Consumer prices rose quickly again in July.
Recovery in some of the world’s major economies appears to be slowing down as people spooked by the Delta variant spend less, travel less and dine out less, according to new report by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, the research and policy group of the world’s richest countries.
In recent months, as vaccination rates increased globally, optimism that life appeared to be returning to normal helped spur consumer spending from Ohio to Paris to Beijing.
But that renewed sense of confidence may be ebbing amid news of breakout infections, lockdowns and other requirements. In countries like France and Italy, people now need health passes — paper or digital proof of being fully vaccinated, a recent negative test or recent Covid-19 recovery — to attend big concerts and to enter cinemas, museums and theaters.
The O.E.C.D., a Paris-based organization, looked at economic indicators including employment, retail sales, manufacturing output and wage growth in 38 member countries. It said the indicators suggested that growth in major economies like the United States and China may be slowing down, with similar signs of sputtering in Europe, including in Britain, France and Germany.
The group said that there might be higher than usual fluctuations in how economic recoveries are playing out because of persistent uncertainties, “despite the gradual lifting of Covid-19 containment measures in some countries and the progress of vaccination campaigns.”
The report also said that growth was slowing in Russia and Brazil, where the pandemic has buffeted society and industry. In Brazil, millions have gone hungry in recent months, with scenes of undernourished teenagers holding placards at traffic stops with the word hunger in large print.
China, a manufacturing powerhouse, has played a leading role in an upward global economic trend. But some economists say that its growth has started to level off in recent months and that the government’s tougher pandemic restrictions could undermine it.
There have been some cautiously encouraging signs, however. Since the pandemic recession bottomed out in the United States in the spring of 2020, the nation’s economic output has been resilient, with second-quarter output 0.8 percent higher than before coronavirus.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/11/business/economy-stock-market-news/