The European Central Bank (ECB) decided to raise its key interest rate last week to 0.75 percent because, in part, the bank’s governing council feared the weak euro would drive inflation even higher, minutes from the group’s last meeting showed. The euro was worth $1.20 in early 2021. Earlier this year, it slid to parity...
On 8 September, the 25 members of the European Central Bank (ECB’s) governing council voted unanimously to raise the bank’s key interest rate by three-quarters of a point, even though many analysts have warned that suddenly higher rates will push the region’s economy into recession. The last time the bank jacked its rate by that...
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allied nations (OPEC+) have agreed to pare oil production by 100,000 barrels a day, beginning next month. While the cut is largely symbolic, it underscores the group’s concern over softening oil demand amid a global economic slowdown and highlights last month’s comment by Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi...
Europe’s farmers and food producers are warning that basic commodities, including many common fruits and vegetables, will be in short supply and prices could soar this winter as they press governments for help to cope with record high energy prices The European Union’s (EU’s) farmers union and two major food producers already have begun to...
Dragflation: Economic growth declining and inflation rising… plus the pressure of interest rate hikes that are drying up the cheap money pool are causing companies in many sectors to lay off employees. To illustrate the employment trends and the socioeconomic implications, each week we will list job losses. Crypto companies laid off nearly 5,000 employees...
Pleasure travel bookings rival or exceed 2019’s levels and Labor Day weekend bookings topped pre-COVID numbers, major U.S. airlines are reporting. The flood of enthusiastic travelers has overwhelmed short-staffed airports and carriers. In contrast, business travel—traditionally airlines’ largest single source of profits—will not equal 2019’s volumes until 2026, 18 months later than estimated last year,...
About 67 percent of Millennials and Generation Z young adults who moved in with parents when the COVID War began are still there, a survey by financial broker LendingTree found. People ages 25 to 34 make up the largest cohort of adult children living “at home.” A small number have invited their parents to live...
The national average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage moved up to 5.89 percent last week, almost double the rate a year ago and the highest in 14 years, dealing another blow to an already weakening housing market. Home prices in most major U.S. housing markets have fallen, with 10 percent of the areas...
In July, home prices slipped from their peaks in almost 85 percent of major U.S. real estate markets, with a third showing declines of 1 percent or more and one in ten posting a slide of at least 4 percent, according to Black Knight Data & Analytics, a real estate services firm. July’s slump followed...
Last week, president Joe Biden announced $1 billion in federal funding for 21 regional partnerships across the U.S., focused on advanced manufacturing, biotech, clean energy, and other sectors. The money was part of the $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) that passed Congress all the way back in March 2021. In 2020, the U.S. Federal Reserve...