Economic News

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela has begun to slow public spending and plans to issue some $2.8 billion in bonds and treasury notes by the end of the year as it seeks to counter inflation, the country's finance minister said Friday. Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabezas told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview that the idea is to gradually moderate spending while monitoring the economy's response.  ...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The dollar continued to trade in a tight range against major currencies as the market awaited guidance from the crucial US labour market report later today. The data will provide further signs on the progress of the US economy following some strong data this week, and a continuation of the positive trend could well help the US currency gain some lost ground. A Thomson ...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The dollar's gains from a strong US labour report petered out as the market appeared to return to its long-term view that interest rates are not going higher in the US. The greenback gained an solid boost against most currencies after the key non-farm payrolls report came in solid, the latest in a recent string of healthy data on the US economy. Figures from the Labo ...

MONTREAL (Thomson Financial) - Canada registered a higher-than-expected 35,000 new jobs in June, which is likely to put additional pressure on the Bank of Canada to raise its main tax rate next week, according to analysts. Canada's unemployment rate held at 6.1 pct for the fifth consecutive month, Statistics Canada said. "The level of employment continued to rise in June" with a gain o ...

WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Poland's economy is estimated to have expanded by 6 and 6.5 pct in annual terms in the second quarter, down from a decade-high 7.4 pct in the first three months of the year, Deputy Finance Minister Katarzyna Zajdel-Kurowska said. "Our initial forecast is for growth in the second quarter of 6-6.5 pct," she told state news agency PAP. She added that an expect ...

(adds analyst comment) LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Growth in the UK manufacturing sector continued to pick up in May, with output reaching its highest level since just before the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, official figures showed today. The office for National Statistics reported that manufacturing output, which accounts for around 14.7 pct of the UK economy, rose by 0.4 pct in May from ...

Industrial production and manufacturing output both grew faster than analysts expected in May, official figures show. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said industrial output rose 0.6% in May from April, which is its fastest growth since November 2006. Manufacturing output was also up, growing 0.4% on the month. The ONS said the recovery was helped by the completion of major shipbuilding work and rising output from the Buzzard oil field in the North Sea. 'Market hawks' It is the firs ...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The dollar held steady ahead of the crucial US labour market report later today which will signal whether the US economy is improving. This week has brought some decent US data and a continuation of this trend may well help the US currency gain some lost ground. A Thomson Financial news poll predicts a 130,000 increase in non-farm payrolls for June and early indicatio ...

NEW DELHI (Thomson Financial) - India's wholesale inflation rate jumped by a surprise tenth of a percentage point in the latest survey week, fuelled by higher food prices, but it still remains at a 14-month low, official data showed Friday. The wholesale price index, India's most closely watched cost-of-living monitor, showed inflation rose to 4.13 percent for the week ended June 23, from 4.03 pe ...

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - Fed policy "is likely to produce enough slack in goods and labor markets to relieve inflationary pressures," while at the same time not "exposing the economy to unnecessary risk of a downturn," according to San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen. Speaking by satellite to an economic conference in Singapore, Yellen said Labor  ...