US non-farm payrolls and Greek bailout concerns paint a bleak picture

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The main piece of data last week was Friday's US employment report and non-farm payrolls, which showed showed no new jobs were created. The "zero growth" was the first time since 1945 that payrolls had not grown at all; the worst data post the second world war. The figure was terrible for confidence - equities and oil took a hit and gold went higher but currencies showed only limited reaction to the figures. In fact, the US Dollar has opened this morning just above a 6-week low against Sterling.

Unlike on the UK high street, where in certain London borough's goods were literally flying off the shelves during some late night shopping, the latest Greek retail sales figures have reported the fifteenth consecutive monthly decline in June. Sales were down by an annual -8.2% after an -8.7% drop the previous month.

Statistics like this are a worry to everyone involved in the bailout process. For the bailout fund to work, the Greek economy must grow as other countries are not happy with the idea of throwing what good money after bad into a second bailout. The Finnish government wants Greece to lodge collateral against its borrowings, a demand that has been an obstacle to progress on the bailout deal. While EU ministers are try to come up with a compromise, no-one has had any great ideas so far.

With North America on holiday, today's PMI shoot-out will be missing the US number. The Australian services sector purchasing managers' index surprised everyone this morning by rising three points to 52.1 but in Europe the direction is almost sure to be downward.

The projections are for the UK, Germany and the Eurozone all to achieve figures above 50, with the UK retaining last month's lead at around 54 and providing a shining light through the gloom.