European and UK Data Still Showing Weakness

The inflation report from the EU shows some contradicting numbers while UK manufacturing continues to decline

Written by: Skerdian Meta • Friday, March 1, 2019 • 1 min read

• Last updated: Friday, March 1, 2019

Core inflation ticks lower in the Eurozone

The round of economic data from Britain and from the Eurozone is out and the numbers still show that both economies are in a difficult spot. The manufacturing sector in Britain made another step towards stagnation, although at 52 points it is still a bit far, unlike other sectors of the UK economy which are pretty close to stagnation such as construction. Let’s have a look at all the numbers below:

Economic Data	Actual	Expected	Previous
UK Manufacturing PMI	52.0	52.0	52.6
Net Lending to Individuals	4.8B	4.7B	4.6B
Mortgage Approvals	67K	63K	64K
Headline CPI	1.5%	1.5%	1.4%
Core CPI	1.0%	1.1%	1.1%
Unemployment Rate	7.9%	8.0%	8.0%

The headline annualized CPI ticked higher to 1.5% in February from 1.4% previously and the unemployment rate ticked lower in the Eurozone, but core CPI (consumer price index) ticked lower to 1.0% from 1.1% in January. The ECB is still hoping for signs that sustainable inflation pressures will pick up. Well, core CPI reflects sustainable inflation better than anything else and it is still slipping lower.

What do you read in this inflation report from the Eurozone? This report shows that the bullish reversal in Crude Oil prices are having some effect on headline inflation which ticked higher, but core inflation which strips out Oil prices and shows the real inflation is ticking down. That’s a negative sign pointing to further weakness in the coming months.

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Skerdian Meta

Lead Analyst

Skerdian Meta Lead Analyst. Skerdian is a professional Forex trader and a market analyst. He has been actively engaged in market analysis for the past 11 years. Before becoming our head analyst, Skerdian served as a trader and market analyst in Saxo Bank's local branch, Aksioner. Skerdian specialized in experimenting with developing models and hands-on trading. Skerdian has a masters degree in finance and investment.