The world economy is recovering, but is still way short of full health, next week’s numbers will show
In the US, the ISM survey of manufacturing could hit a two-year high. This, though, is consistent with a large minority of companies not enjoying an upturn.
A better gauge of the state of the economy will come in Friday’s labour market report. This should show another big rise in employment, but also that the unemployment rate – at almost 8 per cent – is still almost twice its pre-pandemic level. Consistent with this, the Conference Board is likely to report that consumer confidence is well below its levels of earlier this year.