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Europe’s Economy Picks Up After Year of War in Ukraine
  + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Paul Hannon | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
Businesses in the U.K. and the eurozone have benefited from improvements in supply chains and cooling inflation. Business activity in the eurozone and the U.K. increased faster than expected in February, a boost for the global economy and a new sign of the region’s resilience as Russia’s war on Ukraine is poised to enter its second year. Surveys of manufacturers and service providers released Tuesday also pointed to a cooling of inflation, with factories in the eurozone reporting that costs rose at the slowest pace since September 2020.
Global Economy Shows Signs of Winter Resilience
  + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Paul Hannon | David Harrison | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
Businesses in the U.K. and the eurozone have benefited from improvements in supply chains and cooling inflation. Business activity in the U.S., the eurozone and the U.K. picked up in February, a boost for the global economy and a sign of resilience as Russia’s war on Ukraine is poised to enter its second year. Surveys of manufacturers and service providers released Tuesday also pointed to cooling inflation, with firms reporting that costs rose at the slowest pace since the fall of 2020.
Ukraine War to Take Sharp Economic Toll in Eastern Europe
  + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Paul Hannon | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
A clothing and homeware store in Jelgava, Latvia, one of the Eastern European countries whose economy is expected to contract this year, according to the EBRD. Russia’s war in Ukraine will cause a sharp slowdown in economic growth across Eastern Europe this year, deterring foreign investment and lifting energy prices and borrowing costs, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has warned. Most of the European countries that are closest to the front line showed surprising resilience during the first year of the war. But many economies in the region are more reliant on energy-intensive factories than their counterparts in Western Europe and they could see their market share erode as their costs increase.
There were some signs that the U.K. job market is loosening as some businesses cancel hiring plans. The U.K.’s annual rate of inflation fell for a third straight month in January and more sharply than expected, following a signal from the Bank of England that it may soon pause a series of rate rises that began at the end of 2021. Consumer prices in the U.K. were 10.1% higher than a year earlier, a slower rate of inflation than the 10.5% recorded in December as transport prices cooled, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. That was a larger fall than the decline to 10.3% forecast by economists.
U.K. Ekes Out Economic Growth, Boosted by World Cup
  + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Paul Hannon | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
LONDON—The U.K.’s economy returned to growth as 2022 drew to a close, partly thanks to soccer fans driving up sales at pubs during the World Cup. But many economists still expect a recession and several years of anemic expansion. Britain’s economy grew at an annualized rate of 0.1% in the three months through December, having contracted 0.7% during the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. That allowed the country to avoid a predicted recession, which is usually defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.
Russia said it plans to cut oil production by about 5% next month, making good on a threat by Russian President Vladimir Putin to retaliate against Western oil sanctions but also showing the limits of his leverage in global energy markets. Prices jumped on the move, but pared back some of those gains later in the day. Analysts said the relatively small size of the cuts isn’t likely to lead to sustained higher prices for consumers, especially considering the lackluster economic picture for big chunks of the oil-fueled global economy.
LONDON—The Bank of England raised its key interest rate Thursday for a 10th straight policy meeting, but signaled it may soon pause that series as the annual rate of inflation falls and the economy falters. The U.K.’s central bank raised its bank rate to 4% from 3.5%, having begun to tighten monetary policy in December 2021 in response to a pickup in inflation that saw consumer prices rise 10.5% in the 12 months through December.
Europe’s major central banks raised their key interest rates by 0.5 percentage point but diverged from the Federal Reserve and each other on their likely next moves, reflecting economic uncertainty amid uneven growth and inflation in the region and the rapid reopening of China’s economy. The European Central Bank on Thursday raised its key rate to 2.5%, its fifth large increase in a row, and signaled it would enact another half-point rate increase in March. That leaves the ECB some way behind the Fed, which raised rates to 4.5% to 4.75% on Wednesday, and the Bank of England, which increased rates by a half percentage point to 4% earlier Thursday.
