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Summary
- Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that it was too early to discuss tapering off measures to support the struggling economy.
- Australia’s unemployment decreased by 70,000 people in February. The unemployment rate declined by 0.5 percentage points to 5.8 per cent.
- New Zealand’s GDP declined 1 per cent from the third quarter, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday.
From Federal Reserve’s positive economic commentary to contraction in New Zealand’s fourth-quarter GDP growth, the world saw some major developments happening today. On Thursday, Australia also announced a fall in unemployment rate.
Here are top 5 development from Australia and across the world:
- Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that it was too early to discuss tapering off measures to support the struggling economy. Fed repeated its pledge to keep its target interest rate near zero for years to come. The central bank also reiterated it plans to continue purchasing bonds at a rate of at least US$120 billion per month until "substantial further progress" has been made toward its policy goals. The US economy is heading for its strongest growth in nearly 40 years, the Federal Reserve said. The Fed said members now expect US GDP to surge by 6.5 per cent in 2021 as against 4.2 per cent spike forecast last December.
Source: © Sparky 2000 | Megapixl.com
- Australia’s unemployment decreased by 70,000 people in February. The unemployment rate declined by 0.5 percentage points to 5.8 per cent. The unemployment rate remained 0.6 percentage points above March 2020, with around 89,000 more unemployed people. Seasonally adjusted employment increased by 89,000 people between January and February 2021, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said this latest data showed continued recovery in the labour market into February, particularly for women.
- New Zealand’s GDP declined 1 per cent from the third quarter, when it expanded a revised 13.9 per cent, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday. The contraction in the final three months of last year negatively impacted the hopes of V-shaped recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The fourth-quarter contraction was driven by construction, manufacturing and farm output. Household consumption surged 1.1 per cent as services spending counterbalanced a fall in purchases of goods. Investment declined 1.4 per cent, led by commercial construction, plant and equipment. While exports fell 1.1 per cent reflecting less tourist spending, imports grew 9.1 per cent. New Zealand had bounced out of recession with a revised 13.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter GDP growth in the three months to September-end.
Source: © Kgtoh 2000 | Megapixl.com
- Chinese internet search giant Baidu raised $3.1 billion in its Hong Kong secondary listing. The New York-listed Baidu said it will sell 95 million shares at $32.45 apiece as part of the transaction. In a regulatory filing last week, Baidu said it would not price its shares at more than 295 Hong Kong dollars. With this, Baidu has joined a long list of US-listed Chinese tech companies with secondary offerings in Hong Kong including Alibaba, JD.com and NetEase.
- Russia on Wednesday called its ambassador to the United States back to Moscow for consultations on the future of US-Russia ties. The envoy was called back in response to US President Joe Biden’s comments that Putin would “pay a price” for alleged election meddling. The comments came after a US intelligence report supported longstanding allegations that Putin was behind Moscow’s election interference in the United States. However, Russia has dismissed these allegations throughout. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had called its ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, back to Moscow to discuss the future of Russia’s relationship with the United States.
