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☆ China urban employment, per capita spending logged rare declines in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Joe Cash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Feb 28 (Reuters) - China's urban employment fell for the first time in six decades last year and per capita spending also marked a rare decline, as harsh COVID-19 curbs ravaged the world's second-biggest economy. The new data from the National Bureau of Statistics also showed the smallest income growth in more than three decades. The number of China's urban jobs dropped by 8.4 million to 459.31 million, the first drop since 1962. Per capita spending fell 0.2% in real terms, the statistics bureau data showed. Disposable income per capita in China grew by just 2.9% in real terms, the second smallest rise since 1989.

☆ China per capita spending last year marked rare decline in real terms
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Joe Cash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Per capita spending in China fell 0.2% in real terms last year as harsh COVID curbs took their toll on consumer appetite, marking only the third such decline since records for that data began in 1980. That in turn was a rebound from a decline of 4% in 2020 during the initial throes of the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, income per capita in China grew by just 2.9% in real terms, the second smallest rise since 1989 and retail sales fell 0.2%, the second worst performance since 1968. Xu Tianchen, an economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit said, a steep drop in income growth for China's lowest income earners was a key factor behind the weak spending data. Rural areas performed better than urbanised zones, with the incomes of rural households growing by 4.2% in real terms on the year, compared with 1.9% growth in real terms for urban residents.

☆ Income, spending in China grew far slower in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Income per capita in China grew by just 2.9% in real terms over 2022, after increasing by 8.1% a year earlier, returning to a growth rate similar to that of 2020 when China was battling COVID and introducing sweeping lockdowns and other restrictions. Per capita spending also decreased by 0.2% in real terms, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its annual statistical communique on Tuesday. Income per capita in China grew to 36,883 yuan ($5,310) over 2022, while spending per capita increased to 24,538 yuan ($3,533), the NBS said. Rural areas performed better than urbanised zones, with the incomes of rural households growing by 4.2% in real terms on the year, compared with 1.9% growth in real terms for urban residents. Urban and rural residents alike saw their incomes grow far slower this year, however, with urban residents seeing their incomes grow by 7.7% in 2021 and rural households by 9.7%, both in real terms.

☆ China income, spending per capita grow over 2022 -National Bureau of Statistics
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Income per capita in China grew to 36,883 yuan ($5,310) over 2022, an increase of 5.0% from a year ago, according to data published in the National Bureau of Statistics' annual statistical communique. Per capita spending also increased by 1.8% on the year to 24,538 yuan ($3,533), the document shows. Reporting by Joe Cash and Liz Lee; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/7] Farmer Wang Zhanling sits next to his wife in their house in Quansheng village, Heilongjiang Province, China, February 8, 2023. The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences sees the pension system running out of money by 2035. "If the pension system does not change, this is unsustainable," said Xiujian Peng, senior research fellow in the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University in Australia. The province has the lowest birth rate in China, with just over 100,000 births in 2021 and 460,000 deaths. Many experts, including Macquarie's chief China economist Larry Hu, suggest implementing a unified national pension system, backstopped by the more resourceful central government rather than cash-strapped local administrations.

☆ The small European nation of Switzerland beat sky-high inflation. Here's how
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

watch nowZURICH — As many countries across the globe battle stubbornly high inflation, the rise in prices has been far less dramatic in Switzerland, a small mountainous nation in western Europe. The stability of the Swiss francAnother reason for Switzerland's relative price stability stems from the strong Swiss franc. While many currencies plunged against an appreciating U.S. dollar, the Swiss franc held steady amid volatility in Europe. The Swiss franc is heavily backed by large reserve of gold, bonds and financial assets, which help the Swiss National Bank ensure the currency's stability during times of volatility. A stronger Swiss franc provides an effective discount on those imports.

