Considering its considerable weight in world GDP, slower growth in China causes spillover effects. Over the past 12 months, countries which are more exposed to China in terms of exports have seen a bigger drop in their new export order assessment. In Germany there is a close correlation between the Chinese purchasing managers index and the assessment of exports in the PMI. This shows that Germany and, by extension, Europe as a whole should hope that recent Chinese growth support measures will be successful.
In the United States, positive cyclical surprises have become rare: employment figures and the ISM purchasing managers’ index were the only statistics that surpassed expectations in January. Yet these are solid indicators. Moreover, although industrial output and retail sales were disappointing, they were probably caused by poor weather conditions (extreme cold wave) or temporary factors (government shutdown). For the moment, the US economy still seems to be poised for a smooth landing.
