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Showing 401 - 410 of 1723 results for "Unemployment"

Chief economist update: Wheels of US recession in motion

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 22 AUG 2019
... observed over the same interval." We're getting the same excuses and rationalisations on why the US economy - low unemployment rate; strong consumer optimism and spending; still expanding ISM indices, among others. They were strong too at the time ...

Chief economist update: US recession a sure thing

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 19 AUG 2019
... recession from the December quarter of 2007 to the June quarter of 2009. But perhaps, this time is different. The US unemployment rate is at near 49-year lows at 3.7% (July)... but it was also clocking multi-decade lows (4.4% December 2006) before the ...

Chief economist update: Will Australia avoid another global recession?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 16 AUG 2019
... heads in July - due to expansions in both full-time (up 34,500) and part-time (up 6,700) jobs over the month. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.2%. But this was due to the higher participation rate - 66.1% in July from 66.0% in June - itself ...

Chief economist update: Greater than the Great Recession of 2008

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 15 AUG 2019
... and 1933 and its exports plunged 61%. Ouch! We all know what happened thereafter -- the depression deepened. The US unemployment rate jumped from 7.8% in 1930 to 25.1% three years later. More worrying at this point in time is the fact that central bank ...

Chief economist update: A case for optimism

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 11 JUL 2019
... employment and economic conditions. The "Family finances next 12mths" sub-index plunged by 8.0% in the month of July. The "Unemployment Expectations Index" increased by 5.8% to a reading of 134.4 - taking it above its long-run average of 130. This suggests ...

Chief economist update: Hard target

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 10 JUL 2019
... when the central bank announced its first rate cut since August 2016 - governor Philip Lowe declared 4.5% is the unemployment rate at which wages start to lift and feed into inflation. Latest data show Australia's unemployment rate at 5.2% in May ...

Chief economist update: Australia needs a cheaper A$

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 9 JUL 2019
... strong US non-farm payrolls report for June - up a bigger-than-expected 224,000 from 72,000 in May. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7% from 3.6% in May, remains near 49-year lows and was due to the increase in the participation rate ...

Chief economist update: The back-to-back rate cuts Australia has to have

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 3 JUL 2019
... just recently shifted the goalpost. The Australian central bank now puts NAIRU (non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment) at 4.5%, down from 5.0% estimated over recent years. With the unemployment at 5.2% in May, the RBA has further to go "before ...

Chief economist update: Expect an RBNZ rate cut

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 27 JUN 2019
... economy is affecting New Zealand through a range of trade, financial, and confidence channels." While New Zealand's unemployment rate has fallen from 4.3% in the December 2018 quarter to 4.2% in the March 2019 quarter - close to the 10-year low of ...

Chief economist update: Another rate cut on the cards

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 14 JUN 2019
... 43,100 addition in in the previous month and more than double market expectations for a 20,000 gain. In addition, the unemployment rate steadied at 5.2% despite the increase in the participation rate from 65.9% to 66.0% in May. But at the risk of being ...