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☆ Australia inflation surges further in Q4, more rate hikes loom
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Wayne Cole | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Analysts had thought there was some chance the RBA might even pause its tightening campaign, but the sheer pace of inflation put paid to that. Price rises were broad-based with a closely watched measure of core inflation, the trimmed mean, rising 1.7% in the December quarter. Costs pressures were also building in the service sector which recorded its largest annual rise since 2008, driven by holiday travel, meals out and takeaway food. "Strong demand, particularly over the Christmas holiday period, contributed to price rises for domestic holiday travel and international air fares," said Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics. With inflation pressures broadening yet further, markets moved to price in the risk of at least two more rate hikes from the RBA with swaps implying a peak above 3.60%.

☆ Union ranks had a very good 2022. It’s not for the reason you think
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

(Some workers at unionized workplaces choose not to belong to the union, accounting for the different totals.) Stephanie Keith/Getty ImagesBut there’s no denying 2022 was a very good year for union organizing. The attention that each company’s campaign is getting is important for generating “momentum” for union organizing activity. The other unionized jobs added in the leisure and hospitality sector were in hotels and other accommodations, as travel rebounded strongly during the year. Overall the public sector lost a combined 12,000 unionized jobs last year due to declines in unionized jobs at the federal and local government levels.

☆ Australia jobs take surprise dip in Dec, but unemployment stays low
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Wayne Cole | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday showed net employment fell 14,600 in December from November, when it surged by a revised 58,200, and missed forecasts for an increase of 22,500. "The strong employment growth through 2022, along with high participation and low unemployment, continues to reflect a tight labour market," said Lauren Ford, head of labour statistics at the ABS. ABS data out this week showed net temporary arrivals jumped by 180,000 between July and November, the largest five-month increase on record. This includes those on skilled visas, temporary work visas and students. "It represents important progress in the alleviation of labour supply constraints which featured prominently in 2022," said Ryan Wells, an economist at Westpac.

☆ China's property sector shrinks 5.1% in 2022 - NBS
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Jan 18 (Reuters) - China's property sector fell 5.1% in 2022 from a year earlier, value-added data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Wednesday, heaping more pressure on policymakers to revive the sluggish sector in 2023. The figures indicated that the property sector was one of the biggest drags on the economy last year. China's economic growth in 2022 slumped to one of its weakest rates in nearly half a century, hit by a property market slump and by pandemic controls and COVID-19 outbreaks that especially affected the second and the fourth quarters. Despite that effort, investment in real estate in 2022 was still 10.0% lower than in 2021, the first decline since records began in 1999, and property sales slumped the most since 1992, NBS date showed on Tuesday. Vice-Premier Liu He said at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos on Tuesday that China would support healthy development of the property market as the sector was still a pillar industry for the economy.

☆ China’s demographic decline can be boon, not doom
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Yet China’s demographic doom is not certain. It is hard to boost birth rates, but France and Scandinavia show it can be done. If last year’s population plunge inspires Beijing to smarten up policy, demographic stress need not augur economic decline. The birth rate was 6.77 per 1,000 people, down from 7.52 in 2021 and marking the lowest such reading on record. United Nations analysts project China's population will shrink by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the rate of their previous forecast in 2019.

☆ China reports 3% GDP growth for 2022 as December retail sales, industrial production beat estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | Evelyn Cheng Is A Senior Correspondent With Cnbc. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

BEIJING — China reported GDP growth for 2022 that beat expectations as December retail sales came in far better than projected. The GDP growth number did miss the official target of around 5.5% set in March. Retail sales drop far less than expectedRetail sales fell by 0.2% for the year. Those online sales accounted for 27.2% of total retail sales. and U.S.China’s leaders are set to announce the full-year GDP growth target in March at an annual parliamentary meeting.

