The US economy is slowing, according to a monthly index released Monday, increasing the likelihood that policymakers will cut interest rates next month. The Chicago Fed's National Activity Index fell slightly to minus 0.19 in July from a downwardly revised minus 0.18 in June. A reading below zero indicates slower growth than the long-term average. Employment indicators remained negative on the index, a fresh sign of fragility in the US labor market. This weakness is one of the main reasons for a rate cut at the Fed's policy meeting next month. Central bank Chairman Jerome Powell last week...
Initial applications for U.S. unemployment benefits rose last week but remained relatively subdued. New claims rose by 11,000 to 219,000 in the week ended Feb. 1. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 213,000 applications. Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.89 million in the week ended Jan. 25, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The level of initial claims has remained broadly in line with pre-Covid levels, and private employment data from ADP Research showed a healthy pace of hiring in January....
A group of sustainable finance experts tasked with advising the European Union have proposed changes to the bloc's rules for classifying climate-friendly activities, which they say will slash the reporting burden on companies by a third. The proposal to simplify the bloc's green investment rulebook comes ahead of a major review of the European Union's broader sustainability rules and as Brussels draws up plans to cut red tape around green finance. The EU is under pressure from member countries like France to simplify rules around doing business, while U.S President Donald Trump's pursuit...
The economic activity in the US service sector continued to expand in January, albeit at a softer pace than in December, with the ISM Services PMI declining to 52.8 from 54. This reading came in below the market expectation of 54.3. Other details of the report showed that the Prices Paid Index, the inflation component, dropped to 60.4 from 64.4, while the Employment Index edged higher to 52.3 from 51.3. Market reaction The US Dollar stays under selling pressure following these data. At the time of press, the US Dollar Index was down 0.6% on the day at 107.35. Source : Fxstreet
Private sector employment in the US rose 183,000 in December and annual pay was up 4.7% year-over-year, the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported on Wednesday. This reading followed the 176,000 (revised from 122,000) increase recorded in December and came in above the market expectation of 150,000. Assessing the survey's findings, "we had a strong start to 2025 but it masked a dichotomy in the labor market," said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. "Consumer-facing industries drove hiring, while job growth was weaker in business services and production." Market reaction The US...
Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, said on Thursday it had ordered DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country after the Chinese artificial intelligence startup failed to address the regulator's concerns over its privacy policy. The watchdog had questioned DeepSeek this week about its use of personal data, particularly seeking informationon what personal data is collected, from which sources, for what purposes, on what legal basis and whether it is stored in China. The Garante's order - aimed at protecting Italian users' data - came after the Chinese companies that supply the...
President Donald Trump said he would fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors if she does not resign her post over mortgage-fraud accusations from a top...
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained its cash rate at 4.1% during its April meeting, holding borrowing costs unchanged after slashing 25 bps in the February meeting, aligning with market...