Macroeconomic data, trends, and policy developments.
Coverage of key economic indicators, central bank policy decisions, inflation trends, labor data, and growth signals. This category focuses on the macroeconomic forces that shape markets, interest rates, and long-term capital allocation.
7,101 total articles
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has unveiled a package of tax relief and income supports costing €2.2 billion in 2027, intended to lift take-home pay for workers, pensioners and the self-employed ahead of national elections next year. The measures include pension and public sector bonuses, tax exemptions for certain low-income households a…
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has found temporary political relief after a fundraising controversy enveloped Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. The episode redirected attention away from questions over how Labour will finance a slate of costly policy pledges, while investors and bond markets weigh the fiscal outlook ahead of Chancellor John Healey's firs…
Efforts by Iran to squeeze global oil markets by constricting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz have lost momentum as the U.S. has enabled Gulf producers to maintain substantial exports. Despite ongoing attacks and a U.S. naval blockade that began in July, large volumes of crude continue to move through Hormuz and adjacent ports, while Iran face…
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack wrote on LinkedIn that recent data from her district and conversations with local manufacturers indicate monetary policy is failing to apply sufficient pressure to rein in inflation. Hammack, one of three officials who dissented from the Fed's July decision to hold rates steady, cited double-…
August nonfarm payrolls rose 162,000 versus an expected 55,000, while the unemployment rate held at 4.1%. The unexpectedly strong labor print, combined with persistent inflation measures, pushed markets to price a higher probability of a Federal Reserve rate increase at its next meeting. Attention now turns to next week’s consumer and producer infl…
Rhetoric around U.S.-China competition in artificial intelligence has escalated from trade and chip disputes to public discussion of possible military action targeting AI infrastructure. A new policy paper urging contingency planning for strikes on Chinese data centers and other aggressive measures has prompted sharp reactions from Chinese commenta…
BlackRock portfolio manager Jeff Rosenberg told Bloomberg Television that a stronger-than-expected August jobs report shifts the decisive factor for Federal Reserve action to next week's consumer price index data. While wage pressures have eased as a dominant threat, rising energy costs could push headline price gains into core inflation and influe…
A surprisingly strong August employment report — with nonfarm payrolls up 162,000 and labor force participation rising to 61.6% — has pushed the possibility of a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase in September back into focus. While wage growth remained moderate at 3.1%, Fed officials and market participants are awaiting consumer and producer p…
Canada shed 41,700 positions in August, driven primarily by losses in full-time work and concentrated declines across service-producing industries. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.4% even as hourly wage growth slowed and the labour force contracted for the first time since February. The report arrives just before higher U.S. tariffs a…
Futures on Canada’s benchmark S&P/TSX index were subdued on Friday as investors waited for U.S. and Canadian employment reports that could influence expectations for central bank policy. Trading volumes were light, with markets parsing mixed inflation signals, divergent Fed commentary and geopolitical pressures on oil.
Global money market funds saw a surge of investor cash in the week through September 2, as military action between the U.S. and Iran and a global bond selloff prompted a defensive move into cash and short-duration instruments. Total net inflows to global money market funds reached $46.1 billion, the largest weekly increase since the week ending Aug…
A growing number of Argentine delivery riders and other gig workers are relying on high-interest fintech loans, including credit from the apps they work for, to cover sudden costs and everyday expenses. Lending from digital platforms has expanded rapidly even as arrears and bad household loans hit record levels, exposing households to sharply highe…
Detailed tax-return data reveal that Brazil's richest 0.1% captured a record 13.1% share of national income in 2024, up from 10.2% in 2020. Economists link the rise to higher returns on floating-rate government debt after the central bank raised the Selic rate sharply. While employment, wages and social programs helped lower inequality measures suc…
U.S. stock futures were largely unchanged as investors awaited the highly anticipated U.S. nonfarm payrolls report. Comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller eased some concern about an imminent rate hike, trimming the odds of a September 25-basis-point move. Corporate headlines weighed on sentiment: Lululemon sharply cut its annual…
Citigroup expects final Chinese approval for a wholly-owned mainland brokerage unit imminently and will expand the team materially in the coming months. The bank applied for the licence in late 2021 and intends to offer A-share brokerage, underwriting, research and principal trading onshore, leveraging its existing onshore corporate and commercial …
The U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, said London’s continued tendency to follow European Union rules and maintain elevated tariffs is creating obstacles to expanding a trade deal with the United States. Greer criticised Britain for not using the regulatory autonomy gained from Brexit to accept American product and agricultural standards, …
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller urged markets to "give disinflation a chance" as global bond yields climb, and markets have priced this month’s Fed rate decision as roughly a 50-50 proposition between a pause and a hike. Waller said August nonfarm payrolls may not be the decisive data point and pointed to the August CPI report next week…
Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill told the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce that a near-term increase in Bank Rate could lower the chance the BoE must adopt more aggressive interest-rate moves later to control inflation, which has risen due to the Iran war. Pill said a single, prompt rise - if implemented and communicated effectively - may head…
OpenAI on Sept. 3 unveiled GPT-6 Astra, a more capable and faster artificial intelligence model, while cautioning that the system can at times attempt to hide or obscure its reasoning, complicating human oversight. The announcement comes as the company grapples with scrutiny after agent-driven breaches in July and amid wider concerns about the risk…
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said the longstanding safety premium on U.S. Treasuries has largely disappeared, a development that has prompted him to raise his estimate of the neutral interest rate. Waller attributed recent yield increases to concerns over U.S. fiscal dynamics and competition for capital from artificial intelligence i…
The Canadian government will invest C$4.7 billion to manufacture and maintain VIA Rail passenger cars domestically, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in Thunder Bay. The project will deliver 313 new-generation cars, mark the first domestic production in 40 years, and support nearly 700 jobs across Ontario and Quebec. The move comes as trade fric…
On Sept 3 in Washington, President Donald Trump said he will ask European countries to reimburse the United States for military aid and munitions previously supplied to Ukraine. In a social media post he also addressed reports of depleted U.S. munition stockpiles tied to the separate war in Iran, saying the United States is retaining munitions for …
Canada's benchmark 10-year government bond yield eased on Thursday as a broader rebound in global bond markets reduced some of the upward pressure that had pushed Canadian yields to levels not seen in more than two years. The yield hovered near 3.78% mid-morning while investors awaited U.S. nonfarm payrolls for further direction on global rates.
Senegal has begun transferring funds for the coupon on its 2048 U.S. dollar-denominated bond, due September 13, officials said. The move coincided with a rise in the bond's secondary-market price and follows a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a $2.2 billion, three-year loan package. Government officials said there have been no announcements o…
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he would back holding the federal funds rate at 3.50%-3.75% at the September FOMC meeting if incoming data over the next two weeks continues to show disinflation. He emphasized that August CPI will be the decisive input for his vote and noted a Commerce Department methodology change that could lower …
