If it just seems like the first Friday of the month wasn't the same without being able to pore through the Bureau of Labor Statistics' hotly watched monthly jobs report, don't worry. You probably didn't miss much. While the BLS has gone dark with the shutdown in Washington, other reports outside the government data suggest the labor market just plodded along in September. The Dow Jones consensus forecast was for growth of 51,000 in nonfarm payrolls with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.3%. High-frequency data that includes job postings, private payrolls and state-by-state figures...
President Donald Trump's tariffs will likely increase inflation and could also drive up unemployment, Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said on Thursday in remarks that signaled that he - like most of his Fed colleagues - wants to wait for more clarity before making any interest-rate cuts. "Low-income households can ill afford increases in prices, and that's why it is so important that we bring inflation back down to our target," Barr said at a community development event at the Cleveland Fed. The Fed targets 2% inflation, and while the latest read by the Fed's targeted measure was...
Pending home sales in the United States rose by 1.8% from the previous month in April of 2025, trimming the 6.3% drop in the previous month and contrasting with market expectations of a 0.3% drop. The rebound was broadly distributed through the whole country, led by the West (6%) and the Northeast (2.1%), while growth was less pronounced in the South (1%) and the Midwest (0.3%). "Consistent job gains and rising wages are modestly helping the housing market," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Hourly wages are increasing faster than home prices. However, mortgage rate fluctuations are...
Initial jobless claims in the US fell by 10,000 from the previous week to 236,000 on the week ending June 21st, less than market expectations that they would remain unchanged. Still, the result remained firmly above this year's average, suggesting some softening in the US labor market. Additionally, outstanding claims rose by 37,000 to 1,974,000 in the week prior, well above market expectations of 1,950,000, and the highest since November 2021 to suggest that the unemployed population is having more difficulties in finding suitable employment. Source: Trading Economics
TIANJIN, China — Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday called on other countries to collaborate on trade, despite rising tariffs and other barriers. "Globalization will not be reversed," he said through an official English translation, as he called on all sides not to turn trade into a political or security issue. Engaging in the international economy is a way of "reshaping the rules and order," Li added, calling on countries to keep to the "right" path. Li did not comment specifically on U.S. trade tensions or the Israel-Iran conflict. He was speaking at the opening plenary of the World...
The Trump administration's tariff plans may well just cause a one-time jump in prices, but the risk it could cause more persistent inflation is large enough for the central bank to be careful in considering further rate cuts, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday. Though economic theory may point to tariffs as a one-off shock to prices, "that is not a law of nature," said Powell, detailing why the central bank wants more information about the ultimate level of tariffs and the way they impact pricing and public expectations about inflation before lowering...
Asia-Pacific markets traded higher, tracking Wall Street gains overnight.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.41% after hitting a fresh record high on Thursday, while the Topix added 0.61%. South...
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...
The U.S. government shut down much of its operations on Wednesday as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching a funding deal, setting off what could be a long,...