The second trading week of 2022 is here and we bring you a regular recap of the most interesting economic data and events that took place last week.
GBP
On Tuesday and Thursday (4.1. and 6.2.) we focused our attention on data from Great Britain, which mainly concerned PMI indices:
Manufacturing PMI (Tuesday): 57.9 vs. 58.1
The report confirms continued growth in UK manufacturing towards the end of last year. Output and new orders both rose in December, although price pressures remain elevated.
Composite PMI (Thursday): 53.6 % vs. 57.6
This is the lowest reading since February for activity in services.
USD
In Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes, we learned that inflation continues to be well above the Fed's 2% target and the structural factors that have kept inflation low may reemerge once the effects of the pandemic subside.
Participants continued to highlight the uncertainties associated with the length of time it will take to resolve the supply chain situation.
On employment, most participants noted that the US labour market was very tight.
On Friday, we got data on US Nonfarm Payrolls, which measures the change in the number of people employed during the previous month, excluding agriculture. The household survey showed a very sunny picture of the labor market with unemployment falling and the employment to population ratio improving.
EUR
On Friday, we were also waiting for CPI (Consumer Price Index) data from the euro area, which measures the change in the price of goods and services from the consumer's perspective. Currently 5.0 % versus the previous 4.9 %.
What's in store for the current trading week?
We expect the first half of the week to be weaker on data. On Tuesday, we will expect ECB President Christine Lagarde to speak and later in the day, Fed Chair Jerome Powell to speak about the economic outlook and recent monetary policy actions before the Joint Economic Committee in Washington.
We will focus our attention mainly on the second half of the week, which will be a bit richer in economic data. On Thursday, the December PPI (Producer Price Index) and Initial Jobless Claims (which measures the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week) will come from the US.
On Friday, we expect data from the UK, which will focus on manufacturing production and the afternoon speech by ECB President Christine Lagarde.
Sources:
English 
Czech 
Polish