Page 7 - Policy_Economic_Report_September2020

Policy and Economic Report:
Oil & Gas Market

The US

The industrial activity in the US fall by 8.3 per cent YoY in July, recording the third consecutive month of
recovery since the lockdowns. Exports from the country improved in July, however, still remained 20.1
per cent below YoY.

The unemployment rate in the US fall to 8.4 per cent in August, after reaching 11.1 per cent in June and
10.2 per cent in July. Non-farm payrolls increased further by 1.371 million in August after a rise of 1.734
million in July and 4.781 million in June. Hence, since the sharp drop in April of 20.787 million, 10.611
million jobs were added again.

US Monthly Labour Market

The Euro-Zone

The EU member economies have shown different dynamics over the last few months. While countries like
Germany, France and Italy have shown some recovery over the last few months, Spain and some of the
smaller economies are more affected by the ongoing pandemic. The European Central Bank (ECB) has
continued its monetary stimulus measures and indicated that it may even increase its support mechanism
if necessary.

Measures supportive of the labour market in the Euro-zone have so far kept the unemployment rate at a
relatively modest level. In the month of July, unemployment rate saw a modest increase to 7.9 per cent
from 7.7 per cent in June. Despite the gradual increase in retail sales due to income related subsidies,
which held up well in July, recovering further in value terms, up by 1.3 per cent y-o-y compared with 1.2
per cent y-o-y in June.

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September 2020