Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said concerns about private-sector hiring have fueled his call for the central bank to cut interest rates this month. "The private sector is not performing as well as everyone thought," Waller said Friday in an interview on Bloomberg Television. The monthly employment report for June, released on July 3, showed a sharp slowdown in private-sector job growth and a slowdown in wage growth, even as the unemployment rate declined slightly. His comments followed a speech he delivered Thursday in New York in which he argued that with limited inflation...
The S&P US Global Manufacturing PMI edged up to 50.1 in January 2025 from 49.4 in December, beating market expectations of 49.7 and signaling a slight improvement in manufacturing conditions after six months of decline. Factory output edged up for the first time in half a year, with new orders also returning to modest growth. Employment rose for a third straight month, with the pace of job creation the fastest since July. Supplier lead times continued to lengthen, reflecting busier supply chains, although the impact on the PMI was less pronounced than in December. On the downside,...
Copper miner Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) posted a drop in fourth-quarter production on Thursday and said that its costs would rise more than expected this year, sending the company's shares down more than 4%. While the Phoenix-based company was able to post a better-than-expected quarterly profit, the results were fueled by higher copper prices during the quarter that offset a production drop in Indonesia. Freeport operates Indonesia's Grasberg, the world's second-largest copper mine, and had been building a smelter in the country as part of an operating agreement with Jakarta...
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose to 223,000 in the week ending Jan. 19, 2025. That was up from the estimate of 221,000 and the previous weekly estimate of 217,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Source: @Newsmaker23
Economic activity in Argentina likely fell again in November versus the same month a year earlier, but less than the 0.7% contraction in October, a Reuters poll of market analysts on Wednesday showed. The median forecast from 13 analysts sees economic activity shrinking 0.6% year-on-year in November, the sixth consecutive year-on-year contraction, if confirmed by officials. Poll estimates ranged from a 3.2% contraction to 1.6% growth. The slight improvement was driven by the key agricultural sector, analysts said, while construction continued to fare poorly. Despite the anticipated...
President Donald Trump said his team is discussing 10% tariffs on China and that the duties could go into effect as early as Feb. 1. "We're talking about a 10% tariff on China based on the fact that they're sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada," the president said, speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday evening. "Maybe February 1st is the date we're looking at," he added. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is an addictive drug that has caused tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year in the U.S. Reducing the supply of the illicit drug, whose precursors are largely produced...
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...