The economic indicators for June and the second quarter of 2023 illustrate widespread sluggish economic activity. Chinese households are cautious and limit their spending. They are worried because of the lasting crisis in the real estate sector and the uncertainties surrounding employment opportunities.
In the major OECD economies, the slow pace of disinflation is expected to continue, while the slow slowdown in growth will eventually lead, because of the monetary tightening (particularly rapid and significant), to a recession in the United States and stagnation in eurozone GDP. Various supportive factors should limit the extent of the reversal, but the ensuing recovery would be equally limited. The slow convergence of inflation towards its 2% target would force central banks to maintain a restrictive policy despite the start of rate cuts in the first half of 2024.
The US economy continues to grow and create jobs, albeit at a gradually slower pace, and the Federal Reserve has not quite finished with rate hikes. We continue to anticipate a recession, from Q3 2023 until Q1 2024, under the effect of monetary tightening. Having opted for the status quo in June on the back of inflation continuing to fall and in order to take time to assess the effects of the monetary tightening implemented to date, the Fed is expected to make a final 25 bps increase in July, bringing the Fed funds range to 5.25-5.50%.
China’s economic growth recovered rapidly following the abandonment of the zero-Covid policy, but it is also running out of steam faster than expected. Domestic demand is held back by a significant loss of consumer and investor confidence, and export momentum is stalling. The authorities are cautiously easing monetary policy, and additional stimulus measures are expected in the short term. They should, among other things, aim to encourage youth employment.
Inflation in Japan continues to rise, spreading to all the items in the consumer price index. Inflation expectations remain anchored around the 2% target and price increases should remain at this level in the medium term. We expect the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to raise the 10-year sovereign rate ceiling to 1% in July, before ending its yield curve control policy by the end of 2024. Real GDP grew by 0.7% q/q in Q1 (+2.7% in annualised terms), mainly supported by household consumption and non-residential investment. The return of foreign tourists (+71% q/q in Q1) also enabled activity to rebound after two disappointing quarters. Although slowing, growth should continue in Q2 (+0.5% q/q) and throughout the second half of the year, reaching 1.1% in 2023.
The eurozone entered a technical recession in Q1 2023, with Eurostat having revised lower its estimate of quarterly GDP growth for Q1 from +0.1% to -0.1%, i.e. the same pace of contraction as in Q4 2022. These results do not profoundly change our assessment for 2023: weak or slightly negative economic activity, quarter-on-quarter, although growth for 2023 as a whole should be more positive thanks to the favourable carry-over growth effect. Our current forecasts are based on a terminal refinancing rate of 4.5%, which would be reached at the monetary policy meeting on 14 September. Nevertheless, the scenario of harsher tightening cannot be completely ruled out, given the ongoing inflationary momentum and still high inflation generalisation indices.
Germany experienced a technical recession in Q4 2022 (-0.5% q/q) and in Q1 2023 (-0.3% q/q), driven by a contraction in household consumption (-1.7% then -1.2%). Although the main cause of this recession was not its industrial core, the German economy showed signs of weakness which hindered growth. While disinflation should allow household consumption to recover in Q2, economic surveys however, are pointing to a further deterioration, which once again exposes the German economy to a risk of recession in H2.
After a second half-year 2022 during which growth weakened markedly, Q1 2023 saw a relative rebound, which should be confirmed in Q2: a rebound rather concentrated in some sectors, mainly transport equipment and tourism. However, economic surveys have deteriorated since March, reaching relatively low levels, particularly in manufacturing. Housing, business services and exports are all areas of concern which, taken together, are likely to have a more pronounced negative impact in the second half of 2023, both in terms of growth and job creation, which are continuing for the time being.
Following a mild contraction in the last three months of 2022, Italian GDP rose by 0.6% in Q1 2023. The carry-over for 2023 is +0.9%. In Q1, domestic demand excluding inventories added 0.7 percentage points to growth, while the contribution of both net exports and inventories was negative. Investment rose by almost 1%, reflecting the improvement of economic and financial conditions for Italian firms. Italian households benefited from the strong recovery of nominal income, but still suffered from the purchasing power loss due to inflation. This latter remains among the highest in the euro zone, at 8% y/y in May (harmonised measure).
