World Trade Grinds Lower, Hits 2014 Levels

Jon Blogosphere, Economy, Market Commentary

Volatile and ugly.
World trade in merchandise is a reflection of the global goods-producing economy. And it just can’t catch a break.
The CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, a division of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, just released the preliminary data of its Merchandise World Trade Monitor for July. The index fell 1.1% from June to 113.4, the lowest since May 2015 – a level it had first reached on the way up it in September 2014.
The chart shows that merchandise world trade isn’t falling off a cliff, as it had done during the financial crisis, when global supply chains suddenly froze up. But it’s on a slow volatile grind lower. And compared to the fanciful growth after the Financial Crisis, it looks outright dismal:

This post was published at Wolf Street by Wolf Richter – September 22, 2016.