In the US, jobless claims were much lower than expected at 407,000 in the latest week from 441,000. This was also the lowest reading since July 2008. A sharp contraction in durable goods orders was registered in October, which declined by 3.3%, well below the revised increase of 3.5%.

Minutes from November’s Federal Reserve’s meeting revealed that the Fed also held a conference in mid-October to discuss quantitative easing measures. A plan was proposed to target a rate of the long-term US Treasury bond yield and buy unlimited Treasuries if required to secure this target rate.

In the housing market, existing home sales came in lower than expected as they dropped 2.2% month-on-month in October, below the expected 1.1%. New home sales were worse, as they dropped by a monthly 8.1% last month.

Elsewhere, the University of Michigan Index on consumer confidence rose to 71.6 in November, well above the earlier 69.3 reading.

In the eurozone, the economic recovery is divergent as a strong resurgence in private sector growth in Germany and France this month offset persistent stagnation in periphery members. In fact, thePurchasing Managers’ Index for services during November rose to 55.2 from its prior 53.3 a month earlier. Meanwhile, in the manufacturing sector, the index rose to a reading of 55.5 in November up from itsOctober level of 54.7, which was above expectations of a decline to 54.4.

Industrial orders dropped the most in almost two years in September, suggesting weaker global growth and a stronger euro could start to hurt exports. In fact, orders declined by 3.8% from August, when during that month they rose 5.1%.

In the UK, a second reading of GDP growth for the third quarter of this year, confirmed earlier estimates that the economy expanded by 0.8%. Exports gave a boost to Britain’s economy during this period, contributing to half of this growth.

While the figures suggest that a weak sterling helped boost exports, the country’s economic recovery still faces serious challenges from deep spending cuts that will start to impact from next year. Indeed, new figures on expenditure showed household spending growth of 0.3% quarter-on-quarter was down from the 0.7% growth registered in the second quarter, while government spending grew by just 0.4%.

This article has been prepared by Bank of Valletta plc for general information purposes only.