By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank last quarter for the first time since the pandemic recession struck two years ago, contracting at a 1.4% annual rate, but consumers and businesses kept spending in a sign of economic durability. The economy’s overall […]

WASHINGTON — Propelled by surging costs for gas, food and housing, consumer inflation jumped 7.9% over the past year, the sharpest spike since 1982 and likely only a harbinger of even higher prices to come. The increase reported Thursday by the Labor Department reflected the […]

NEW YORK — The Federal Reserve should start raising interest rates next month to help rein in too-high inflation, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said Friday. But he added that the rate hikes may not have to begin with as big […]

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in three months as the fast-spreading omicron variant continued to disrupt the job market. Jobless claims rose for the third straight week — by 55,000 to 286,000, highest since mid-October, […]

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) – Binance Asia Services, the Singapore entity of Changpeng Zhao, has withdrawn its application for a license to run a cryptocurrency exchange, the company said. With that, Binance ends an effort to operate a regulated cryptocurrency bourse under the oversight of the Monetary […]

WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) – US consumer prices rose last month at the fastest annual pace in nearly 40 years, magnifying how rapid and persistent inflation is eroding pay cheques and increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve to tighten policy. The consumer price index (CPI) increased […]

SINGAPORE – A new digital-trade deal with Britain will mean Singaporeans can soon enjoy cheaper goods and services from the United Kingdom.  The two countries substantially concluded negotiations on the UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement on Thursday (Dec 9). The agreement, which will likely come into force […]

BEIJING (CAIXIN GLOBAL) – A new logistics behemoth in China combining five state-owned companies was launched Monday in a push by the central government to consolidate state assets. China Logistics Group, with registered capital of 30 billion yuan (S$6.43 billion), was created through a combination […]

SINGAPORE – While the severity of the new Covid-19 variant is yet to be ascertained, some of the damage is already done. The victim, as seen by the volatile swings in markets here and elsewhere, is the confidence that had been growing amid the economic […]

SINGAPORE – Short-term pressures on governments to speed up economic recoveries weighed on the outcome of COP26, the Glasgow summit on climate change, said the World Bank’s vice-president for East Asia and the Pacific Manuela Ferro. Ms Ferro, who attended the summit, said there were […]