US consumer sentiment rose markedly toward the end of March, supported by strong stock-market gains and expectations that inflation will continue to ease. The University of Michigan's sentiment index climbed to 79.4 from 76.5 earlier in the month, reaching the highest since mid-2021, according to the final March reading issued Thursday. The 2.9-point gain from the preliminary reading was the biggest intramonth increase since August 2022. Americans expect prices will climb at a 2.9% rate over the next year, compared with the 3% expected earlier in the month. They see costs...
Switzerland's inflation rate fell to the lowest in a year, but stayed above the central bank's target. Consumer prices rose 2.6% in April from a year ago, the Federal Statistics Office said Friday. That's below the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey, which predicted a retreat to 2.8% from 2.9% a month earlier. The slowdown as primarily due to a drop in the costs for hotels, fruit and vegetables and heating oil. While price pressures are receding overall, evidence that they spread throughout the economy might still worry Swiss National Bank officials. Core...
The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week rose by 13,000 to 242,000 and hinted at some softening in a muscular U.S. labor market. New jobless claims increased from a revised 229,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The figures are seasonally adjusted. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits is one of the best barometers of whether the economy is getting better or worse. New jobless claims have risen from fewer than 200,000 in January in a sign the labor market is cooling, but they are still quite low historically. Big...
The US service sector expanded only modestly in April, restrained by the weakest pace of business activity in nearly three years. The Institute for Supply Management's overall gauge of services edged up to 51.9 last month from 51.2 in March, according to data out Wednesday. Readings above 50 indicate growth. A measure of prices paid held close to the lowest level since 2020. The business activity index fell 3.4 points to 52, still indicating growth but the slowest pace since May 2020. The third-straight decline in the gauge, which parallels the ISM factory output index, suggests demand for...
US companies added more jobs than forecast in April and wage growth slowed, in the latest evidence that the labor market remains largely resilient even as other economic indicators begin to cool. Private payrolls rose 296,000 last month following a revised 142,000 increase in March, according to figures published Wednesday by ADP Research Institute in collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 150,000 increase. Source : Bloomberg
Australian retail sales rose for a third straight month in March, driven primarily by food inflation, as household spending begins to cool under the weight of the Reserve Bank's aggressive interest-rate increases. Sales advanced 0.4% from a month earlier, compared with a forecast 0.2% gain, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed Wednesday. Every category outside of food and eating out recorded a decline. "Spending on non-food retailing has slowed in response to interest rate rises and increased cost of living pressures," Ben Dorber, ABS head of retail statistics, said in...
Japan's inflation hit 3% for the first time in over three decades excluding the impact of tax hikes, an acceleration that adds to the doubts over the need for continued central bank stimulus. The...
Defisit perdagangan A.S. menyempit pada bulan April karena ekspor dan impor turun, menyoroti dampak dari tarif Presiden Donald Trump bahkan sebelum negosiasi dengan China terurai dan ia mengancam...
U.K. consumer prices accelerated well beyond the Bank of England's target for a second month, propelled by the global disruption in supply chains that pushed up transport costs. Consumer prices...
Australian inflation eased from 33-year highs in the first quarter as the cost of living saw the smallest rise in more than a year, while core inflation dipped below forecasts suggesting less...