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After a busy week of central bank decisions, the economic calendar calms down today.
Over in the eurozone this morning, we have the latest reading on producer price inflation for Germany. Producer price inflation is also known as “pipeline” inflation, because it measures the costs of raw materials, and the prices of goods as they leave factories, rather than prices on the high street. If prices are rising at the producer level, then in the longer run, that is highly likely to feed through to consumers.
However, one thing that Germany and the wider eurozone is not worried about right now, is inflation. Inflation is exactly what the European Central Bank wants to create more of. But with the German economy slowing, we’re unlikely to see much sign of that.
We also get the latest consumer confidence reading for the eurozone as a whole. Confidence deteriorated a little last month. While consumers remain quite happy about their personal circumstances – which mainly reflects strong labour markets across most of the region – they are increasingly nervous about the overall outlook.