☆ Setting out growth plan, UK opposition Labour warn Britain is in downward spiral
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Britain's Labour Party leader Keir Starmer prepares for his speech to delegates at Britain's Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool, Britain, September 26, 2022. Labour has promised to ensure Britain has the fastest growing economy among the G7 on a sustained basis if it wins power. Britain's economy narrowly avoided a recession according to data published earlier this month, but faces a difficult 2023 as the effects of double-digit inflation hit households. Labour cited the latest available World Bank data showing Gross Domestic Product per capita in Britain at $44,979 in 2021 and $34,915 in Poland. The party said that, based on average 0.5% annual growth between 2010 and 2021 in Britain, that figure would fall behind Poland's per capita GDP by 2030 if Poland kept up its 3.6% average annual growth.

☆ Donald Trump Jr. says no one has eaten more McDonald's 'per capita' than his father
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump Jr. says no one eats more McDonald's "per capita, than Donald Trump." Trump Jr. added that it's "100% accurate" that no one knows the McDonald's menu better than his dad. On an episode of his "Triggered" podcast on Thursday, Trump Jr. talked about his father's trip to East Palestine, Ohio. "No one probably eats more of it, per capita, than Donald Trump," he added. Trump Jr., the former president's oldest son, also said it was nice seeing his father "just sitting there at McDonald's."

☆ Indian edtech sector still attractive for investors, GSV Ventures says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( M. Sriram | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S.-based GSV invests only in edtech startups around the world and manages about $500 million in assets. These are very early days for the Indian edtech market," Deborah Quazzo, managing partner at GSV, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Emeritus-GSV Leaders Summit in New Delhi on Monday. Edtech startups in India have laid off thousands of employees in the past year and have been unable to raise funding as a slowdown gripped the market. Indian edtech startups raised $2.6 billion in 2022, down 36% compared to the previous year, according to data provider Tracxn Technologies. The Indian government is also "pretty constructive" on education policies, a key factor that encourages investors like GSV to invest, she said.

☆ China has to figure out how to care for 400 million people over the age of 60 by 2040 — and it's off to a rocky start
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

By 2040, it's expected to have 400 million people above the age of 60 — more people than in the entire US. "It's obvious that relying on contributions from medical insurance schemes to fund age care services is not likely to be viable in the longer term," she said. Alzheimer's is quickly rising as a concern in China, Luk said. "Is China aging rapidly? Beijing has been pressuring the private sector into building daycare centers, wards, and other age care infrastructure to shore up gaps in local government finances, Gu said.

☆ Ukraine war expected to cost Germany 160 billion euros by year-end
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The Ukraine war will have cost the German economy around 160 billion euros ($171 billion), or some 4% of its gross domestic output, in lost value creation by the end of the year, the head of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) said. That means GDP per capita in Europe's largest economy will be 2,000 euros lower it would otherwise have been, DIHK chief Peter Adrian told the "Rheinische Post". Germany, which for decades relied on relatively cheap Russian pipeline gas, now has especially high energy prices compared with the United States that has its own natural gas reserves, while France has abundant nuclear power. "The gas price is around three-five times higher than in the United States," he said, adding electricity was four times as expensive as in France. ($1 = 0.9351 euros)Reporting by Klaus Lauer; Writing by Sarah Marsh; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Some critics of Biden's student-loan forgiveness say the relief will help rich people the most. New data suggests the exact opposite.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New Education Department data suggested Biden's student-debt relief would benefit the lowest earners the most. It said that 81% of all applications received came from the bottom 80% of Congressional districts by average income. It used data from the department, along with the US Census Bureau, to make those estimates. But it's reasonable to say that Biden's relief would work as intended, targeting it to the lowest earners. Now, all eyes are on the Supreme Court to see if those borrowers will end up actually getting relief.

China’s official count 0 2.5 million 83,150 deaths Model based on Shanghai outbreak 1.6 million deaths LOW ESTIMATE HIGH ESTIMATE Estimate using travel patterns 970,000 deaths Estimate using recent testing data 1.5 million deaths Estimate based on U.S. death rates 1.1 million deaths China’s official count 0 2.5 million 83,150 deaths Model based on Shanghai outbreak 1.6 million deaths LOW EST. But China’s official Covid death toll for the entire pandemic remains strikingly low: 83,150 people as of Feb. 9. Four separate academic teams have converged on broadly similar estimates: China’s Covid wave may have killed between a million and 1.5 million people. Why official data underrepresents China’s outbreak83,150 deaths China’s official count on Feb. 9 0 2.5M 83,150 deaths China’s official count on Feb. 9 0 2.5 millionChina has a narrow definition of what counts as a Covid-19 death. But the work was unwavering in its ultimate conclusion: Ending the “zero Covid” policy was likely to overwhelm the health care system, producing an estimated 1.6 million deaths.

