Economic Super Bowl Day 1: Weak Data | Bedford NY Homes

We’re at the start of a furious three-day sprint of data.

All around the world we’re getting jobs reports, manufacturing reports, and central bank activity.

So how’s it going so far? Pretty bad.

Last night for example we got an ugly Korean export report. Korean exports are considered a key barometer of global trade, so that’s bad news. Chinese PMI also came in below expectations, adding to the Asian economic woes. Also, Australian manufacturing hit its lowest levels since the recession.

Europe is mostly closed today (May Day) but there was ugly data in the UK and Ireland. Ireland, which is a “bright spot” saw its PMI drop big, and miss expectations. UK PMI also ame in sub-50.

Finally in the US, the data has been bad to meh. The ADP jobs report was a big whiff. Construction spending registered a big fall. The only good news is that ISM modestly beat expectations, but even this is kind of not fair, since expectations have come dramatically down in the last few days