The Chief Executive magazine's CEO Confidence Index continued its streak of losses in July and fell 2.3 points to 82.2, reaching its lowest point since 2002, when it started at 100 points. The survey was conducted among 338 top executives.
The contrast was telling: there was India's central bank sending a strong signal that it will not tolerate high inflation by announcing a larger than expected increase in its key lending rate and threatening more measures to come. And there was US ratings agency; Standard & Poor's lifting China's credit rating one notch to A-plus from A, despite all the poor publicity about the Olympics.
The iron ore, coal and steel booms are heading for the status of the last great boom/bubble as oil prices subside and other inflated investment areas (housing) bring economies around the world to their knees.
The euro area (EA15) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate stood at 7.3% in June 2008, unchanged compared with May. It was 7.4% in June 2007. The EU27 unemployment rate was 6.8% in June 2008, unchanged compared with May. It was 7.1% in June 2007.
Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.7 percent from March to June 2008, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported,the same as the increase from December 2007 to March 2008. Wages and salaries rose 0.7 percent and benefits rose 0.6 percent. In the previous quarter, wages and salaries increased 0.8 percent and benefits increased 0.6 percent.
Annual global commercial spending grew to an estimated $77.3 trillion in 2007, an increase of 12.2 percent from $68.9 trillion in 2006, according to data from the Commercial Consumption Expenditure (CCE) index released by Visa Inc. Commercial spending in the United States grew to an estimated $19.7 trillion in 2007, up 5.5 percent from the 2006 total of $18.7 trillion.
The worldwide mobile phone market continued solid double-digit growth in the second quarter (2Q08) as competition in high-end devices heated up. According to IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 306.0 million units, an increase of 5.6% from the 289.7 million units shipped during the previous quarter and up 15.3% from the 265.4 million units shipped during 2Q07. Total shipments for the quarter were in line with IDC's expectations, even as vendors cited economic challenges and changing demands within key regions.
The latest RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) global commercial property survey shows falling of tenant demand at a faster pace in the developed world in the second quarter of 2008. Tenant demand fell across all property sectors in the developed world. The retail market seeing the weakest tenant activities in the developed world, a pattern mirrored across most developing markets outside Emerging Asia where demand strengthened. Transaction volumes and capital values plummeted as the commercial property market suffered under financial liquidity constraints, says the RICS Global Commercial Property Survey.
RSM McGladrey released data gathered in the last ten days that shows global competition for raw materials and rising energy costs are driving up costs and substantially reducing the bottom line of middle market manufacturers and distributors more than they were just three months ago.
Russia’s international investment flows reached record levels in 2007, with USD 52 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and USD 46 billion invested by Russian firms abroad, according to a new OECD report. Investment in natural resources in 2007 tripled that of the previous year and represented nearly half of FDI.
