The Federal Reserve must continue to act "strongly" to cool demand and contain price pressures to avoid a repeat of the inflation surge the US economy suffered in the 1970s and 1980s, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday.. Though the Fed is hoping the world's largest economy will continue growing, Powell has acknowledged that the Fed's aggressive inflation-fighting campaign could cause some pain.
Japan is ready to take action if the yen's plummeting value remains volatile, officials repeated on Thursday, after the currency hit 24-year lows.. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Thursday that the government will use 3.5 trillion yen ($24 billion) of reserve funds to address the domestic impact of inflation, and will deliver cash relief packages to low-income households. bur-kaf/mca/lb
Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC said Thursday its August revenue rose nearly 60 percent to a record high of Tw$218.13 billion ($7.06 billion) on soaring global demand. . Its August revenue rose 58.7 percent on-year and 16.8 percent from July to an all-time high of Tw$218.13 billion -- the first time it has reached the Tw$200 billion mark, according to a company statement.
Norway, a major producer and supplier of energy, is well placed to help alleviate Europe's energy crisis -- and reap the profits, a situation not all of its European partners welcome.. "Without imports from Norway, the situation in the European gas market would have been much more serious" Elisabeth Saether, state secretary for Norway's petroleum and energy ministry, told AFP. Some countries are also worried however that Oslo is considering limiting electricity exports to Europe, when there are already concerns about winter power supplies.
Under the watchful eye of an instructor, Munira al-Rubaian spreads fresh bed linen in a mock hotel room in the Saudi capital, aiming to land a job in the desert kingdom's growing tourism sector.. The niqab-wearing Rubaian signed up for Tourism Pioneers after her own efforts to find a job at a hotel went nowhere.
New British Prime Minister Liz Truss was on Thursday expected to unveil a costly plan to freeze domestic fuel bills to help ease the burden of a soaring cost-of-living crisis.. Such a plan would contrast with Truss' comments during the Conservative leadership campaign, when she rejected "sticking plaster" solutions to the cost-of-living crisis such as direct government aid.
Most Asian markets enjoyed a rare advance on bargain-buying Thursday, tracking a Wall Street rally after a series of losses, though the dollar resumed its upward march with the Federal Reserve expected to announce another bumper interest rate hike.. "Some bargain-hunting buying is to be expected after a dive like" Wednesday's, said Vandana Hari at Vanda Insights.
European Central Bank policymakers could reach for a historically large interest rate hike at their meeting on Thursday as they seek to tame soaring inflation.. - 'Determination' - The July hike set the stage for policymakers to take a new "meeting-by-meeting" approach, with the ECB ditching so-called forward guidance, which had constrained its response to rising inflation.
Germany has a shortage of plumbers.. The shortages have forced businesses to adapt.
Blistering crop-withering temperatures that also risk the health of agricultural workers could threaten swathes of global food production by 2045 as the world warms, an industry analysis warned Thursday.. However, the authors stress that in projections to mid-century, even scenarios that assume higher levels of carbon-cutting action could still result in temperatures nearing 2C. India -- responsible for 12 percent of global food production in 2020 and heavily reliant on outdoor labour productivity -- is already rated as at extreme risk, the only major agricultural nation in that category at current temperatures.
