Consumer confidence rose in January for the second month in a row.
Unemployment rose in April, for the second month in a row, to 4.5%—the highest since October 1998.
Some optimists have also pounced on the purchasing managers' index, a gauge of manufacturing activity, which increased in January for the second month running.In this section Howzat!
Manufacturing output fell in October for the second month running and has grown by less than 1% in the past year.
On Friday, Ifo, a Munich-based research institute, reported that business confidence slipped unexpectedly in June for the second month in a row (see chart).
Output in manufacturing and services also fell in June, for the second month running, according to Markit, and firms cut jobs for an eighth consecutive month.
Incomes, the fuel for future spending, rose 0.4% in June for the second month in a row.
Yesterday's consumer inflation report showed that prices didn't budge at all in June, for the second month in a row.
Meanwhile U.K. retail sales registered zero growth for September, and for the second month in a row, confounding expectations for 0.5% growth.
Inflation has stayed subdued: in September, it was bang on target for the second month running at 2.5%.
The index fell for the second month running, to 50.3 - down from 51.0 in July.
