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 U.S. retail sales were flat in June, with a strong underlying trend that could boost second-quarter economic growth expectations. Retail sales were flat last month after an upwardly revised 0.3% gain in May, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said Tuesday.The sales outlook, however, is grim. Households are becoming more price-sensitive and focusing on basic needs, as evident in earnings reports from major retailers and manufacturers. Most households have used up excess savings built up during the pandemic and are carrying large amounts of credit card debt that are becoming increasingly expensive as interest rates remain elevated. Wage growth is also slowing as the labor market cools. Still, the pace of consumer spending remains strong enough to keep the economic expansion on track.Retail sales excluding autos, gasoline, building materials and food services surged 0.9% last month and rose 0.4% in May. These so-called core retail sales are closest to the consumer spending component of gross domestic product. Before the retail sales data were released, expectations for growth in the April-June quarter were around 2%. The economy grew at a 1.4% pace in the first quarter.

 A measure of U.S. services sector activity fell to a four-year low in June as orders plunged, potentially suggesting the economy lost momentum at the end of the second quarter. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 48.8 last month from 53.8 in May, the lowest level since May 2020. It was the second time this year that the PMI has fallen below 50, which suggests the services sector is contracting.The PMI fell below the 49 level that the ISM says typically indicates expansion in the overall economy. The survey’s measure of business activity fell to 49.6 from 61.2 in May, the first contraction since May 2020. The ISM reported Monday that manufacturing activity deteriorated further in June. However, the surveys may underestimate the health of the economy, with so-called hard data such as consumer spending suggesting modest growth last quarter. The economy is adjusting to higher interest rates, and rising rates are slowing demand.Growth expectations for the second quarter are around a 2% annualized rate. The economy grew at a 1.4% pace in the January-March quarter. The survey’s new orders measure fell to 47.3 from 54.1 in May, the lowest level since December 2022. Employment in the services sector continued to decline. That suggests slower job growth in the coming months, although sentiment surveys are not reliable predictors of wage growth. Services inflation eased slightly last month. The ISM’s gauge of prices paid for service inputs slipped to 56.3 from 58.1 in May. That suggests deflationary trends are back on track after price pressures intensified in the first quarter.

 The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, potentially easing concerns about a major shift in the labor market. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of people filing for state unemployment benefits fell 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 233,000 in the week ended June 22. The data included a new holiday, Juneteenth, last Wednesday. Claims tend to fluctuate around public holidays.So far this year, claims have fluctuated between 194,000 and 243,000. Economists are divided over whether the recent increase in claims indicates more layoffs or a repeat of last year’s swing. Claims remain historically low and are being closely watched for signs that employers are laying off workers as the economy slows. The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates by 525 basis points since 2022 to curb inflation.In another report Thursday, the government confirmed that economic growth slowed significantly in the first quarter. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said the first-quarter gross domestic product growth rate was slightly raised to an annualized 1.4%, the third estimate of GDP for the January-March quarter. The previous growth estimate was 1.3%. The economy grew at a 3.4% rate in the fourth quarter.The U.S. central bank has kept its benchmark overnight rate in a range of 5.25%-5.50% since July last year. According to the unemployment claims report, the number of people continuing to receive benefits after an initial aid increased by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.839 million in the week ended June 15. These so-called continuing claims data cover households during the period when the government surveyed unemployment in June. The unemployment rate rose to 4.0% in May, the first increase since January 2022. However, most economists do not view the current unemployment level as a threat to the labor market, arguing that the increase in unemployment is mainly concentrated in the 35-44 age group, recent immigrants and certain industries.

 Data on Friday showed Canadian retail sales rose 0.7% in April as expected, bucking a downward trend over the past three months, with sales at the pump boosting the overall figure. Statistics Canada said retail sales, which includes cars, clothing, furniture, food and beverages and more, rose to C$66.8 billion ($48.78 billion) monthly. In terms of sales, overall sales grew 0.5% in April.Statscan, which polled just half of the respondents, initially estimated retail sales could fall 0.6% in May. In addition to petrol pump sales, which rose 4.5% for the first time this year, sales at food and drink retailers also rose 1.9%, the data showed. Petrol pumps and food and beverage retailers accounted for 10% and 19% of total retail sales respectively.Since the start of the year, Canada’s retail sector has been reeling from the highest interest rates in more than two decades, which has dented consumer spending. But economists had predicted sales would rebound in April due to higher gasoline and diesel prices, although consumer pressure remains. The Bank of Canada cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.75% for the first time in four years on June 5, and money markets raised expectations for another rate cut in July to about 73% from 71% before the release of retail sales data.Economists say Canadian consumer prices continue to slow, and consumer price index (CPI) data due next week will provide clarity on whether the expected drop in retail sales in May is due to lower sales or lower prices. Core retail sales, which exclude sales at gasoline pumps and motor vehicle and parts dealers, rose 1.4% in April. Sales grew in seven of nine subsectors. The biggest sales declines were at auto and parts dealers, where sales fell 2.2% in April. Statscan data shows this sub-sector is the largest contributor, accounting for more than a quarter of total retail sales.

