Hong Kong’s jobless rate has remained unchanged since the start of the year, new figures show, although the labour chief has warned of rising pressure on unemployment as fresh graduates enter the workforce. The Census and Statistics Department said on Thursday that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 3.7 per cent for the May-to-July…
Hong Kong’s top ministers and other political appointees have received a 1.3 per cent pay rise, authorities have confirmed, after the government announced in June that civil servants would get a 2 per cent salary bump. In a reply to the South China Morning Post, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said on Friday that…
As Hong Kong prepares for another major push in public works, one question deserves far more attention than it has received: are we buying infrastructure in a way that is sustainable for the construction industry and the public as a whole? In his February budget, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced that HK$150 billion (US$19.1…
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called on Hong Kong to leverage its “unique strengths” and pivotal role in connecting with the world, with backing from the mainland. In the government work report he delivered at the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing on Thursday, the country’s No 2 official also stressed…
Tech led gains in US stock futures on Monday, after the Senate took a big step toward ending the record-breaking government shutdown that has clouded the picture of the economy. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) rose nearly 1%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) climbed 1.5%. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F),…
Tech led gains in US stock futures on Monday, after the Senate took a big step toward ending the record-breaking government shutdown that has clouded the picture of the economy. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) rose 0.8%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) climbed 1.4%. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), which…
Stocks rallied on Friday after September’s inflation report came in slightly better than expected. But on Main Street, the relief is harder to find. The headline Consumer Price Index rose 3% from a year earlier, a tenth of a percentage point below estimates, giving the Fed some breathing room to press ahead with another rate…
Inflation may be increasing at a slower pace than expected, the markets might be cheering, and the Fed will likely soon be cutting, but Diane Swonk isn’t popping Champagne. The veteran economist says the economy “looks better than it feels” because the very data used to measure it is eroding, and the illusion of resilience could…
US stocks climbed to an all-time high on Friday, as traders cheered slower-than-anticipated September consumer price data that boosts optimism for an expected Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next week. The S&P 500 Index rose 0.8% at 9:55 a.m. in New York, with nine of 11 sectors in the green, led by technology. The Nasdaq 100…
The Consumer Price Index climbed at an annual rate of 3% in September, coming in below economists’ forecasts as the impact of President Trump’s tariffs remain muted. By the numbers Economists polled by financial data firm FactSet had forecast CPI rose at a 3.1% annual clip last month. The CPI measures price changes in a…