World News - "...Data from the United States on jobless claims and business conditions on Thursday dented hopes of a quick economic rebound but euro zone countries showed that the worst recession in six decades may be easing...In Britain, prospects were clouded by a warning over government debt and political uncertainty as Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook to "negative" and said it might cut the country's precious triple-A credit rating...'This is a reality check for the UK government,' said Kenneth Broux, an economist at Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets...Worries the United States may suffer a cut to its triple-A rating pushed down stocks, bonds and the dollar..." [Guardian]

"...Purchasing managers' indices for the 16-country region jumped more than expected in May to the highest for eight months. Although they still indicated economic activity was contracting, the rate of decline fell for a third consecutive month. The improvement in Germany, the eurozone's largest economy, was particularly sharp...The latest data will come as a relief to European policymakers after last week's news that eurozone gross domestic product shrank 2.5 per cent in the quarter compared with the previous three months - significantly faster than in the US or UK..." [Financial Times]

Associated Press reports "...The monthly purchasing managers' surveys for the manufacturing and services sectors - key gauges of activity - improved in May to levels last seen before the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in September, when the global financial crisis took a turn for the worst...The "flash" estimate for the manufacturing index rose to 40.5 in May from 36.8 in April while the equivalent measure for the services sector increased to 44.7 from 43.8. The composite measure, which combines the two, climbed for the third month running to an eight-month high of 43.9 from 41.1...The readings continue to point to recession as anything below 50 indicates a contraction. However, they also show that the severity of the recession is easing as the nearer the reading is to 50 the less marked the contraction..." [AP]