Economic News

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- After the perfect storm this week when the market was blindsided by reports of Fed chief Ben Bernanke's cocktail-party chatter, the Federal Open Market Committee next week will seek to calm financial markets and deliver a clear policy message, economists said. The FOMC is expected to raise its federal funds target rate to 5% at its meeting on Wednesday. This would be t ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- The bond market cheered the seemingly weak nonfarm payroll numbers on Friday, but the details of the report showed a strong labor market and the potential for more inflation. The market reacted positively to the Labor Department's report Friday morning that 138,000 jobs were added in April. A weaker economy could signal the end of Federal Reserve rate hikes. With do ...

By Christopher Swann in WashingtonPublished: May 5 2006 14:07 | Last updated: May 5 2006 18:09 // The administration of George W. Bush said on Friday that wages were reaching a “tipping point”, after official figures showed average earnings rising at the fastest pace in almost 5 years. Wages were up by 3.8 per cent over the year to April, despite unexpectedly slow employment growth of just 138,000. Economists had been expecting an increase of 200,000. The US Treasury said on Friday that ris ...

Treasury prices rallied Friday, sending yields lower, after the Labor Department reported unexpectedly sluggish April jobs creation. The report cheered a market that has grown anxious for signs of moderating growth, after a number of earlier reports suggested that the economy is barreling ahead. But the latest jobs report also had worrisome implications for the bond market in the form of wag ...

The dollar slumped to one-year lows versus the euro, pound and Swiss franc and a seven-month low against the yen Friday after the U.S. nonfarm payrolls number came in far lower than expected. Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 138,000 in April, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were looking for about 200,000 new jobs in the month. Payroll growth in February and Marc ...

The ailing US dollar racked up its third straight week of losses as sentiment towards the greenback continued to sour in the wake of last month’s G7 communique. // The G7 report called for greater currency flexibility among emerging Asian nations in order to help reduce global economic imbalances, such as the vast US current account deficit. However the document has been taken by many as a sign that there is a tacit acceptance among policymakers that the dollar needs to weaken across the boar ...

The dollar slumped to fresh one-year lows versus the euro, pound and Swiss francs and also fell against the yen early Friday after the U.S. nonfarm payrolls number came in far lower-than-expected. Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 138,000 in April, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were looking for about 200,000 new jobs in the month. Payroll growth in February and ...

Treasury prices moved into positive territory early Friday, sending yields lower, after the Labor Department reported unexpectedly sluggish job growth for last month. The fixed-income market seized on the weak jobs generation data as a signal that growth is moderating, following a number of recent reports that have suggested the economy is barreling ahead. However, the report also had worris ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- Job growth slowed in the U.S. economy in April, but wage growth took off, the Labor Department said Friday. Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 138,000 in April, less than the 199,000 expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The unemployment rate remained at 4.7% as expected. Average hourly earnings increased 9 cents, or 0.5%, to $16.61. Economists expected earnings ...

By Katie Allen LONDON (Reuters) - More Britons than ever were unable to pay back their debts and tens of thousands faced the threat of losing their home in the first quarter of 2006 as the nation's trillion-pound debt mountain claimed even more victims. Consumer insolvencies in England and Wales leapt 73 percent on a year ago to a seasonally adjusted 23,351 in January to March, the Department of ...