☆ Children as young as 10 and rape victims were sterilized in Utah as late as the 1970s. Time is running out to get justice.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Victims as young as 10 were sterilizedA picture of the Utah State Hospital from the late 1800s. Sterilizations were carried out in this hospital before the Utah State Training School was opened. 'He felt there was nothing he could do to prevent the operation'An entrance to the Utah State Training School, American Fork, Utah, February 1942. Utah State Historical SocietyLike many other states in the US, the people who were deemed unfit in Utah — labeled as "feeble-minded"— would be sent to off to state institutions — first at the Utah State Hospital they at the Utah State Training School from 1931. At the Utah State Training School, students were meant to learn practical skills like housework, sewing, and shoe mending.

☆ Europe's spend on energy crisis nears 800 billion euros
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - European countries' bill to shield households and companies from soaring energy costs has climbed to nearly 800 billion euros, researchers said on Monday, urging countries to be more targeted in their spending to tackle the energy crisis. European Union countries have now earmarked or allocated 681 billion euros in energy crisis speding, while Britain allocated 103 billion euros and Norway 8.1 billon euros since September 2021, according to the analysis by think-tank Bruegel. Germany topped the spending chart, allocating nearly 270 billion euros - a sum that eclipsed all other countries. Britain, Italy and France were the next highest, although each spent less than 150 billion euros. Germany has faced criticism over its mammoth energy aid package, which far outstrips what other EU nations can afford.

☆ What do Chinese travelers want? Luxury 'star-rated' hotels, says new survey
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | Chris Dwyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The research points to growing demand for high-end and luxury hotels in China now that the country has ended domestic travel restrictions — and a Covid wave has passed. watch nowThe report said that "37% of the consumers prefer higher star-rated hotels, up from 18% in 2020, with higher-income consumers showing even stronger appetites for luxury hotel stays (47% vs. 31% in 2020)." "The growing mid-/high-income population in China will fuel continued growth in demand for upscale hotels," the UBS report said. "At present, the number of upscale and luxury hotel guest room contribution and brand penetration rate in China are both lower than in North America." "China's hotel groups are still exploring the upscale hotel market, and we think acquisition of established overseas upscale brands may be their best option, and that founding joint ventures with real estate developers could provide property management resources for expansion into the upscale hotel market."

Long a source of pride, Canada's publicly funded healthcare system has been strained to the breaking point due to factors including the pandemic and staffing shortages. Here are some of the issues facing Canada's health system:WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES? A shortage of healthcare workers fueled in part by burnout and attrition has plagued Canada's hospitals, clinics and primary care resources. Total health spending in Canada was expected to reach C$331 billion in 2022, or C$8,563 per Canadian, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. This could include improvements in data collection and the provision of mental health care, among other things.

☆ Exclusive: China eyes help for shell-shocked consumers but big stimulus unlikely-sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Kevin Yao | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

That has raised expectations that hefty household stimulus measures could be announced at a parliament meeting in March. Prominent academics have felt emboldened to speak publicly about sizeable demand-side measures such as 1 trillion yuan ($148.28 billion) or more in consumption vouchers. Some analysts say pent-up demand during the pandemic may be enough for consumption to grow with little policy support. Household savings jumped 7.9 trillion yuan last year to 17.8 trillion yuan. Several Chinese cities have already offered about 5 billion yuan in consumption vouchers and subsidies in total since December.