☆ China's oil refinery runs fall for first year since 2001
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Chen Aizhu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Refiners processed 675.9 million tonnes of crude oil last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Tuesday, or about 13.5 million barrels per day (bpd). This is just down from 14.5 million bpd in November and the record of 14.8 million bpd in June 2021. Fourth-quarter refined fuel exports, including diesel, gasoline, aviation fuel and marine fuel oil, surged 61% over a year-ago period to 18.3 million tonnes. Crude oil production remained firmly above the 4 million bpd mark, a level regarded by the state-dominated sector as strategic to ensure domestic supply security, as companies stepped up developing more challenging reservoirs. Last year's output was up 2.9% from 2021 at 204.67 million tonnes, or 4.1 million bpd, with December output up 2.5% on the year at 16.87 million tonnes.

☆ China coal output in Dec slips on COVID; rises to record in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

China produced 402.69 million tonnes of coal last month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Tuesday, equivalent to 12.99 million tonnes per day. That compares with 13.04 million tonnes per day in November, and 12.41 million tonnes in December 2021. Total production for 2022 rose to a record 4.496 billion tonnes, 9% higher than output in 2021, data from the NBS showed. China's coal production is expected to expand further in 2023 amid Beijing's emphasis on bolstering energy security. The country is assessed to have approved 260 million tonnes of coal mining capacity in 2022, bringing total capacity to 5.05 billion tonnes.

China’s 9.56 million births are a decrease of almost 10% from 2021, when about 10.6 million babies were born. The figures announced Tuesday are the start of what is expected to be a long decline in China’s population, which the U.N. says could reach 800 million by the end of the century. Although many countries around the world are experiencing population decline, this is the first time China’s population has contracted since 1961, after a three-year famine spurred by then-leader Mao Zedong’s industrialization drive, which is estimated to have killed tens of millions of people. While the one-child policy was effective in curbing population growth, critics say it resulted in rights abuses and a disproportionate number of men compared with women, especially in the countryside. If Chinese officials really want to encourage children, they should “give money to those who have more babies,” she said.

☆ China’s population shrinks for the first time since 1961
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] An elderly person holds a child near lanterns decorating a shop ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Beijing, China, January 15, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) - China's population fell last year for the first time since 1961, a historic turn that is expected to mark the start of a long period of decline in its citizen numbers and see India become the world's most populous nation in 2023. The country had 1.41175 billion people at at the end of 2022, compared with 1.41260 billion a year earlier, China's National Bureau of Statistics said. China also logged its highest death rate since 1976, registering 7.37 deaths per 1,000 people compared with a rate of 7.18 deaths in 2021. China's stringent zero-COVID policies that were in place for threee years before an abrupt reversal which has overwhelmed medical faciliites, have caused further damage to the country's bleak demographic outlook, population experts have said.

☆ China's 2022 property investment falls for first time since 1999
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) - China's property investment fell 10.0% year-on-year in 2022, the first decline since records began in 1999, compared with a decline of 9.8% in the first 11 months of the year, official data showed on Tuesday. New construction starts measured by floor area declined 39.4% year-on-year in 2022, versus a 38.9% slump in the first 11 months of the year. Funds raised by China's property developers slumped 25.9% on year, after tumbling 25.7% in January-November. Chinese authorities have rolled out a flurry of support policies targeting homebuyers and property developers in recent weeks, to relieve a long-running liquidity squeeze that has hit developers and delayed the completion of many housing projects. Reporting by Liangping Gao and Kevin Yao; Editing by Edmund KlamannOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

On a quarterly basis, GDP stalled, coming in at 0.0% in the fourth quarter, compared with growth of 3.9% in July-September. For 2022, GDP expanded 3.0%, badly missing the official target of "around 5.5%" and braking sharply from 8.4% growth in 2021. Other indicators for December such as retail sales and factory output, also released along with GDP data, beat expectations but were still weak. At an agenda-setting meeting in December, top leaders pledged to focus on stabilising the economy in 2023 and step up policy support to ensure key targets are hit. China is likely to aim for economic growth of at least 5% in 2023 to keep a lid on unemployment, policy sources said.

