Overseas economies have been growing moderately on the whole, but slowdowns have been observed recently (Chart 1). Unlike the synchronous growth of the global economy seen through the first half of last year, differences in growth rates among regions and industries have become evident.
Imports soared during the second half of last year and grew further in January, even with worsening backlogs at U.S. ports. As port congestion and supply chain bottlenecks ease, international spillovers could lead to some slippage between the increase in domestic demand and resource utilization, which has implications for employment and inflation.