IMF Global Growth Reading Holds Steady

What happens abroad impacts MSCI members in North America. Here is the latest economic, trade, and other policy news of note for the last week:

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced last week that its global growth projections were unchanged at 3.2 percent for 2024 and were slightly higher, 3.3 percent predicted growth, for 2025. The IMF said there has been “notable developments beneath the surface since the April World Economic Outlook,” however. Specifically, “Growth in major advanced economies is becoming more aligned as output gaps are closing.” The U.S. economy shows increasing signs of cooling, the IMF said, especially in the labor market. The euro area, meanwhile, “is poised to pick up after a nearly flat performance last year.” The IMF also upgraded its forecast for the Canadian economy, projecting it will now grow by 1.3 percent this year and by 2.4 percent in 2025, the fastest rates of any of the G7 nations. Click here to read the full report.
• According to Bloomberg, for the third straight quarter, the Chinese manufacturing sector grew more rapidly than the broader economy. Manufacturing expanded by 6.2 percent in the second quarter of 2024, higher than the 4.7 percent growth rate of the overall economy. In all, manufacturing output totaled 27 percent of the total economy.