☆ Instant View: China's economy slows sharply in Q4, 2022 growth one of the worst on record
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

As a result, the Chinese economic growth rate will be below the Chinese government's target of 5% plus." This could weigh on their potential economic growth in the mid-and long-term, and we really need to be paying attention to that." MARCO SUN, CHIEF FINANCIAL MARKET ANALYST, MUFG BANK (CHINA), SHANGHAI"China's Q4 and full-year 2022 GDP growth rates came in higher than expected. Economic growth will have to depend more on productivity growth, which is driven by government policies." IRIS PANG, GREATER CHINA ECONOMIST, ING, HONG KONG"The biggest surprise is the retail sales number, which is really a big beat...

☆ China's economic growth is slowing as GDP data show Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy took its toll
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Economic data released Tuesday in China show its growth slowed amid the government's zero-COVID policy. That growth for 2022 is below expectations of 5.5% GDP growth that Chinese officials had set. The data showed the impact from the government's zero-COVID policy. Gross domestic product data released early Tuesday in China showed growth was below the 8.1% increase in GDP that the country reported for 2021. GDP in China rose 2.9% in the fourth quarter from a year prior, according to a press release.

☆ Analysis: India's rising home prices, rentals a new inflation threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Housing rentals and ancillary costs have a 10.07% weightage in India's consumer price inflation basket and are near three-year highs, posing a fresh worry for the central bank that had to contend with rising food prices for most of last year. Urban housing inflation rose to 4.47% year-on-year in December 2022, versus 3.61% in the same period a year ago and 3.21% in December 2020, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed. "Core inflation has continued to remain sticky and hence an increase in housing inflation poses a significant risk to the overall inflation outlook," said Aditi Gupta, an economist at Bank of Baroda. While housing prices are not part of the consumer price inflation basket, their effect is captured through construction and raw material prices, and analysts do not expect a slowdown any time soon. Analysts said rising house prices would also feed into higher demand for services like electricity and repairs, ultimately working their way into the overall inflation basket.

HONG KONG, Jan 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The Chinese economy grew 3% in 2022, the government reported, beating forecasts but way below the official 5% target. The surprising lift is largely thanks to a rosier-than-expected fourth quarter, when the country took a ride on a pandemic-policy rollercoaster. As the contagious Omicron strain spread through cities, local officials’ first reaction was to tighten lockdowns, which suppressed consumption. That’s hardly enough to revive market confidence; Chinese equity indexes fell after the GDP report. The Chinese government had set the official annual GDP target at "around" 5.5% in March.

☆ China's reopening will boost Hong Kong markets despite weak GDP print, HKEX chairman says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Chinese and Hong Kong flags flutter as screens display the Hang Seng Index outside the Exchange Square complex, which houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), on January 21, 2021 in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong markets are set to benefit from the reopening of the Chinese economy, despite Beijing's disappointing annual GDP growth rate in 2022, according to HKEX Chairman Laura Cha. The Chinese GDP grew by 3% last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday, slightly surpassing the expectations of a Reuters poll but sitting well below the official target of around 5.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index led losses in Asian stock markets on Tuesday following the release, but Cha told CNBC that the reopening of China's borders at the very end of 2022 will result in a strong rebound. "I think China, as the border opens up, the economy will grow back.

☆ China reports 3% GDP growth for 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING — China reported GDP growth for 2022 that beat expectations. GDP grew by 3% in 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. In 2021, growth had rebounded by 8.4% from just 2.2% growth in 2020. Fourth-quarter GDP rose by 2.9%, beating expectations from the Reuters' poll of 1.8% growth. In 2022, the metropolis of Shanghai locked down for about two months in an attempt to control a Covid outbreak.

