US GDP was peppier than previously thought, rising at a 4.6% annualized rate in the second quarter

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 US new home sales surged 18% in August, hitting a six-year high…

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…which explains why the outlook among US homebuilders is brightening…

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…even though the much-larger market for existing homesfell 1.8% in August

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US car sales surged in August…

…which juiced US personal spending

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Companies continued investing, at least in the second-quarter

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The US jobs report for August disappointed, with only 142,000 jobs created. (September numbers will be released on Friday.)

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US inflation remains quite muted…

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…especially using the Fed’s favorite measure of price changes

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American oil exports surged to levels not seen since the 1950s

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US median incomes remain stuck where they were nearly 25 years ago

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In China, the manufacturing economy continued to expand in September, which was better than expected

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But Goldman Sachs slashed its economic forecast for the country…

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…as Chinese home prices have started to roll over…

… and investment growth has been slowing markedly…

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 …along with the retail sector…

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 …growth in industrial production has hit a six-year low…

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…confirmed by a slump in electricity production, a good economic indicator

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Japan continued to have trouble generating inflation, an ongoing struggle for Abenomics

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And Japan registered its 26th-straight trade deficit

In Europe, second-quarter growth remained weak

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Business lending continued to contract (pdf) …

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…helping to push the continent toward deflation…

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…and the ECB to announce a surprise rate cut and quantitative easing plan in September

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That announcement means the ECB will join the global money-creation party

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There are some bright spots, irish property prices continued to rebound, led by a surge in Dublin

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And the Irish economy looks like it is surging

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In the UK, London’s average home price breached £500,000 (more than $815,000)…

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…and British unemployment fell to its lowest level since 2008

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Sweden’s GDP growth was better than expected in the second quarter

Brazil’s unemployment rate ticked up to 5%, but remains quite low

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In Russia, unemployment hit a record low

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Kenya’s economy grew by 25% overnight

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Indian inflation seems to have been tamed, falling to near five-year lows

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Israel’s second-quarter growth was softer than first thought

Colombian growth slowed in the second quarter, thanks to a weak energy sector

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Remittances to the Philippines, the second-largest receiver of the cash flows, rose 6% year-on-year

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Meanwhile, Canadian auto exports have surged, confirming demand south of the border

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And Mexican remittances have fallen from the typical Mother’s Day peak. They’re up more 8% from last year, likely reflecting growing demand for workers in the US.

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And down in Australia, the remarkable run of economic growth continued

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New Zealand’s central bank first talked, and then pushed, down the kiwi dollar…

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..which had been getting stronger as New Zealand’s economy is growing at its fastest pace in a decade