Economy.com Daily Update: December 14, 2018

Today's Economy

Real consumer spending is on track to rise 4% this quarter.

Members were skeptical of the U.K. prime minister's ability to get the plan through Parliament.

Alberta producers will have to reduce output by 8.7% for the first quarter of 2019.

China's November data dump was mostly disappointing; improved investment is telling.

Commentary

The pause agreed by Trump and Xi is a small step, but there's a long way to go.

The year disappointed on some fronts but was solid overall.

The fate of Teresa May's Brexit deal remains uncertain.

Japan will have a trade deficit for the fourth straight month.

Today's Economic Indicators

World
Moody's Analytics Global GDP
2018Q2: 3.5%
Second-quarter global GDP growth was revised down and is now shown to have risen 3.5% at an annualized rate, compared with our previous estimate of 3.7%.

Uruguay
GDP
2018Q3: 2.1%
Uruguay’s economy continues to perform well in spite of significant regional turmoil.

Canada
RPS House Price Index
Nov. 2018: 1.6%
House prices were unchanged in November across the 13 largest Canadian markets, and year-ago price growth declined to 1.6% from 1.7% in October.

Spain
Consumer Price Index
Nov. 2018: 1.7%
Spain’s headline inflation cooled to 1.7% y/y in November from a high of 2.3% in October.

Italy
Consumer Price Index
Nov. 2018: 1.6%
Italy’s annual harmonized EU inflation rose to 1.6 y/y in November, down from a 1.7% gain in October.

Russian Federation
Monetary Policy
Dec. 2018: 7.75%
The Central Bank of Russia raised its key policy rate at its December meeting, hiking interest rates by 0.25 point to 7.75%.

Peru
Monetary Policy
Dec. 2018: 2.75%
Central bank directors stuck to their guns in December, leaving the key policy rate unchanged at 2.75%.

Canada
New Motor Vehicle Sales
Oct. 2018: -7.5%
New-vehicle sales dropped 7.5% in October, falling to 165,626 units.

United States
Retail Sales
Nov. 2018: 0.2%
Ignore the small gain in total U.S. retail sales.

United States
Tech Pulse
Nov. 2018:

United States
Industrial Production
Nov. 2018: 0.6%
Industrial production advanced 0.6% in November, its fifth gain in six months.

United States
Business Inventories (MTIS)
Oct. 2018: 0.6%
Business inventories are expanding with a strong start to the fourth quarter.

Colombia
Industrial Production
Oct. 2018: 5.7%
Manufacturing output expanded 5.8% y/y in October after rising 2.9% the previous month.