The Day at a Glance | August 1 2023

*The Timely Indicator of Manufacturing Activity by INEGI (IMOAM) indicates that the manufacturing sector grew by 3.0% annually during June – a slight acceleration from the 2.9% y/y logged in May.

*The Eurozone’s unemployment rate remains unchanged at 6.4%.

*Global industrial activity contracted as a consequence of China’s economic slowdown.

*The Bank of Japan seeks to slowly increase yields on its rates due to investors’ appetite for its new economic policy ceiling.

*China asked banks to reduce or delay the purchase of dollars due to the depreciation of the Yuan.

*After the worst storm recorded in years in northern China, Beijing accelerates rescue efforts in the areas affected by Typhoon Doksuri.

*France plans to evacuate hundreds of French and European citizens from Niger in the next 24 hours due to unrest in the African country.

Economic environment

The Timely Indicator of Manufacturing Activity by INEGI (IMOAM for its initials in Spanish) pointed to a slight improvement in the manufacturing sector during June. In the sixth month of 2023, the IMOAM reached 122.6 points as a leading calculation of the Monthly Indicator of Industrial Activity (IMAI) for the manufacturing sector. The annual increase set at 3.0%, which implies a slight acceleration compared to May’s 2.9% and April’s 1.4%. This reading indicates that the manufacturing sector improved slightly by the end of the 2Q23. Additionally, today, data for the IMEF and PMI manufacturing indicators will be published.

The Eurozone’s unemployment rate remained at 6.4% for a third consecutive month. In June 2023, the unemployment rate in the Euro area remained stable compared to what was seen in April and May. However, the number of unemployed people in the Eurozone decreased by 62 thousand compared to the previous month. In its annual comparison, unemployment decreased by 441 thousand people after the rate set at 6.7% in June of last year. Last week, the ECB raised its key rates for the ninth consecutive time and pointed out that it will ensure keeping them at sufficiently restrictive levels “for as long as necessary” to achieve inflation convergence to its 2% target.