☆ China’s population drops for the first time in decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING — China's population declined in 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. Mainland China's population, excluding foreigners, fell by 850,000 people in 2022 to 1.41 billion, the statistics bureau said. The country reported 9.56 million births and 10.41 million deaths for 2022. In 2021, China's population grew by the slowest increase on record. The mainland China population, excluding foreigners, rose by 480,000 to 1.41 billion people at the end of 2021, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

☆ China records first population decline in 60 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —China’s population shrank in 2022 for the first time in more than 60 years, a new milestone in the country’s deepening demographic crisis with significant implications for its slowing economy. The population declined in 2022 to 1.411 billion, down some 850,000 people from the previous year, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced during a Tuesday briefing on annual data. The birth rate also fell to a record low of 6.77 births per 1,000, down from 7.52 a year earlier and the lowest level since the founding of Communist China in 1949. To arrest the falling birth rate, the Chinese government announced in 2015 that it would allow married couples to have two children. But after a brief uptick in 2016, the national birth rate has continued to fall.

☆ China's Dec home prices fall, more supportive policies likely
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Analysts say the property sector is showing signs of recovery, but it remains uneven and more supportive policies are needed to revive sentiment in the battered market. From a year earlier, prices fell for the eighth month in a row, dropping 1.5% from a 1.6% slump in November. Prices in tier-one cities remained unchanged from a month earlier in December from a decline of 0.2% in November. To relax restrictions on borrowing for property developers, regulators will improve the "three red lines" rule for 30 pilot firms, state media Xinhua reported last week. The policy restricts the amount of new borrowing property developers can raise each year by placing caps on their debt ratios.

☆ Israel posts 5.3% inflation rate in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

JERUSALEM, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Israel posted an inflation rate of 5.3% in 2022, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday, citing gains of housing, food and transportation and telecommunications prices. The annual rate in December was unchanged from November to remain at its highest level since October 2008 but slightly below expectations of a 5.4% rate in a Reuters poll of analysts and well below Western levels. In a bid to move inflation back to a 1-3% target, the Bank of Israel has sharply raised its benchmark interest rate (ILINR=ECI) to 3.75% from 0.1% in April. Central bank officials have said they expect the rate to reach at least 4% in coming months. Reporting by Steven Scheer Editing by Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China consumer inflation accelerates in Dec; PPI falls with soft demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Lam YikBEIJING, Jan 12 (Reuters) - China's annual consumer inflation rate accelerated in December, driven by rising food prices even as domestic demand wavered amid restrained economic activity during the month. The consumer price index (CPI) was 1.8% higher than a year earlier, rising faster than the 1.6% annual gain seen in November, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday. The producer price index (PPI) showed an annual drop for a third straight month. In December it was down 0.7% from a year earlier, falling less than an annual contraction of 1.3% seen in November. read moreReporting by Liangping Gao, Joe Cash and Liz Lee; Editing by Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia retail sales jump in November, inflation resumes climb
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Wayne Cole | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday showed retail sales jumped 1.4% in November from October to a record A$35.9 billion ($24.7 billion). "High jet fuel prices combined with strong consumer demand in November pushed airfare prices up, with accommodation prices also rising," said Michelle Marquardt, ABS Head of Prices Statistics. The combination of robust consumption and still rising inflation underline the challenge facing the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) as it tries to cool the economy. "That underlines that interest-rate sensitive spending categories are feeling the pinch from the RBA's aggressive tightening last year," said Thieliant. ($1 = 1.4512 Australian dollars)Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australian CPI inflation rebounds to annual 7.3% in Nov
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SYDNEY, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Australian inflation re-accelerated in November as strong demand drove holiday costs higher and flooding pushed up vegetable prices, a sign inflationary pressures had yet to peak. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed its monthly consumer price index (CPI) rose 7.3% in the year to November, entirely reversing a surprise pullback to 6.9% in October. A closely watched measure of core inflation, the trimmed mean, rose at an annual pace of 5.6% in November picking up from 5.4% in October. Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Muralikumar AnantharamanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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