Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday responded to a Trump administration official's demands for information about cost overruns for a renovation project at the central bank's Washington headquarters campus, saying the project was large in scope and involved a number of safety upgrades and hazardous materials removals. "As explained on the Board's public website, we take seriously the responsibility to be good stewards of public resources as we fulfill the duties given to us by Congress on behalf of the American people," Powell wrote in his letter to Office of Management and...
President-elect Donald Trump has already signaled that trade tariffs are likely to form part of his political agenda, but against concerns that a tit-for-tat U.S.-EU trade spat could threaten a fresh wave of inflation, Citi argues that tariffs may prove deflationary in the Eurozone at a time when the economy is in the doldrums. "Even if the EU retaliates like-for-like with reciprocal tariffs, the HICP impact is likely negligible," Citi economists said in a recent note. Imports from the U.S. make up just over 10% of euro area goods imports, a quarter of which is energy but this is unlikely...
China's consumer inflation shrank more than expected in November as recent stimulus measures did little to offset a stubborn deflationary trend, while producer inflation also contracted. Consumer price index inflation fell 0.6% month-on-month in November, government data showed on Monday. That was lower than expectations for a 0.4% decline and worse than the 0.3% contraction seen in the previous month. CPI grew 0.2% year-on-year, lower than expectations for a 0.5% gain and weaker than the 0.3% growth seen in the previous month. The figures suggest that while some aspects of China's...
The unemployment rate in the United States went up to 4.2% in November of 2024 from 4.1% in the prior month, in line with market expectations. The number of unemployed individuals increased by 161,000 to 7.145 million, while employment levels decreased by 355,000 to 161.141 million. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate edged down to 62.5% from 62.6%, and the employment-population ratio fell to 59.8% from 60%. Source: Trading Economics
Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) in the US rose by 227,000 in November, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday. This reading came in above the market expectation of 200,000.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose to 224,000 in the week ending Dec. 1, 2024. The figure was higher than the 215,000 estimate and higher than the previous weekly reading of 213,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Source: @Newsmaker23
China's official NBS Manufacturing PMI increased to 49.7 in June 2025 from May's 49.5, matching market expectations while marking the third consecutive month of contraction in factory activity.
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Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline on Friday, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of further developments in trade talks between US President Trump and Chinese...
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to send a single letter to over 150 countries outlining the tariff rate they will face, saying, "It's all going to be the same for everyone, for that...