Eurozone’s Economy Outpaced China and U.S. in 2022
  + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Paul Hannon | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
The eurozone economy grew faster than China and the U.S. last year, underlining how the fading Covid-19 pandemic continues to scramble traditional patterns of global growth. Figures released by the European Union’s statistics agency Tuesday showed the currency- area’s economy grew at an annualized rate of 0.5% as higher energy costs weighed on household spending. This translated into 3.5% growth in gross domestic product for 2022 as a whole, a faster rate than seen in either China or the U.S.
Consumer confidence in the eurozone has recovered in recent months as the threat of energy rationing fades. Two of the world’s largest economies moved in opposite directions at the start of the year, with U.S. businesses reporting further declines in activity in January while the eurozone saw a modest pickup. The divergence suggests that while the U.S. economy continues to lose momentum, Europe’s could be stabilizing, at least for now. The pace of contraction in U.S. firms slowed in January, according to new business surveys released Tuesday, a possible signal that the economy could be bottoming out, thanks to slowing inflation and resilient demand.
Consumer confidence in the eurozone has recovered in recent months as the threat of energy rationing fades. Business activity in the eurozone rose in January after successive declines in the second half of last year, raising the chances that the global economy could avoid a recession this year, economists said. The unexpectedly upbeat surveys suggest that while the global economy could slow this year under pressure from high prices and interest rates, a recession appears less likely thanks to the receding threat of energy shortages in Europe and China’s postpandemic reopening.
A market in Lianyungang, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. China lifted many of its zero-tolerance pandemic controls in early December. China’s abandonment of its zero-Covid policy is good news for global economic growth but it could give a fresh boost to inflation in Europe, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Friday“The change of this Covid policy will revive the economy,“ said Ms. Lagarde. “That is positive for the rest of the world, but there will be more inflationary pressure.“
In the U.S., the minimum tax proposal is stranded in Congress. Governments could get a bigger windfall than previously estimated if they implement a planned overhaul of international tax rules, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Wednesday. The Paris-based body guided lengthy talks that eventually led to the October 2021 international tax agreement. The plan set a minimum tax rate of 15% on the profits of large businesses and shifted some tax revenues to where companies sell to consumers, rather than where they are based.
U.K. Inflation Fell for Second Month, Following Global Move
  + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Paul Hannon | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
The U.K.’s annual rate of inflation fell for a second straight month in December, the latest sign that the global surge in consumer prices that began in early 2021 is slowing. Consumer prices in the U.K. were 10.5% higher than a year earlier, a slower rate of inflation than the 10.7% recorded in November as gasoline prices cooled, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. The core rate of inflation was unchanged at 6.3%, while prices of food and beverages rose at the fastest pace since September 1977.
Unemployment will stay mostly stable around the world this year and next despite a sharp economic slowdown, reflecting a shortage of workers in rich countries among other factors, the International Labour Organization said Monday. High prices for food and energy, coupled with rising interest rates, are expected to slow the global economy this year. The World Bank last week said it expects world output to rise by just 1.7%, which would be the third-weakest expansion in nearly three decades, overshadowed only by the 2009 and 2020 downturns.
Shoppers in Paris. Any recession in Europe is likely to be shallow and brief, according to fresh data and estimates. Russia’s economic war with the West looks set to claim a much smaller toll on Europe than the brutal recession many economists warned about just months ago, due to falling energy prices and government intervention to buttress the continent’s economy. A mild winter so far, efforts by businesses and households to cut energy consumption, successful moves by governments to find new natural-gas suppliers and hundreds of billions of euros in fiscal support mean Europe’s recession is likely to be shallow and brief—if it happens at all—according to fresh data and estimates.
