The stakes are high for the monthly U.S. jobs report in the coming week, as investors gauge whether a string of worrisome data is signaling significant concern about the economy. The benchmark S&P 500 stock index SPX has pulled back 4% from its all-time high reached earlier this month, while...
World Economy News
UK: Don’t overdo the gloom just yet
‘Non-linear’ falls in employment? We’re not there yet Is the UK headed for recession? It’s a question that’s coming up more regularly following fourth quarter growth which, though fractionally positive, was a lot weaker than many had expected just a couple of months ago. And with a sizeable tax...
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/uk-dont-overdo-the-gloom-just-yet/
Core inflation in Japan’s capital slows but stays above BOJ target
Core consumer prices in Japan’s capital rose 2.2% in February from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, slowing for the first time in four months due to revived energy subsidies but remaining well above the central bank’s 2% target. The persistently high inflation will likely support the case for...
Fed’s Hammack says rates likely on hold for some time
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said on Thursday she expects U.S. central bank interest rate policy is on hold for the time being amid a hunt for evidence that inflation pressures are easing back to the 2% target. With a healthy job market and an uneven and slowing process...
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/feds-hammack-says-rates-likely-on-hold-for-some-time/
US officials must testify about DOGE in lawsuit over access to agency systems
Trump administration officials must face questioning under oath about the workings of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in a lawsuit by government employee unions seeking to block the secretive cost-cutting department from accessing federal agency systems, a federal judge ruled on...
Fed’s Harker expresses support for keeping policy rate on hold
Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker on Thursday expressed support for continuing to hold short-term U.S. borrowing costs in their current range of 4.25%-4.50%, a level he believes will help get inflation back down to the Fed’s 2% target but isn’t hurting the job market or the...
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/feds-harker-expresses-support-for-keeping-policy-rate-on-hold/
Turkey’s economy grows 3.2% in 2024, exceeding forecast
Turkey’s economy grew 3.0% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, bringing full-year growth to 3.2%, official data showed on Friday, exceeding forecasts despite the weight of high interest rates. The government, which had initially projected 3.5% growth for 2024, had trimmed its expectations...
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/turkeys-economy-grows-3-2-in-2024-exceeding-forecast/
Wage pressures boost risk of above-target inflation, BoE’s Ramsden says
Wage pressures in Britain have raised the risk of inflation holding above the Bank of England’s target, the bank’s Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden said on Friday, though he added that interest rate cuts did not necessarily need to be slow. Ramsden said he had been surprised by official data which...
US budget botches subtraction and multiplication
Not every dollar in the U.S. budget equals a dollar. Some are worth far more, which only further distorts the math congressional Republicans are using to justify spending cuts. The main goal is to extend as much as $4.5 trillion of tax savings, over 10 years, from President Donald Trump’s first...
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/us-budget-botches-subtraction-and-multiplication/
China’s central bank injects 1.4 trillion yuan via outright reverse repos in February
China’s central bank injected 1.4 trillion yuan ($190 billion) into its banking system during February through an outright reverse repurchase tool, the bank said on Friday. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said the repo operations aimed to “keep banking system liquidity reasonably ample”. The...