Economy

Liz Truss has for the first time acknowledged that "there has been disruption" to the UK economy following last week's mini budget. Since the chancellor's announcement of £45bn in tax cuts the value of the pound has plummeted, nearly half of mortgages have been pulled and the Bank of England launched a £65bn bail-out to save pension funds from collapse. Asked on Friday whether she accepted this is largely a crisis of her government's own making, the prime minister said: "It was very, very important that we took urgent steps to deal with the costs that families are facing this winter, putting in place the energy price guarantee for which we've had to borrow to cover the cost… but also making sure that we are not raising taxes at a time where there are global economic forces caused by the war in Ukraine that we need to deal with. "I recognise there has been disruption. But it was really, really important that we were able to get help to families as soon as possible - that … [Read more...] about Liz Truss admits ‘disruption’ to UK economy but stands by forecast-free mini-budget

Consumer sentiment remains mired down by a pessimistic assessment about the economic outlook and a grim assessment of current conditions. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index ticked up by less than one percent in September, coming in below the mid-month preliminary reading of 59.5. The final reading for September came in at 58.6, essentially unchanged from the 58.2 reading in August. The sentiment index bottomed out at 50.0 in June as gas prices hit record highs and inflation rose to the worst level in forty years. A retreat of gas prices and a cooling of inflation gave rise to a slight recovery in July to 51.5 and then a big jump up in August. The latest figures dash any hope that the recovery would continue on a steep path. Instead, it appears to have stalled. Economists had forecast the final read would hold onto the midmonth figure of 59.5. In a separate report issued Friday, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said that personal … [Read more...] about Grim Mood Still Grips U.S. Consumers

The prices of food purchased by American consumers in August saw the most inflation since 1979, government data showed Friday. The personal consumption expenditures index for food was up 12.4 percent compared with a year ago, indicating that food prices were up the most year-over-year since February 1979. Compared with the prior month, food prices were up 0.8 percent, a deceleration from the 1.2 percent gain in July. High food prices are straining family budgets. Polling has shown that 63 percent of American families with children are changing their eating habits, compared to 31 percent that are not, Breitbart News recently reported. … [Read more...] about Food Inflation Rises to Worst Since 1979

Several key midterm election states have seen the economies decline by a significantly greater margin than the rest of the country, according to data published on Friday. The measure of GDP state by state showed that several key states have economies that are shrinking faster than the national average. In particular, Arizona , Michigan, Oregon and Wisconsin have seen GDP falls of more than one percent greater than the 0.6 percent national decline. Conversely, the swing state of Nevada saw GDP grow by one percent, one of only 10 states nationally that saw economic growth. With the midterm elections on November 8, the GDP data published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis is one of the last official indicators of how each state is performing economically. The map below has Q2 GDP data for each state. According to Pew Research, voters care about the economy above any other issue, with 77 percent saying it was very important in considering how they vote in the 2022 … [Read more...] about Key midterm states see faster economic decline than average

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge remained elevated in August, data released on Friday showed, further evidence that the central bank is contending with a stubborn problem as it tries to choke off the worst inflation in four decades. The Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation measure, which is the measure the Fed officially targets as it tries to achieve 2 percent annual inflation, climbed 6.2 percent over the year through August. While that was a slowdown from 6.4 percent in July, it was higher than the 6 percent that economists in a Bloomberg survey had expected. The details of the report were even more concerning. Price increases have been moderating somewhat on an overall basis, partly because gas prices have been declining. But after volatile fuel and food prices were stripped out to get a sense of underlying inflationary pressures, the index climbed 4.9 percent over the year through August, an acceleration from 4.7 percent the month before. And on a … [Read more...] about The Fed’s Preferred Inflation Measure Remains Stubbornly High

