“The U.S. once again may be emerging as a main engine for global growth — and at an opportune time, as Europe slides into recession and China’s economy decelerates.
An improving job market, rising stock prices and easier credit are combining to lift U.S. consumer confidence and spending, with optimism measured by the Bloomberg Comfort Index near a four-year high. Personal-consumption expenditures increased by the most in seven months in February, rising 0.8 percent, the Commerce Department said last week.
“We’re entering a sweet spot for the economy,” said Allen Sinai, president of Decision Economics Inc. in New York. “We’re in a self-reinforcing cycle,” where faster employment growth leads to higher household income and increased consumer spending.
International companies, including Milan-based Gianni Versace SpA, already are benefiting. Revenue for the Italian designer will rise at a “really strong double-digit” pace this year in the U.S., compared with “a significant single-digit” amount in Europe, according to Chief Executive Officer Gian Giacomo Ferraris.
“America is doing fantastic,” he said last month.
The blossoming of the U.S. expansion comes amid a slowdown in China, until now the pacesetter for the world. While a purchasing-managers’ index rose to a one-year high in March, according to China’s logistics federation and the National Bureau of Statistics, analysts said the gain was seasonal and pointed to a separate index produced by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics that showed manufacturing contracted and export orders fell last month….”
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China’s growth slowing is Oblahblah’s fault too!