SAO PAULO, April 17 (Reuters) - Economic activity in Brazil rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in February from the month before, a central bank index showed on Wednesday, in line with the 0.4% increase expected by economists polled by Reuters.
The IBC-Br economic activity index is considered a leading indicator of gross domestic product.
(Reporting by Camila Moreira and Andre Romani; editing by Steven Grattan)
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese household spending fell unexpectedly in May as higher prices continued to squeeze consumers' purchasing power, data showed on Friday, complicating the central bank's decision on how soon to raise interest rates. Many analysts expect consumption to rebound in the coming months as big wage hikes offered by companies and a tax break aimed at cushioning the blow from rising living costs reach households. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will highlight how pay increases are spreading, including at smaller firms, in a report due later this month, sources have told Reuters, a trend that strengthens the case for a near-term interest rate hike.
Two key allies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have asked for about $6 billion in funds for their home states, pressuring the federal government to raise spending when it presents its budget later this month, according to a document reviewed by Reuters and a source familiar with the matter. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is having to rely on two regional parties - Andhra Pradesh's Telugu Desam Party and Bihar's Janata Dal (United) - to run the government, after it failed to win a majority on its own in the recently concluded national elections. In addition, both states have asked the federal government to nearly double unconditional long-term loans offered by the government to all states for infrastructure spending to 1 trillion rupees ($11.98 billion), according to the document and the source.
The US labor market has held its own despite swirling forces — high inflation, an aggressive interest-rate-hiking campaign, pandemic aftershocks and geopolitical uncertainty — that seemed all but certain to trigger a recession.
When Giorgia Meloni took to the stage to deliver a landmark tax speech to Italian legislators earlier this year, she launched an impassioned defence of how the ultra-rich should be treated.
Nonfarm payrolls rose above expectations for the month of June, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting 206,000 new jobs added to the economy against economist estimates of 190,000. The US unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1%, while many experts were originally forecasting it to hold at 4.0%. The Morning Brief's Brad Smith and Brian Sozzi break down the latest jobs print. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Morning Brief. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.
The latest employment data is expected to show that the U.S. job market is returning to normal, with fewer positions added last month—a positive message for anyone rooting for cuts to interest rates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is slated to release the June jobs report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern on Friday. The consensus call among economists surveyed by FactSet is that employers added 189,500 jobs in June—a healthy pace, but a slowdown from the 272,000 positions the bureau reported companies added in May. Yet some are expecting a much softer report.
For the week ended June 29, the U.S. Department of Labor reported initial jobless claims of 238,000.
(Reuters) -Oil prices for Brent crude hit their highest level since April on Thursday, holding above $87 after data the previous day showed a decline in U.S. inventories. Brent crude futures were up 21 cents, or 0.2%, at $87.55 a barrel by 1922 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 18 cents at $84.06 in trade thinned by the U.S. Independence Day holiday.
Policymakers noted a wide range of plausible outcomes for the economy and inflation, with differing interest-rate implications for each.
Fed officials are paying close attention to the labor market. Unemployment has been steadily rising for the last 3 months. However, the unemployment rate is expected to stabilize at 4.0%, repeating the level of the previous month. If the NFP report comes out below the market expectations and the unemployment
The Labour Party’s blueprint for Britain promises tax increases of £8.3 billion and the recognition of a Palestinian state.
The June jobs report comes at a crucial moment as economists debate whether the US labor market is still normalizing to pre-pandemic levels or showing the early signs of a broader slowdown.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June meeting revealed confidence among central bankers that elevated interest rates were having the desired effect of cooling the economy toward a soft landing and 2-percent annual inflation. “The vast majority of participants assessed that growth in economic activity appeared to be gradually cooling, and most participants remarked that they…
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's coalition government clinched a 2025 budget deal on Friday that will stick to the country's tight borrowing rules while offering a package to rev up stuttering economic growth and finance a massive military overhaul to meet NATO targets. The deal was reached after months of negotiations in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's fractious three-way coalition, whose popularity has sagged during a cost of living crisis. It offers some respite for Scholz, who pitched the agreement as a way to tide Germans through "turbulent and difficult times" and an explicit riposte to far-right forces surging in Germany, neighbouring France and other European countries.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Federal Reserve officials at their last meeting acknowledged the U.S. economy appeared to be slowing and that "price pressures were diminishing," but still counseled a wait-and-see approach before committing to interest rate cuts, according to minutes of the June 11-12 session. The minutes, which were released on Wednesday, noted in particular a weak May reading in the consumer price index as one among "a number of developments in the product and labor markets" that supported a view that inflation was falling. Wage growth had slowed, a few participants noted, while others pointed to price cutting among major retailers and reports from their own business contacts that "pricing power had declined."
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union will impose tariffs of up to 37.6% from Friday on imports of electric vehicles made in China, EU officials said, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing in Brussels' largest trade case yet. There is however a four-month window during which the tariffs are provisional and intensive talks are expected to continue between the two sides as Beijing threatens wide-ranging retaliation. The European Commission's provisional duties of between 17.4% and 37.6% without backdating are designed to prevent what its president Ursula von der Leyen has said is a threatened flood of cheap EVs built with state subsidies.
Federal Reserve officials at their most recent meeting welcomed signs that inflation is slowing and highlighted data suggesting that the job market and the broader economy could be cooling. Both trends, if they continued, will likely lead the Fed to cut its benchmark interest rate in the coming months from its 23-year peak of 5.3%. The minutes of the Fed’s June 11-12 meeting, released Wednesday, showed that the policymakers saw several factors that could further ease inflation in the coming months.
LONDON (Reuters) -World equity markets touched fresh record highs with optimism about a U.S. rate cut underpinning sentiment ahead of key jobs numbers later on Friday, while the euro hit a three-week high ahead of French elections this weekend. Sterling and UK stocks were higher as Britain's Labour Party was set for a landslide poll victory after 14 years of Conservative rule. The market focus in Europe was quickly shifting from the UK election - where Thursday's vote outcome was widely anticipated - to Sunday's second-round election in France.
As Britain’s new prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer is readying himself to pick up the keys to Number 10.
World stocks clocked up more record highs on Thursday after U.S. data narrowed the odds on a September Fed interest rate cut, while Europe was on politics watch again as UK voters headed to the polls in national elections. The July 4 holiday in the United States made for thin trading, amplified as investors sat on their hands to see just how large a majority the Labour Party might get when the UK's election exit poll and results start coming out around 2100 GMT. Markets are well prepared for a change given opinion polls have for months put the centre-left party on course for a landslide victory over the Conservatives, who have held power for 14 years through both Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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