The monetary base in Japan was down 11.3 percent on year in April, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday - coming in at 570.787 trillion yen. That missed expectations for a decline of 10.5 percent following the 10.6 percent drop in March. Banknotes in circulation were down 1.8 percent, while coins...
Australia will on Thursday release March figures for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In February, imports were down 3.2 percent on month and exports rose 4.9 percent for a trade surplus of A$5.686 billion. The Bank of Japan will release...
Payroll processor ADP released a report on Wednesday showing private sector employment in the U.S. jumped by more than expected in the month of April. The report said private sector employment shot up by 109,000 jobs in April after climbing by a downwardly revised 61,000 jobs in March. Economists had expected private sector employment to grow by 85,000 jobs.
Euro area private sector contracted for the first time in nearly one-and-a--half years as the ongoing war in the Middle East acted as a drag on services activity, final results of the purchasing managers' survey by S&P Global showed on Wednesday. The composite output index fell to 48.8 in April from 50.7 in the previous month. The reading was moderately above the flash estimate of 48.6.
Final composite Purchasing Managers' survey results from the euro area and the UK are due on Wednesday, headlining a busy day for the European economic news. At 2.45 am ET, France's statistical office INSEE publishes industrial production data for March. Economists forecast industrial output to grow 0.5 percent on a monthly basis in March, in contrast to the 0.7 percent fall in February.
China's service sector registered faster growth in April, driven by stronger increases in new business despite declining foreign orders, survey results published by S&P Global revealed Wednesday. The headline RatingDog China services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 52.6 in April from 52.1 in the previous month.
The unemployment rate in New Zealand came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2026, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday. That was beneath forecasts for 5.4 percent, which would have been unchanged from the previous three months. The employment change was 0.2 percent...
New Zealand will on Wednesday release Q1 numbers for unemployment, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In the three months prior, the jobless rate was 5.4 percent and the participation rate was 70.5 percent. South Korea will provide April numbers for consumer prices, with...
New home sales in the U.S. saw a substantial increase in the month of March, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday. The report said new home sales spiked by 7.4 percent to an annual rate of 682,000 in March after soaring by 8.9 percent to an annual rate of 635,000 in February. Economists had expected new home sales to come in at an annual rate of 668,000.
A report released by the Institute for Supply Management on Tuesday showed a slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in the month of April. The ISM said its services PMI slipped to 53.6 in April after falling to 54.0 in March, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 53.7.
With imports increasing by modestly more than exports, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing the U.S. trade deficit widened roughly in line with economist estimates in the month of March. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit grew to $60.3 billion in March from a revised $57.8 billion in February.
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its key interest rate by a quarter basis point for the third straight meeting as inflation is expected to remain above the target as the war in the Middle East pushed up fuel prices. The RBA policy board, led by Governor Michele Bullock, decided to lift the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.35 percent in a split vote on Tuesday, in line with economists
Indonesia's economy grew at the fastest pace in more than three years in the first quarter as government stimulus measures supported the nation amid the adverse effects of the war in the Middle East. Gross domestic product logged an annual growth of 5.61 percent in the first quarter, surpassing the 5.39 percent expansion registered in the fourth quarter, Statistics Indonesia said Tuesday.
The services sector in Australia swung sharply into expansion territory in April, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Tuesday with a services PMI score of 50.7. That's up from 46.3 in March and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Sustained...
The Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The RBA is widely expected to hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 4.35 percent from 4.10...
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.