Global watch: eye on the US, Germany and the Euro area; economic conditions improve but at a slower than expected pace. (Management).

Chemical Market Reporter, June, 2002 by Mackie, David

THE EARLY JUNE estimate for second quarter global gross domestic product (GDP) has slipped to 2.6 percent, which reinforces the notion that global growth has moderated following a surprisingly strong 3.5 percent first quarter gain (q/q, saar). The biggest deceleration is on tap for Japan where a growth bounce--first quarter GDP grew at a 5.7 percent pace-- looks set to be followed by a contraction during the current quarter. The US economy also is downshifting in the second quarter. May reports suggest that consumption growth has moderated to a 2 percent pace this quarter. And business hiring and spending are gathering momentum more gradually than anticipated. As a result, second quarter 2002 GDP growth has been revised to 3 percent from a previous 4 percent. Taken...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.