Economic Indicators News

By Lucia Mutikani

NEW YORK Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) & Co was dismissed as a defendant in a lawsuit by the cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore, which accused large banks of conspiring to inflate interest rates for variable-rate demand obligations, a type of tax-exempt bond.

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON U.S. homebuilding unexpectedly fell in May, but data for the prior two months was revised higher and building permits increased, suggesting that the housing market was drawing some support from a sharp decline in mortgage rates.

BRUSSELS The European Union's trade surplus in goods with the United States increased in the first four months of 2019 while its deficit with China widened, figures that could further strain global tensions.

BRUSSELS Inflation in the euro zone slowed to 1.2% in May, the lowest rate in more than a year, as price growth in the energy and services sectors slackened, the European Union statistics agency said on Tuesday, confirming its earlier estimates.

BEIJING New home prices in China rose at their fastest pace in five months in May, complicating government efforts to keep frothy housing markets under control as it rolls out more stimulus for the slowing economy.

(Bloomberg) -- New home price growth in China quickened last month after government measures to spur demand in smaller cities took effect. The average value of new homes in 70 major cities around Asia’s biggest economy, excluding government-subsidized housing, rose 0.71% in May, according to data released by the statistics bureau Tuesday. That’s faster than an increase of 0.62% in April and a lift of 0.61% in March.

By Daniel Leussink

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

(Reuters) - A private gauge of U.S. home builder sentiment fell in June, retreating from a six-month high, as rising building costs and trade worries offset falling mortgage rates.

(Reuters) - A private gauge of U.S. home builder sentiment fell in June, retreating from a six-month high, as rising building costs and trade worries offset falling mortgage rates.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Federal Reserve said on Monday its gauge of business growth in New York state posted a record fall this month to its weakest level in more than 2-1/2 years, suggesting an abrupt contraction in regional activity.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone wages rose in the first quarter of the year at the highest pace ever recorded since data is collected, data from the European Union's statistics office showed on Monday.

By Serajul Quadir

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Youth unemployment in South Africa has become a "national crisis", President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday at an event commemorating youth activism during the apartheid era.

PARIS (Reuters) - French monthly inflation slowed faster than expected in May, thanks largely to a fall in service sector prices which offset a marked acceleration in food prices, final EU-harmonised data from the INSEE statistics agency showed on Friday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian central bank on Friday cut its key interest rate for the first time this year in line with market expectations, paving the way for further monetary easing to tackle slowing economic activity.

By Stella Qiu and Kevin Yao

(Reuters) - U.S. gross domestic product could still grow at a 3% rate this year, White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett told CNBC on Friday.

By Lucia Mutikani

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. business inventories rebounded in April as sales fell, but inventory accumulation is still expected to be a drag on economic growth in the second quarter.

ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS Group has suspended a senior economist whose comments about Chinese pigs prompted an outcry in China, the Swiss bank said on Friday.

By Jason Lange