Eurozone Retail Sales up by 0.6%

GBP/USD Daily Forecast - 18 December

European part of the session, yesterday, was marked by UK job figures and BoE Meeting Minutes. According to the latest release Claimant Count was down by 26,900 from October 2014, beating market expectations on decrease by 19, 400. It was also down by 368,000 from a year earlier, but 121,700 higher than the pre-downturn trough of 778,400 for February 2008. On the other hand unemployment rate for those aged 16 and over for October 2014 was 6.0%, up from 5.9% in September. Analysts were anticipating no change. Total pay for employees in Great Britain was 1.4% higher than a year earlier, above market forecasts on 1.3% growth.

China Industrial Production grew at a slower pace than expected

Industrial Production in China grew by 7.2%, missing market expectations on 7.6% growth, indicating a further slowdown in Chinese economy.  Fixed Asset Investment data showed 15.8% increase in line with market forecasts while Retail Sales were up by 11.7%, beating predictions on 11.5% incline. 

US Retail Sales increased by 0.7%

U.S. retail and food services sales for November, adjusted for seasonal variation were $449.3 billion, an increase of 0.7% from the previous month, and 5.1% above November 2013. It was also much better than expected raise by 0.1%.  Total sales for the September through November 2014 period were up 4.7% from the same period a year ago.  Core Retail Sales were up by 0.5%. Auto and other motor vehicle dealers were up 9.5% from November 2013 and nonstore retailers were up 8.7% from last year.