UK ECONOMY 3/4 PACE

On the day, people were trying to be excited about the decline in GDP at least not being as bad as the previous down 20.4% result. The thing is, the economy continued to contract. We are now in September and things have stabilised and rebounded a little since then. That said, we now have another fear wave over Brexit. All told, the UK economy is only about three quarters the size it was previously. It wasn't even achieving growth previously, running at about Zero percent GDP. It will be a long hard road back for the UK.

CHINA RETAIL SALES

Good to see the decline in Retail Sales beginning to turn around, but we are still a long way from previous levels of activity. Consumer confidence remains well down.

CHINA INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

Getting back toward normal at 5.6% in August, but a long way from making up for the losses of earlier in the year. Also of note, was a significant slow down in the manufacturing component. A good overall result nonetheless.

CHINA FIXED ASSET INVESTMENT

Disappointingly, fixed asset investment is still falling. We should begin to see some bounce back in the next release, but this data confirms a lasting long term impact from the crisis and on-going caution.

RESERVE BANK AUSTRALIA
KEEPS RATES AT 0.25%

Still at historic lows and this chart shows just how much support the economy has been getting for a very long time now. Even before Covid. With so much support and still growing at just 2% before the crisis, it is difficult to see how the Australian economy faces anything other than a semi-permanent crisis environment. Getting back to pre-crisis levels of broad based economic activity is highly unlikely for at least a couple of years.