☆ The housing shortage is the root of all of America's problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyThe US housing shortage isn't just fueling an affordability crisis. This is the gist of the "housing theory of everything," coined in 2021 by economists Sam Bowman and Ben Southwood and housing advocate John Myers. The housing theory of everything, however, suggests that this lack of affordability is far from the only American problem the housing shortage is contributing to. Even for households that are content as renters, a shortage of homes pushes more people to rent, which ultimately drives up rental rates. America's obesity rate has shot up in recent decades, and it's had significant health consequences.

☆ Israel's president became the first world leader to publicly use ChatGPT when he gave a speech partly written by the AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, delivered a speech partly-written by ChatGPT on Wednesday. Herzog opened his speech with an intro written by ChatGPT. He then ended the speech with a ChatGPT generated "inspirational quote" about AI. During his speech, Herzog also emphasized that AI will not replace humans, despite using it to write part of it. The president also used ChatGPT to end his speech with an "inspirational quote," Sky News reported.

☆ Exclusive: EU may miss gigabit target, more investments needed, telecoms group says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Total telecom investment in Europe peaked at 56.3 billion euros in 2021, the highest since 2016, but still lagged behind other regions, the report said. "Europe continues to trail its peers worldwide in terms of telecoms investment. The study also noted the large gap between the returns on investment for telecoms operators and those for Big Tech. "There is an acute discrepancy between the returns on investment in European telecoms infrastructure and the returns on investment of the largest services that run over this infrastructure," it said. "When it comes to internet access, it is telecoms operators that shoulder the investment burden, while in terms of new value creation it is tech companies that benefit the most."

☆ The Arnaults are betting big on K-Pop, and it shows the power of South Korea's luxury spending machine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Experts tell Insider this is a calculated move to tap into the booming South Korean market. A targeted move to win over the South Korean marketBTS member Jimin (left) and BLACKPINK singer Rosé. "Fashion trends tend to be created and adopted in South Korea, before being diffused to other markets in Asia," Dubois said. She also said South Korea is "increasingly known" for its K-Pop stars, movies, and shows in the US — which helps with promotions stateside too. Once the COVID situation settles, it is possible that Chinese tourists, with their spending power, return to Korea," Kim said.

☆ The pandemic created an American entrepreneurship boom — and it looks like it's here to stay
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The pandemic may have given a "lasting, positive shock to American entrepreneurship." Americans filed 5.1 million new business applications in 2022, according to US Census Bureau data, equating to roughly 14,000 new business applications filed every day last year. It marked the second-highest year on record — down slightly from 5.4 million in 2021 — and remained well above the 3.5 million filed in 2019. This also marked the second-highest year on record and exceeded the 1.3 million filed in 2019. Experts have pointed to several explanations for the spike in new business applications in recent years.

☆ A Russian graveyard reveals Wagner’s prisoner army
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +18 min

The resting places were adorned with simple wooden crosses and brightly coloured wreaths that bore the insignia of Russia’s Wagner Group - a feared and secretive private army. The news agency matched the names of at least 39 of the dead here and at three other nearby cemeteries to Russian court records, publicly available databases and social media accounts. He said gravediggers told him the bodies had come from the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, close to Russia’s border with Donetsk region. According to Russian court documents, Kochas and another man burst into the apartment of an acquaintance while drunk in an attempted robbery. But he refused, so he’s a fool.”A Russian graveyard reveals Wagner’s prisoner army By Felix Light and Filipp Lebedev in Tbilisi and Reade Levinson in London Photo editing: Simon Newman Graphics: Fielding Cage Art direction: Eve Watling Edited by Janet McBride

☆ Bill Gates says no country ‘gets an A’ for its Covid pandemic response—including the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates says some of the world's governments have handled the spread of Covid-19 better than others, but the billionaire won't give any country a perfect mark. The Microsoft co-founder and health care philanthropist has both praised and criticized multiple world governments' responses to the pandemic since the coronavirus's initial spread in late 2019. Poor Covid responses inspired government spending on future pandemic preparedness in multiple countries, he observed. Gates also applauded Australia's pandemic response last year, noting that the country quickly closed its international borders in March 2020. The U.S. gave that money to companies in multiple countries, resulting in multiple effective Covid vaccines.

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