• The United States economy grew at an annualized 1.3% in the first quarter of 2024
• Manufacturing activity expanded in Japan for the first time in a year
• Energy prices declined 6.4% on-month in May, driven by concerns about future global growth in a high-rate environment
  

Inflation in major global economies, such as the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Japan and China eased or remained steady according to recent data, unlike in the eurozone.

Manufacturing activity is now expanding. In the US, May marked the fifth consecutive month of healthy performance. Activity moved into expansion territory for the first time in a year in Japan, while recording its best performance in the UK since July 2022. However, in the eurozone, manufacturing remained in the contraction zone. In China, it returned to the contraction zone after expanding in April.

Major economies showed uneven growth trends in the first quarter of 2024. Gross domestic product (GDP) in the euro area (EA) and the UK rebounded after two quarters of contraction. Growth slowed in the US but remained resilient despite elevated interest rates and uncertainty around the timing of rate cuts. China's economy remained robust, growing by a healthy 5.2% on-year in the first quarter of 2024.

The outlier was Japan, which recorded a contraction in the first quarter of 2024, after holding steady in the last quarter of the previous year.