US data and yield curve spook investors

American manufacturing is shrinking for the first time in three years. But what has spooked markets the most is the recent inversion in yield curves.

A welder © STR/AFP/Getty Images

US manufacturing is shrinking for the first time in three years
(Image credit: A welder © STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Conflicting data from the US economy has left economists scratching their heads, says Irwin Stelzer in The Sunday Times. But most shoppers seem to have shrugged off talk of a recession so far. That bodes well, given consumer spending accounts for about 70% of economic activity.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.