May 14, 2026
United States:
US Retail Sales Rise for Third Month Despite Gas Price Surge
US retail sales advanced for a third month in April, pointing to some signs of consumer resilience despite sharply higher gasoline prices.
The value of retail purchases increased 0.5% last month after a revised 1.6% gain in March, Commerce Department data showed Thursday.
Europe:
UK Economy Posts Best Growth in a Year as Headwinds Build
The UK kicked off the year with a burst of economic growth, with business and consumers appearing to hold up in the initial weeks of the Iran war.
Gross domestic product grew 0.6% in the first quarter, a jump from the 0.2% in the previous three months and the fastest expansion for a year, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.
Asia:
China Credit Growth Misses Expectations as New Loans Shrink
China’s credit expansion slowed far more than expected from a year earlier in April while banks extended less new loans, underscoring unusually anemic borrowing demand even for a typically slow month for lending.
Aggregate financing, a broad measure of credit, increased less than 630 billion yuan ($93 billion) in April, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data released by the People’s Bank of China on Thursday, compared with an expansion of 1.2 trillion yuan a year ago.
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