Economic News

Japan posted a current account surplus of 1,176.8 billion yen in May, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. That exceeded expectations for a surplus of 1,088.2 billion yen and was up from 262.7 billion yen in April. The trade balance showed a deficit of 556.8 billion yen, down 18.1 percent... Read more...

Norway's industrial production grew at a softer pace in May, figures from Statistics Norway showed on Tuesday. Industrial production increased 3.0 percent year-on-year in May, after a 5.4 percent rise in April. Manufacturing output fell 8.2 percent annually in May, following a 5.1 percent decrease... Read more...

The Japan leading index increased in May, data from the Cabinet Office showed on Tuesday. The leading index, which measures the future economic activity, rose to 79.3 in May from 77.7 in April. The coincident index that reflects the current economic activity decreased to 74.6 in June from 80.1... Read more...

US economic recovery may be "leveling off" as activity could be dampened amid a recent surge in coronavirus infections, Raphael Bostic, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said in an interview to the Financial Times. Bostic cited high-frequency data that signaled that the economic activity... Read more...

Analysts at Goldman Sachs on Monday cut the US economic growth forecast for this year to a contraction of 4.6 percent versus a 4.2 percent shrinkage predicted earlier. "The healthy rebound in consumer services spending seen since mid-April now appears likely to stall in July and August as authorities... Read more...

In the latest sign of the rapid economic recovery, the Institute for Supply Management released a report on Monday showing a substantial turnaround in U.S. service sector activity in the month of June. The ISM said its non-manufacturing index spiked to 57.1 in June from 45.4 in May, with a reading above 50 indicting an increase in service sector activity. Read more...