WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made clear Wednesday that the Fed will begin raising interest rates this month in a high-stakes effort to restrain surging inflation. In prepared testimony he will deliver to a congressional committee, Powell cautioned that the economic consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are “highly uncertain.” He says the Fed will “need to be […]

SINGAPORE – Few shoppers wandering through a mall will think about the time, effort and money that go into filling the shops with products. The process of stocking the shelves has undergone many changes over the decades in the light of new technology and reduced tariffs and trade barriers, but what has seemed stuck in time is the paperwork required to […]

WASHINGTON (AFP) – American workers are quitting their jobs by the millions every month taking advantage of new opportunities created by the pandemic recovery, and creating an unprecedented labour shortage for companies. In October, 4.2 million Americans resigned, after 4.4 million in September and 4.3 million in August, according to data from the Labor Department. Meanwhile, new applications for unemployment […]

SINGAPORE – Tel Aviv is now the most expensive city in the world to live in, according to an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The Israeli city climbed from fifth place last year to head the rankings – the first time it has been in the top spot – after pushing Paris down to joint second place […]

TOKYO (REUTERS) – Asian factory activity grew last month as crippling supply bottlenecks eased, but rising input costs and renewed weakness in China dampened the region’s prospects for an early, sustained recovery from pandemic paralysis. The newly detected Omicron coronavirus variant has also emerged as a fresh worry for the region’s policymakers, who are already grappling with the challenge of […]

BENGALURU (REUTERS) – United States retailers’ online sales likely slowed this Cyber Monday (Nov 29), as fewer discounts and limited choices due to global supply-chain disruptions deterred shoppers, but other data points suggested American consumers are in pretty good health. Retailers had also spread out promotional deals across more weeks to protect profit margins from surging supply chain costs and […]

NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) – Retail stocks tumbled after disappointing reports from Gap and Nordstrom capped a difficult earnings season for consumer-facing brands, renewing worries over rising costs and a strained supply chain ahead of the holiday shopping season. Gap chief executive Sonia Syngal cited “acute supply chain headwinds” that left the chain unable to capitalise on elevated customer demand, forcing […]

WASHINGTON — Americans are doing the main thing that drives the U.S. economy — spending — but accelerating inflation is casting a pall. A raft of economic data issued Wednesday showed the economy on solid footing, with Americans’ incomes rising and jobless claims falling to a level not seen since the Beatles were still together. The spike in prices for […]