Canadian manufacturing activity contracted for the fourth straight month in June as the coronavirus crisis curbed demand from domestic and export markets, but was well above April's record-low hinting at a turnaround, data showed on Thursday.
Germany is planning tax cuts totalling 42.5 billion euros over the period to 2024, with 7 billion euros of cuts planned in 2021 alone, Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Thursday, adding that the cabinet would agree the measures at the end of July.
The U.S. dollar fell on Thursday after data showing the world's largest
economy defying expectations for a second month in a row, creating jobs in June at a far faster pace than
market forecasts.
The U.S. trade deficit widened in May as the COVID-19 pandemic pushed exports to their lowest level since 2009, strengthening expectations the economy will contract in the second quarter at its steepest pace since the Great Depression. The Commerce Department said on Thursday the trade deficit increased 9.7% to $54.6 billion. Exports tumbled 4.4% to $144.5 billion, the lowest since November 2009.
Canada's exports rose in May as auto industry production resumed and on higher crude prices, though imports fell on supply challenges tied to the gradual reopening of countries from COVID-19 closures, Statistic Canada said on Thursday.
Mexico in June shed 82,000 formal jobs registered for social security benefits, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday, in a marked improvement from the previous month during the crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. In May, Mexico lost around 345,000 formal jobs, according to official data.
WASHINGTON-- The U.S. trade deficit widened in May as both exports and imports declined amid weak global demand caused by continued coronavirus-related disruptions. The foreign-trade gap in goods and services expanded 9.7% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted $54.6 billion in May, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a deficit of $53.0 billion.
The jobless rate fell to 11.1% in June as the U.S. regained 4.8 million jobs, but a recent coronavirus spike could hamper the labor market's recovery. Job growth in June followed May's payroll gain of 2.7 million and showed Americans are slowly getting back to work. But the U.S. labor market is operating with millions fewer jobs than in February, the month before the coronavirus pandemic struck the U.S. economy.
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index rose for a 25th consecutive session on Thursday, helped by improving demand for all vessel segments. * The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, rose 20 points, or 1.1%, to 1,823, its highest since Oct. 17.
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