The drop in inflation in Spain has provided no respite for the coalition in power. The Socialist Party’s losses in the regional and local elections on 28 May to the People’s Party, led Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to announce a snap general election on 23 July, five months before the originally scheduled date. Despite a still dynamic labour market, the drop in purchasing power and the housing crisis are penalising the party in power, which has fallen even further behind in the polls this spring. The property market is showing signs of a limited correction for the time being, but the continuation of monetary tightening and the resulting hike in lending rates are likely to accentuate this downturn.
At the start of this year, Belgian GDP growth remained at above-average levels. Inflation is currently slowing down alongside the cooling of the labour market. Rising interest rates have started to bite, as real estate spending is already declining, with firm capex to follow suit. A (brief) recession towards the end of the year remains possible but unlikely. Even if it does materialise, a debt-constrained government won’t be of much help, however.
GDP in the United Kingdom rose by 0.1% q/q in Q1 2023. The winter recession heralded in autumn 2022 did not materialise thanks to public investment, the momentum of services and the resilience of industry. This resilience is good news, but is likely to make inflation more persistent in the medium term, while the latest figures once again surprised on the upside. The Bank of England (BoE) will have to continue to raise interest rates. This will impact growth, which is likely to be zero in 2024, after already reaching just 0.4% in 2023.
Uncertainty about US economic policy, based on media coverage, fell in June after a rebound in May. The European Commission’s economic uncertainty index fell in June, continuing its decline since October 2022, as uncertainty in the various sectors of activity decreased, except in industry, where the index remained stable.
While it might have been hoped that the current drop in inflation would provide a stronger boost to household confidence, this, and consequently consumption, remains constrained. This is due to the impact of rising interest rates on purchasing intentions in both France and Germany.
In June, the main OECD economies experienced divergent trends, raising the question of the tipping point between a situation where growth continues – with inflationary pressures requiring further monetary tightening – and another where it slows down further and where the fall in inflation means that an end to rate hikes can be envisaged.
Despite the support of tourism, which has been at levels close to those of 2019 since the beginning of the year, the effects of the rise in interest rates and the drop in household purchasing power on the Spanish economy should worsen over the course of the year.
Continuing the downturn observed in April, INSEE’s business climate indicator fell again in May to 100, the lowest since April 2021. The downturn is widespread and particularly noteworthy regarding the manufacturing sector, where the confidence index even fell to 99, below its long-term average (100) for the first time since March 2021. At the same time, inflationary pressures are continuing to ease.
Economic indicators for the month of April 2023 suggest that China’s economic recovery is rapidly running out of steam. Granted, health restrictions were lifted recently (December 2022) and there are still some major post-Covid catching-up effects that are bolstering household demand. However, growth in other demand components has weakened.
New factory orders in the industry fell sharply in Germany in March, after a fairly significant increase in February. Overall, these developments are offsetting each other. A very moderate increase over Q1 (0.2% q/q) is consistent with GDP growth, published at 0% q/q for Q1.
The French economy recorded GDP growth of 0.2% q/q in Q1, split between factors of resilience and weakness.
The European Commission survey of consumer confidence has found, over the past four months, a marked improvement amongst German consumers, driven by an upturn in their expectations for the general economic situation. Conversely, French consumer confidence remains depressed and is still not showing any sign of improvement. Assessments of the past situation are also diverging, with that in Germany also improving, albeit to a lesser extent.
The Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey sheds light on how changes in monetary policy influence banks’ credit standards and expected loan demand. Based on the historical relationships, the latest survey points towards a high likelihood of average negative growth of the volume of company and household investments over the next several quarters. Moreover, recent research shows that since 2009, the maximum impact of monetary policy on inflation may be reached more quickly. Based on the relationship between credit standards, expected credit demand and investments by companies and households, as well as on the possibility that transmission lags have shortened, decisions by the Federal Reserve will more than ever be data-dependent.
In this new AudioBrief, Guillaume Derrien, economist within the OECD team, discusses the close relationship between global growth and the evolution of international trade.
The latest economic indicators updated on February 20, 2023 and the coming calendar
The improved business climate points to a risk of an upwards revision in our current estimate of contraction in Spain’s GDP in Q1 2023. The composite PMI topped the 50-point threshold in January at 51.6, five months after slipping below this level. This rebound can be attributed to services (52.7), while further contraction was seen in manufacturing activity (48.4). While manufacturing production increased by 0.8% m/m in December and 2.8% in 2022, it has only just closed the gap relative to 2019.