Our call that the factors that brought inflation down in July had run out of steam looks pretty good in light of the most recent report on personal consumption expenditures (PCE). Earlier this week, we said that instead of wondering whether we had hit peak inflation back in June, investors and analysts should turn toward the question of whether we had hit peak disinflation . The word disinflation refers to a slowdown in the rate of inflation, which is different from deflation , which is an actual decline in prices. Peak disinflation implies that the largest part of the slowdown is behind us—at least for now. The personal consumption expenditure price index data released by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on Friday showed that inflation re-accelerated in August. The headline figure showed a decline of 0.1 percent in July compared with the prior month, largely due to lower gas prices. In August, the headline figure rose 0.3 percent. Core PCE … [Read more...] about Breitbart Business Digest: Peak Disinflation Confirmed

President Droupadi Murmu on Friday said that primary aim of public servants should be to serve the nation and its people with utmost sincerity. She was speaking to the officers/officer trainees of Indian Defence Estates Service, Indian Skill Development Service, Indian Trade Service and Indian Telecom Service, who had called on the president at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. Addressing the officers, Murmu said that after becoming part of the respective services, their primary aim should be to serve the nation and its people with utmost sincerity. In their journey as public servants, they will get opportunities to bring about changes which can transform the lives of people, the president said. She was confident that if young offices pursue the path of serving the people, they will earn a great deal of job satisfaction. The president was happy to note that the Directorate General of Defence Estates has adopted technologies like satellite imagery, geo-spatial techniques and artificial … [Read more...] about Primary Aim Should Be to Serve Nation and Its People with Utmost Sincerity: Prez Murmu to Govt Officers

EU ministers on Friday agreed cuts to peak-hour power consumption and windfall levies on energy companies in an urgent effort to bring down sky-high energy prices. The decision, announced by the Czech Republic in its role holding the EU presidency, aims to mitigate energy costs sent soaring by Russia’s war in Ukraine and as the northern hemisphere winter looms. European households and businesses are already staggering under surging energy bills, fuelling record inflation that in the eurozone has hit 10 percent. Extra drama has been injected with several unexplained leaks this week of Russia-Germany undersea gas pipelines, Nord Stream 1 and 2, that were widely seen as “sabotage”. The EU ministers’ agreement came a day after Germany — the bloc’s export powerhouse that had long been dependent on Russian gas — announced a 200-billion-euro (about $200 billion) energy aid package to shield its consumers. Other EU countries have deployed smaller-scale national measures with the … [Read more...] about European Union to Cut Power Use, Levy Energy Companies

After seven consecutive sessions of losses, domestic equities witnessed a relief rally on Friday, helped by the Reserve Bank of India ’s assurance to take necessary steps to shield the domestic economy from the global shocks. The up move brought in a nearly 1,300-point rise in the Sensex while the NSE Nifty moved past the psychologically-important level of 17,000 points. The respite was seen in broader markets, too, as Nifty SmallCap 100 and Nifty MidCap 100 indices rose 0.9 per cent each. Volatility gauge, India VIX, meanwhile, slipped over 5 per cent. Sectorally, rate-sensitive sectors like Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Bank gained the most – over 2 per cent. Besides, Nifty Realty and Nifty Auto indices climbed over 1 per cent each. RBI’s assurance of growth On expected lines, the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee raised the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.9 per cent and also retained its stance on remaining focussed on the withdrawal of … [Read more...] about Raging Bulls! Sensex Jumps Over 1,200 pts, Nifty Atop 17,150; Why Market is Rising Today

This is part four of a twelve-part series. Read part one here , two here , part three here , part five here , part six here , part seven here , part eight here , part nine here , part ten here , part eleven here , and part twelve here . IV. Salem , August 22d 1837. — A walk yesterday afternoon down to the Juniper and Winter Island. Singular effect of partial sunshine, the sky being broadly and heavily clouded, and land and sea, in consequence, being generally overspread with a sombre gloom. But the sunshine, somehow or other, found its way between the interstices of the clouds, and illuminated some of the distant objects very vividly. The white sails of a ship caught it, and gleamed brilliant as sunny snow, the hull being scarcely visible, and the sea around dark; other smaller vessels too, so that they looked like heavenly-winged things just alighting on a dismal world. Shifting their sails, perhaps, or going on another tack, they almost … [Read more...] about Passages From Hawthorne’s Note-Books (Part IV)