Page 3 - Us Economic Growth

US small-biz sentiment slides to lowest level in more than 11 yrs in March

Twenty-five percent of owners reported inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, reflecting higher input and labor costs, up 2 points from February

Immigrants contribute to economy but there's worry over risks: US citizens

Americans are more worried about legal immigrants committing crimes in the U.S. than they were a few years ago, a change driven largely by increased concern among Republicans, while Democrats continue to see a broad range of benefits from immigration, a new poll shows. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that substantial shares of U.S. adults believe that immigrants contribute to the country's economic growth, and offer important contributions to American culture. But when it comes to legal immigrants, U.S. adults see fewer major benefits than they did in the past, and more major risks. About 4 in 10 Americans say that when immigrants come to the U.S. legally, it's a major benefit for American companies to get the expertise of skilled workers in fields like science and technology. A similar share (38%) also say that legal immigrants contribute a major benefit by enriching American culture and values. Both those figures were down compared

US House approves over $450 bn spending package to avert shutdown

The 1,050-page package calls for more than $450 billion in funding for the departments of Veterans Affairs, agriculture, interior, transportation, housing and urban development, etc

Besides avoiding recession, US also creating hundreds of thousands of jobs

The nation's employers delivered a stunning burst of hiring to begin 2024, adding 353,000 jobs in January in the latest sign of the economy's continuing ability to shrug off the highest interest rates in two decades. Friday's government report showed that last month's job gain roughly twice what economists had predicted topped the December gain of 333,000, a figure that was itself revised sharply higher. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7 per cent, just above a half-century low. Wages rose unexpectedly fast in January, too. Average hourly pay climbed a sharp 0.6 per cent from December, the fastest monthly gain in nearly two years, and 4.5 per cent from January 2023. The strong hiring and wage growth could complicate or delay the Federal Reserve's intention to start cutting interest rates later this year. The latest gains showcased employers' willingness to keep hiring to meet steady consumer spending. It comes as the intensifying presidential campaign is pivoting in no small par

US growth likely slowed last quarter but still exhibited resilience

The nation's economy was supposed to have sunk into recession by now, dragged down by the highest interest rates in two decades and a resulting slump in borrowing and spending. Instead, the US economy has kept chugging along. Even more encouraging, inflation, which touched a four-decade high in 2022, has edged steadily lower without the painful layoffs that most economists had thought would be necessary to slow the acceleration of prices. On Thursday, the Commerce Department is expected to report that the nation's gross domestic product the economy's total output of goods and services rose at an annual rate of around 2 per cent from October through December. That would mark a deceleration from a vigorous 4.9 per cent growth rate in the July-September quarter. But it would still showcase the surprising durability of the world's largest economy, marking the sixth straight quarter in which GDP has expanded at a solid annual pace of 2 per cent or more. Helping fuel that growth has bee

Economists increasingly sure US will avoid recession, shows survey

Also, inflation has been falling faster than expected, and the labor market is cooling but not collapsing

Hedge funds bring in record profits betting on 'catastrophe' bonds

Behind those record returns were bold bets on catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities

US Q4 GDP shows annualised 2% rise, expected to crown vigorous second half

While the Fed wants to guard against a re-acceleration of inflation, a further softening of price pressures risks making policy even more restrictive

US eyes more Indian tourists in coming yrs, number expected to rise to 2mn

The NTTO expects visitors from India to go up to 2 million by 2027

US energy tax credit trading grows to as much as $9 bn, show study

This market has scaled faster than anyone anticipated, said Crux CEO and co-founder Alfred Johnson, a former Treasury Department staffer

Wealth of 5 richest men doubled since 2020; 5 bn people now poorer: Oxfam

Fortunes of five richest men have more than doubled since 2020 and the world could have its first-ever trillionaire in just a decade while it would take more than two centuries to end poverty, rights group Oxfam said on Monday. Releasing its annual inequality report on the first day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting here, Oxfam said seven of 10 of the world's biggest corporations have a billionaire as a CEO, or principal shareholder. It further said that 148 top corporations made USD 1.8 trillion in profits, 52 per cent up on three-year average, and dished out huge payouts to rich shareholders, while hundreds of millions faced cuts in real-term pay. Oxfam called for a new era of public action, including public services, corporate regulation, breaking up monopolies and enacting permanent wealth and excess profit taxes. The world's five richest men have more than doubled their fortunes from USD 405 billion to USD 869 billion since 2020 "at a rate of USD 14 million per

China's exports rise, but deflation persists as economy enters 2024

Analysts also anticipate that interest rates will drop at least 1.5 percentage points in the United States and Europe this year, which should improve demand for imported goods

Gold to maintain upward trajectory in 2024, ended CY23 with 15% return

Yellow metal to maintain its impressive run in 2024 on the back of triggers such as the moderation in US economic growth, expectation of rate cuts this year and continued buying from central banks

'World is watching,' says US President Biden as Israel, Ukraine aids stall

Biden said he was willing to consider immigration policy changes to secure a deal, winning praise from a key Republican lawmaker

US inflation slows sharply in October, core pressures ease to 2-year low

In the 12 months through October, the CPI climbed 3.2 per cent after rising 3.7 per cent in September

US economic outlook strengthens, inflation progress bumpy: Survey

Forecasters see more straightforward progress on the so-called core measures for both CPI and PCE inflation, which strip out the more volatilie components of food and energy

US growth for last qtr likely reflected consumers' resistance to Fed hikes

The government is expected Thursday to report stellar growth for the US economy during the July-September quarter, highlighting the durability of consumer and business spending despite the Federal Reserve's efforts to cool the expansion with high interest rates. Last quarter's robust growth, though, will probably prove to be a high-water mark for the economy before a steady slowdown beginning in the current October-December quarter and extending into 2024. Thursday's report is sure to be seized upon by the Biden administration as evidence that its policies have helped spur solid growth, though surveys show that most Americans hold a sour view of the president's handling of the economy. The Commerce Department's figures are expected to show that the nation's gross domestic product the economy's total output of goods and services expanded at a 3.8% annual pace in the third quarter, according to a survey of economists by FactSet. If accurate, that would amount to the fastest quarterl

Safe-haven gold gains buoyed by Middle East conflict; US data in focus

US business activity ticked higher in October while output in the euro zone took a surprise turn for the worse, surveys showed on Tuesday

US retail sales exceed forecasts, economic data defies expectation again

Sales, unadjusted for inflation, increased 0.7% after upwardly revised advances in the prior two months, according to the Commerce Department

Biden looks to spotlight his foreign policy as 2024 reelection bid heats up

This probably wasn't how President Joe Biden envisioned his big foreign policy week ending. Biden spent much of the time trying to make the case to world leaders at the UN General Assembly as well as to Democratic donors and voters that his decades of foreign policy experience and demonstrated moral clarity set him apart from Donald Trump, the early front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. But just as Biden is looking to spotlight his foreign policy chops with his 2024 reelection bid heating up, he is facing a growing list of national security headaches, several of which emerged in recent days. There is a diplomatic spat between US allies Canada and India over the killing of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil, growing concern about the future of US funding for Ukraine, and the indictment of the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. Each will test Biden and his administration. Menendez and his wife were indicted Frida