Reuters US Economy

(Reuters) -Credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded Israel’s credit rating to “A” from “A-plus” on Monday, citing worsening geopolitical risks as the war in Gaza drags on, and kept the rating outlook negative, meaning a further downgrade is possible. The ratings agency expects the Israeli government to permanently increase military spending by close to 1.5% of …

Fitch cuts Israel’s credit rating to ‘A’ as Middle East tensions rise Read More »

(Reuters) – Spain’s European Union-harmonised 12-month inflation fell to 2.9% in July, from 3.6% in the period through June, final data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Tuesday. The 12-month European Union-harmonised inflation confirmed both the flash estimate and the estimate by analysts polled by Reuters at 2.9%. Core inflation, which strips …

Spain’s EU-harmonised 12-month inflation falls to 2.9% in July Read More »

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) – People are leaving New Zealand in record numbers as unemployment rises, interest rates remain high and economic growth is anaemic, government statistics show. Data released by Statistics New Zealand on Tuesday showed that 131,200 people departed New Zealand in the year ended June 2024, provisionally the highest on record …

People leave New Zealand in record numbers as economy bites Read More »

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury yields slipped on Monday as the market marked time for inflation data later in the week that should be pivotal for Federal Reserve policymakers to confirm if an easing at their September meeting is warranted. Japanese markets were closed on Monday and many U.S. participants are taking August vacations. So, …

Treasury yields trade slightly lower ahead of inflation reports Read More »

(Reuters) – The U.S. government recorded a $244 billion budget deficit for July, up 10% from a year earlier, but accounting for calendar differences, the gap would have been $45 billion narrower, the Treasury Department said on Monday. The Treasury said last month’s deficit climbed $23 billion from the $221 billion deficit recorded in July …

US July federal deficit grows Read More »

By Ann Saphir (Reuters) – Middle- and low-income U.S. families now have significantly fewer liquid resources like bank deposits than they were on track to have before the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, creating financial strains that pose a risk to consumer spending, the backbone of the economy. Research published on Monday by the Federal …

Shrinking cash cushions may pinch US consumer spending, SF Fed report says Read More »

By Pavel Polityuk, Jonathan Saul and Tom Balmforth KYIV/LONDON (Reuters) – Ukraine is scrambling to ship as much grain as it can this summer, taking advantage of military gains it has made in the Black Sea area to boost exports even as Russia has attacked its ports. Ukraine is a major global wheat and corn …

Ukraine boosts grain exports despite intensified Russian attacks Read More »

ESHKOL COUNCIL, Israel (Reuters) – Farming can develop in mysterious ways. Israeli researchers learned about that when the war in Gaza seemed to have all but wrecked their work on a more resilient strain of the cocoa plant that could help alleviate a global shortage of the beans. Just days after Israel’s agriculture research centre, …

High hopes in Israel for ‘super hero’ cocoa that survived frontline conditions Read More »

By Clyde Russell LAUNCESTON, Australia (Reuters) – The price of iron ore has dropped for a sixth consecutive week as China’s steel sector continues to struggle and port inventories of the raw material stop rising. Singapore Exchange futures ended at $101.49 a metric ton on Aug. 9, up a touch from the four-month closing low …

Column-Iron ore outlook dims as China inventories, steel output fade: Russell Read More »