Yahoo Finance Inflation falls slightly to 2.5% in Europe in June, remains stuck above levels favored by central bank
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation falls slightly to 2.5% in Europe in June, remains stuck above levels favored by central bank.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation falls slightly to 2.5% in Europe in June, remains stuck above levels favored by central bank.
Money is rushing into Chinese government bonds, sending their prices soaring as investors hunt for a safer alternative to real estate and stocks. Beijing is worried about a bust that could bring down some banks.
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan began circulating its first new banknotes in 20 years on Wednesday, featuring three-dimensional portraits of the founders of financial and female education institutions in an attempt to frustrate counterfeiters. The notes use printed patterns to generate holograms of the portraits facing different directions, depending on the angle of view, employing a technology that Japan's National Printing Bureau says is the world's first for paper money. "Faces of those representing Japan's capitalism, women's empowerment and technology innovation are on the new bills," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a function.
SINTRA, Portugal (Reuters) -The U.S. is back on a "disinflationary path," Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday, but policymakers need more data before cutting interest rates to verify that recent weaker inflation readings provide an accurate picture of the economy. Data for May showed the Fed's preferred measure of inflation did not increase at all that month, while the 12-month rate of price increases has ebbed to 2.6%, still above the U.S. central bank's 2% target but on the way down after a scare in the first months of the year. "We just want to understand that the levels that we're seeing are a true reading on what is actually happening with underlying inflation," Powell said at a monetary policy conference in Portugal sponsored by the European Central Bank.
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.
“The slow bleed occurring in the office sector has led to a steady rise in the vacancy rate as permanent shifts in working behavior have outlasted the initial wave of the pandemic four years ago,” Moody’s said.
BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) -EU countries are wavering over whether to back additional tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles, highlighting Brussels' challenge in building support for its largest trade case yet as Beijing threatens wide-ranging retaliation. Germany, whose carmakers made a third of their sales last year in China, wants to stop the tariffs, according to a government source, while France has been among the firmest backers. The issue will be put to members in an advisory vote in the coming weeks, the first official test of support in a landmark case for the Commission.
The number of available jobs in the US unexpectedly grew in May, signaling there’s still heightened demand for workers.
Jayon Evans*, 37, a police officer in New City, New York (which has a population of close to 35,000 people), has been utterly unimpressed with -- if not downright disgusted by -- the work of the Biden...
U.S. job openings rose in May after posting outsized declines in the prior two months, but the trend remained consistent with an easing in labor market conditions that could pave the way for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, from the Labor Department on Tuesday showed there were 1.22 vacancies for every unemployed person in May, unchanged from April and the lowest vacancy-to-unemployment ratio since 2021. "The data are pointing to an ongoing normalization between supply and demand for labor," said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
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…
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.
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.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday the central bank needs to see better inflation readings before cutting interest rates and stimulating the economy despite “quite a bit of progress” toward price stability. “We want to be more confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward 2 percent before we start the process of reducing…
STORY: Japanese companies delivered the biggest wage hikes in three decades this year.That's according to the nation's largest union on Wednesday.It said monthly pay was up 5.1% on average this year, with both big and small firms following the trend.The outcome of what's called the 'shunto' - or spring labor negotiations - is seen as key for Japan to achieve a positive cycle of economic recovery.It would help improve household income and consumption to outweigh the rising cost of living.Any positive and self-sustaining growth could also help policymakers put an end to deflation.It might also bring the Bank of Japan closer to further interest rate hikes.In mid-March, major firms said pay raises had accelerated to 5.28%, which was the biggest since the 1990s. The central bank then made its landmark decision to end negative interest rates.But income inequalities remain, with small firms finding it hard to offer big wage increases.To address such issues, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's administration has vowed to raise minimum hourly pay to 1,500 yen - or $9.27 - from around 1,000 yen by the mid-2030s.
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.
The Institute for Supply Management said its nonmanufacturing purchasing managers (PMI) index dropped to 48.8 last month, the lowest level since May 2020, from 53.8 in May. It was the second time this year that the PMI had dropped below 50, which indicates contraction in the services sector. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the services PMI slipping to 52.5. The PMI fell below the 49 level that the ISM says over time generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy.
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's government on Wednesday vowed to support small businesses and the construction sector struggling due to high interest rates in the second half of 2024, as it revised up its forecast for this year's economic growth. The government has prepared a total of 25 trillion won ($18 billion) worth of support measures, Yoon said.
London's stock market and the pound advanced versus the dollar Thursday as Britons voted in a general election expected to be won by the centre-left and main opposition Labour party."Today's UK election looks unlikely to cause too many shockwaves given just how resounding the Labour party victory is expected to be, with markets feeling optimistic over the potential change at Downing Street," said Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony.
China's services activity expanded at the slowest pace in eight months and confidence hit a four-year low in June, dragged by slower growth in new orders, a private-sector survey showed on Wednesday, suggesting more economic stimulus is needed. The Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers' index (PMI) eased to 51.2 from 54.0 in May, marking the lowest reading since October 2023 but remaining in expansionary territory for the 18th straight month. The survey, which covers mostly private and export-oriented companies, aligned with a broader official PMI released on Sunday that showed activity in the services sector plumbed a five-month low.
The latest job openings data comes as economists have been closely tracking whether a cooldown in the labor market could spiral further.