U.S, UK, China economies weakening further, OECD says

PARIS (Reuters) – The U.S, UK and Chinese economies are showing fresh signs of weakening while activity in the euro zone as a whole is firming up, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Wednesday.

The OECD’s monthly leading indicator, a measure designed to flag turning points in the international economy, showed dips for the United States, the United Kingdom and other key economies such as China and Brazil in May.

The indicator, a synthetic index where 100 is the long-term average, fell to 99.5 in the United States from 99.6 in April.

The index remained at 100.7 in the euro zone for the third consecutive month but eased to 99.8 from April’s 100.0 in the United Kingdom.

China’s reading declined to 97.3 from 97.5 and Brazil’s to 98.8 from 99.1.

The index was stable in Japan at 99.9.

Within the euro zone, the index also held steady at 100.7 in France and at 101.0 in Italy, while for Germany it rose to 100.0 from 99.9.