Lower energy costs as Europe enjoys a mild start to winter have helped slow the eurozone’s annual rate of inflation to single digits, but consumer prices are still rising too quickly for policy makers at the European Central Bank, who have signaled they intend to raise their key interest rate again in the near future. A surge in energy prices in the months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed eurozone inflation sharply higher, and above its U.S. equivalent from midyear, but warmer-than-usual temperatures and government caps helped reverse that move as the year drew to a close.
The U.K. and France braced for disruptions to holiday travel, as British border-control personnel went on strike and French rail workers walked off the job. Border-control agents in the U.K. kicked off more than a week of cost-of-living protests amid soaring inflation and the worst U.K. industrial disputes in a decade.
LONDON—British passport control staff are set to strike from Friday, becoming the latest government workers to seek wage rises that get closer to matching inflation, a sign that the economic and political turmoil that marked 2022 is far from over. About 1,000 passport control workers are expected to walk out across six airports across the country between Dec. 23 and 26, and again between Dec. 28 to 31 in demands over wages amid rising inflation. The U.K. government is preparing to deploy the British military to help staff immigration counters and reduce the impact on arriving passengers, while Heathrow Airport has asked airlines to curb ticket sales during the strikes.
Shoppers at a festive market in Berlin, Germany, where some small businesses are struggling to cope with rising energy prices. But the region’s medium-term problems look harder to fix, and leave Europe facing a struggle to retain its industrial core. Russia’s war on Ukraine and its economic fallout has shaken Europe’s export-oriented business model. Skyrocketing energy prices threaten industries at the heart of the continent’s manufacturing system, such as chemicals and metal production. Businesses around Europe are reducing production and starting to redirect investment overseas, including to the U.S., which is luring foreign companies with hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies.
Europe’s economy likely contracted at the end of 2022 but showed signs of resilience, suggesting the downturn could be milder than feared just a few months ago, business surveys released Friday showed. While S&P Global’s composite output index for the eurozone—which includes services and manufacturing activity—remained below the 50 mark in December, indicating a contraction, it rose by one point to 48.8 from November, pointing to a smaller fall in activity than expected earlier.
Europe’s economy likely contracted at the end of 2022 but showed signs of resilience, suggesting the downturn could be milder than feared just a few months ago, business surveys released Friday showed. While S&P Global’s composite output index for the eurozone—which includes services and manufacturing activity—remained below the 50 mark in December, indicating a contraction, it rose by one point to 48.8 from November, pointing to a smaller fall in activity than expected earlier.
Russia Central Bank Worries War Could Spur Inflation
  + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Paul Hannon | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
Russia’s central bank said it is worried that the redirection of manpower and resources to feed President Vladimir Putin‘s war in Ukraine will give new life to a surge in inflation the bank had managed to contain. The Bank of Russia left its key interest rate unchanged on Friday for the second straight policy meeting, diverging again from its Western counterparts, with the Federal Reserve and Europe’s major central banks this week raising their policy rates by half a percentage point. The Russian central bank said it still expects inflation to fall in 2023 from the 12% rate recorded in November and the higher rates recorded immediately after Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.
Price pressures eased at the end of the year as central banks fought high inflation, businesses in the U.S. and Europe say, though the global economy continued to teeter with the possibility of a recession. Household demand for goods is weakening across the globe, and factories are cutting production in response. That has taken pressure off supply chains, leading to a downshift in price increases and slowing global trade.
Paolo Gentiloni, the EU’s top economy official, called the agreement ‘a win for fairness, a win for diplomacy and a win for multilateralism.’Countries in the European Union are set to start collecting additional taxes in 2024 under a long-stalled global deal to set a minimum rate on company profits, after Hungary and Poland dropped their objections to the move. In October 2021, 137 countries agreed to impose a 15% minimum tax on large companies, paving the way for the most significant overhaul of international tax rules in a century. By imposing the tax in each jurisdiction where a company operates, large countries aim to reduce tax-rate competition and the advantages of operating in a low-tax locale. Getting to that point took years of negotiations that often seemed close to collapse.
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