The re-acceleration of Covid infections has hit mobility hard over the past two weeks. Although there are clearly seasonal factors at work (which the Google data series do not account for), we’ve clearly seen a pronounced deterioration in both mobility and economic activity above and beyond what could have been normally expected. This has been concentrated in Europe, with a particularly severe drop in Germany where our economic activity measure suggests things are even worse than at the peak of the crisis last April. Italy and the UK have also registered steep falls, while Spain and France have seen more modest drops.
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Globally, the Google mobility and economic activity indices haven’t budged much over the past week. That’s a good thing as they’ve sustained the pickup seen in late November, defying the rebound in Covid infection rates we’ve seen in several places. This also takes us through the noise of US Thanksgiving.
There has been a strong pick up in the DM mobility indices over the past week, the US rebounding over the Thanksgiving period while the easing of restrictions in Europe have boosted mobility and economic activity there – the most notable improvement being in France. Trends elsewhere remain similar, with the exception of Korea which has seen a continued deterioration amid a “third wave” there and tighter restrictions, which continue to be added to.
The Google mobility indicators show a further decline in both mobility and economic activity over the past week. The dip perhaps overstates the scale of the drop with US Thanksgiving holiday (which generated a bump in activity going into the holiday, and dip during and after) combining with tougher localised restrictions there. The story in Europe was better.
The latest google mobility statistics suggest things have stabilised a little. Although the devil is in the detail. On the DM side, Europe looks fairly static from last week but this masks a further sharp drop in Italy, which offset something of a bounce in France and the generally steadier picture we’ve seen in Germany and Spain.
The latest Google mobility data is starting to show the impact of lockdown 2.0. What is interesting is how both Lockdown 2.0 is being implemented compared to the draconian measures enacted back in the spring, and how these restrictions are varying in their impact country to country. The regional divergences we identified last time persist. This is again a function of the resurgence of the virus in northern hemisphere developed markets, and the measures taken to combat this.
The tale of diverging fortunes between Asia and Europe (and to a lesser extent the US) persist in the latest Google mobility numbers, as rising Covid infections in certain countries drag on mobility. The second round of national lockdowns in Europe have started to drag on overall mobility.
The resurgence of Coronavirus in the developed economies, specifically Europe and to a lesser extent (so far) the US is leading to a clear divergence in economic activity According to the latest global mobility and economic activity data (running through to 16 October), DMs continue to show a deceleration in activity.
Global mobility and economic activity data, published by Google, is pointing to some loss in the momentum of recovery. Although the mobility indices continue to register small improvements (despite the resurgence of the virus in many places), economic activity is not following through from that.
US Impeachment process looks likely to go on for a little longer than expected. Pelosi’s initial hope that things could be wrapped up by Christmas, so the Democrats could start the new year on a clean slate, focused on the Presidential primaries and campaign looks hopeful now. Pelosi has always felt the impeachment process was always driven by the left wingers in the party and never had a credible chance of success. By delaying the process, it prevents the House from pursuing more important business such as delivering on the campaign promises of the mid-terms.
