Economic News

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (Dow Jones) -- Now that jobs are less difficult to come by, employees are itching to get back some of the buying power they lost to their bosses when the shoe was on the other foot. Don't get me wrong, overall job growth is still puny. The nation's payrolls in May most likely expanded by around 170,000, if the consensus is right -- well below average. This means that after 4- ...

LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones) - Higher U.S. interest rates are taking a toll on emerging markets, and many strategists are now advising investors to re-evaluate portfolio holdings in case these stocks suffer a protracted downturn. Emerging markets are tightly tied to U.S. economic health, so concerns that Federal Reserve rate decisions will chill U.S. growth is hitting many developing countries hard  ...

The US dollar fell sharply on Tuesday as Hank Paulson, Goldman Sachs’ chief executive, was named as the new US Treasury secretary, replacing the increasingly pressurised John Snow. // Mr Paulson has extensive links with China and some saw him as potentially better equipped than his predecessor to encourage Beijing, and the wider emerging Asian bloc, to allow a faster appreciation of the renminbi in order to help reduce global economic imbalances. Beijing has allowed the renminbi to crawl just  ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush announced on Tuesday that Treasury Secretary John Snow was resigning and that he has nominated Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) chairman Henry Paulson to replace him. In a White House Rose Garden announcement, Bush praised Paulson's lifetime of business experience and said he had the ability to explain complicated economic concepts in clear language. The president made clear that Paulson would be pursuing long-standing White House e ...

Japan's economy has shown further signs of recovery with an increase in industrial production and unemployment at a seven-year low. However, the government remained cautious after retail sales fell in April for a fourth straight month. The unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%, with fewer people actually out of work than a year ago. And there was a 1.5% rise in industrial output - prompting more talk that Japan would end its 0% interest rate policy. No hint Japan, the world's second-biggest eco ...

| Eurozone loans data add to rates pressureBy Ralph Atkins in FrankfurtPublished: May 30 2006 11:36 | Last updated: May 30 2006 11:36Eurozone money supply and credit growth figures are flashing fresh inflationary alarm signals, cementing the case for the European Central Bank to raise interest rates again next month, possibly by a larger-than-usual half percentage point. // Lending to business ac ...

By Paul Hoskins DUBLIN (Reuters) - With Irish government-backed savings set to begin pumping billions of euros into an already thriving economy this week, the Financial Regulator has called on savers to pay off debt before embarking on a spending spree. "Reducing outstanding debts will give you peace of mind and will give you more flexibility," said Mary O'Dea, Consumer Director of the regulator, which is part of the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland. "Even if you have  ...