering. The UK managed to outperform expectations, with the economy continuing to experience robust growth despite the headwinds from slackening inflation. Japanese figures continued to disappoint expectations with manufacturing crumbling -3.40% month over month, further confirmed by the disappointing Tankan survey data. The major political news came on the heels of a framework outline reached between Iran and the P5+1 negotiating teams. This sets the stage for June 30th as the deadline for finalizing a nuclear deal with Iran that would see sanctions gradually lifted for the banking and energy sectors.
US Macroeconomic Data Points to Impending Recession
Weekly Report - 06/04/2015