Politics has continued to dominate the headlines in recent days and will doubtless remain a big focus in the immediate weeks ahead. In the background, however, incoming data have suggested the outlook for the world economy has been darkening probably because more restrictive policy settings are now more forcibly weighing on aggregate demand. In our charts this week we focus on:

·         Unemployment rates in advanced economies

·         The global credit impulse

·         Services and goods inflation

·         Shipping costs and PPI inflation

·         South Korea’s semiconductor sector