 UK house prices rose for a second month in a row in April, rising by an annual average of 1.1% to 281,000 pounds ($358,000), the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday, after rising 0.9% in March. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) private sector rents measure grew by 8.7% in the year to May, slightly slower than growth in the 12 months to April when it rose by 8.9%.The UK housing market has shown signs of recovery in recent months from a slowdown spurred by a surge in mortgage rates in late 2022 and 2023. But falling consumer price inflation has boosted household incomes and raised prospects for interest rate cuts. Official data released earlier on Wednesday showed that UK consumer price inflation returned to the Bank of England’s 2% target for the first time in nearly three years.

 Prices of new homes in China fell at their fastest pace in more than 9-1/2 years in May, official data showed on Monday, as the property sector struggled to find a bottom despite government efforts to curb oversupply and support debt-laden developers. According to calculations based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), prices fell by 0.7% month-on-month in May. This was the 11th consecutive month-on-month decline and the largest decline since October 2014. On an annual basis, new house prices fell 3.9% on the year, compared with a 3.1% decline in April.China’s debt-laden real estate industry, once a key engine of China’s economic growth, has been hit by multiple crises since mid-2021, including debt defaults by developers and stalled construction of pre-sale housing projects. Authorities have stepped up support for the crisis-hit real estate sector, including providing 300 billion yuan ($41.35 billion) in funding to clear massive housing inventories, reducing payments and easing mortgage rules. However, analysts believe that these measures will have little effect on digesting the large housing inventory, and the lifting of purchase restrictions in large cities may further suppress purchasing sentiment in small and medium-sized cities. Last month, new house prices fell in almost all of the 70 cities surveyed by the Office for National Statistics.Separately, official data on Monday also showed that real estate investment fell by 10.1% annually in the first five months of this year, following a 9.8% decline from January to April. Home sales fell faster from January to May. Nie Wen, an economist at Shanghai Huabao Trust, said China’s real estate market will diverge, with new home sales in big cities driven by those who have the ability to renovate and sell existing homes, while real estate in smaller cities is expected to diverge. continued decline due to overpopulation and outmigration. Policymakers are expected to support local governments and state-owned enterprises in purchasing unsold low-rent housing through subsidized loans, while lowering interest rates and fees to support property owners in improving their homes, Nie said.

 U.S. consumer prices unexpectedly remained unchanged in May as gasoline prices fell, but inflation may still be too high for the Fed to start cutting interest rates before September amid continued strength in the labor market.Consumer price index data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics remained unchanged, with consumer prices rising 0.3% in April. CPI has been trending downward since reliable data became available in February and March. Price pressures are likely to continue to ease as major retailers including Target (TGT.N) slash prices on items from food to diapers with new tabs to appeal to inflation-weary consumers .Although annual gains in consumer prices have slowed from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target. The government reported last week that job growth accelerated in May and wages rose, but the unemployment rate rose to 4%. Fed officials are expected later Wednesday to keep the benchmark overnight rate at its current range of 5.25%-5.50%, where it has been since July.Since March 2022, the Federal Reserve has raised policy rates by 525 basis points. Financial markets expect the Fed to begin an easing cycle in September, although that belief is waning. Some economists favor a rate cut in December, but others are less sure borrowing costs will be lower this year.

  A long-term slump in euro zone manufacturing may have turned around last month, a survey showed, improving business sentiment by showing new orders fell at the slowest pace in two years. HCOB’s final Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) compiled by S&P Global rose to 47.3 in May from 45.7 in April, below the 50 mark, showing economic activity growing for the 23rd consecutive month. That was slightly lower than the initial estimate of 47.4.The index measuring output, which will be included in Wednesday’s composite PMI and is seen as a good gauge of the economy’s health, jumped to a 14-month high of 49.3 from 47.3 in April, although it was below an initial forecast of 49.6. This improvement may be at least partly due to a rebound in the new orders index, a measure of demand, from 44.1 to a two-year high of 47.3. Falling production costs are once again allowing factories to lower the prices they charge, which could give the European Central Bank room to cut interest rates on Thursday, a move widely expected as inflation eases.