US Private Payrolls Headline Wednesday’s Data Wire

 | May 30, 2018 02:29AM ET

A deluge of economic data will make its way through the financial markets Wednesday, with reports from Europe and the United States set to drive headlines.

German data will headline the early European session with reports on import prices, retail sales and consumer inflation. The preliminary consumer price index (CPI) for May is expected to show monthly growth of 0.3%, which translates into a year-over-year gain of 2%. The harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), which measures inflation using a statistical method consistent throughout the European Union (EU), is projected to rise 1.8% annually.

Later in the session, Germany will also report on unemployment for the month of May. The number of people without jobs is forecast to fall, though the unemployment rate likely held steady at 5.3%.

The European Commission’s statistical agency will release five sentiment indicators on Wednesday, including reports on services, consumer confidence, industrial confidence, economic sentiment and the overall business climate.

Shifting gears to North America, the ADP payrolls processor will report on US private-sector job creation for the month of May. Jobs growth is forecast to slow to a pace of 189,000 hires compared with 204,000 the previous month. The official nonfarm payrolls report, courtesy of the Labor Department, will be released 48-hours later.

Economists at the Commerce Department will release revised first-quarter GDP data, as well as reports on wholesale inventories and the overall goods trade balance. The US economy likely rose 2.3% annually between January and March, matching the previous estimate.

North of the border, the Bank of Canada (BOC) will deliver a verdict on interest rates at 14:00 GMT. BOC officials are widely expected to stand pat this month, opting instead to leave the benchmark interest rate at 1.25%.

EUR/USD
Europe’s common currency has been caught in a monthlong tailspin, with analysts forecasting deeper declines in the near term. EUR/USD was last trading at 1.1537, having declined roughly 1,000 pips from the February high. Levels to watch include 1.1519 on the downside and 1.1600 on the upside.