(Reuters) - Economists are deeply divided over whether the U.S. Federal Reserve should focus more on fostering growth or keeping inflation in check, The Wall Street Journal said citing its forecasting survey. Of 53 economists polled, 22 said the U.S. central bank ...
By Sumeet Desai LONDON (Reuters UK) - House prices fell at their sharpest annual pace in at least two decades in June, data showed on Thursday, as the downturn in the property market accelerates and threatens to plunge the economy into recession. HBOS said prices fell...
By Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jobless claims jumped and the pace of existing home sales tumbled to a 10-year low as slowing growth hit hiring and a glut of unsold houses weighed on real estate, data released on Thursday showed. The number...
Consumers are nearly as gloomy as they were in the depths of the last recession under the cloud of 12-year-high interest rates, record petrol prices and general inflation pressures.And if Thursday's official job figures show another fall in the number of employed, the mood is likely to darken further,...
By Sumeet Desai and Matt Falloon LONDON (Reuters UK) - The number of people out of work and claiming benefits rose for a fifth month running in June and by its largest amount since the slump of the early 1990s, in a sign the economic slowdown...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Producer prices rose a far larger-than-expected 1.8 percent in June as energy costs soared, but core inflation at the producer level edged up just 0.2 percent, Labor Department data showed on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected producer prices...
By Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jobless claims jumped last week and the pace of existing home sales tumbled to a 10-year low as slowing growth hit hiring and a glut of unsold homes weighed on the real estate market, data on Thursday...
By Matt Falloon and Sumeet Desai LONDON (Reuters UK) - Industrial output fell at its sharpest pace in 2-1/2 years in May, official data showed on Monday, raising fears that economic growth is freezing up. The weak reading weighed on sterling as investors scaled back their...
The biggest monthly fall in the number of home loans approvals in eight years suggests the Reserve Bank of Australia RBA may be succeeding in its bid to slow the economy and push inflation down.Finance approvals for owner-occupied housing declined for the fourth straight month in May, down 7.9...
By Ros Krasny CHICAGO (Reuters) - Business activity in the U.S. Midwest contracted in June for a fifth straight month but at a less severe rate, even as production and new orders both slipped, a report showed on Monday. The National Association of...
By Sumeet Desai LONDON (Reuters UK) - The government postponed on Wednesday a rise in fuel duty planned for October for at least another six months because of soaring world oil prices and in a bid to keep the headline rate of inflation down. The widely...
By Sumeet Desai and Matt Fallon LONDON (Reuters UK) - Retail sales slumped in June at the sharpest rate on record, official figures showed on Thursday, more than wiping out May's record rise and dragging three-month growth down to its weakest since late last year. Sales...
Australia's trade balance returned to a deficit in May after posting its first surplus in six years the previous month.The nation's trade deficit is predicted to narrow, if not be in the black, in the months ahead once the increases in recent iron ore price contracts flow through, economists...
By Sumeet Desai LONDON (Reuters UK) - David Blanchflower is certain to have repeated his call for lower interest rates at the Bank of England's July rate-setting meeting, so the question is whether any other Monetary Policy Committee members joined him. Analysts polled by Reuters predicted...
By Joanne Morrison WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy may have avoided a recession but will grow below trend for some time as firms face higher prices for a range of goods that will cut into profits, according to a panel of economists...
By Jason Subler and Zhou Xin BEIJING (Reuters UK) - China's economy slowed in the second quarter as exports weakened and lending curbs bit, prompting some banks to cut their 2008 growth forecasts and to rule out a rise in interest rates this year. Annual gross...
By Burton Frierson NEW YORK (Reuters UK) - Weak retail sales and a rise in producer prices at their highest annual rate in 27 years provided further evidence of "stagflation" in the U.S. economy on Tuesday. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reinforced the troubled outlook...
Australian lending finance has posted its biggest annual fall in 16 years as slumping consumer sentiment wards off business borrowing.Total lending finance - which includes personal, housing, commercial and lease borrowing - slumped by a seasonally adjusted 13.3 per cent in the year to May, the Australian Bureau of...
Australia could see narrower trade deficits in coming months after the balance of good and services for May came in near expectations, economists say.The balance of goods and services was a deficit of $965 million, seasonally adjusted, in May, from a revised $12 million surplus in April, figures from...
Tighter financial conditions and record high petrol prices are tipped to slow domestic demand and prevent the Reserve Bank of Australia RBA from raising interest rates again.The newly-released minutes of the RBA's July 1 board meeting cited easing demand pressures and tightening financial conditions for its decision this month...
