International News

Bloomberg The number of workers on UK company payrolls climbed above its pre-pandemic level as vacancies hit a record high with firms battling staff shortages created by Brexit and lockdowns. The figures from Office for National Statistics (ONS) included a 35% surge in job openings in the quarter to 1.03 million, the first time they’ve risen above 1 million. That ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) met strong investor demand on its return to the bond market on Tuesday with a seven-year debt sale. The nation wracked up more than 85 billion euros ($100 billion) of orders for a 9 billion-euro offering of bonds maturing in 2028 via banks, with pricing set at 14 basis points below swaps. Analysts had expected ...

Bloomberg Prices paid by US consumers rose in August by less than forecast, snapping a string of outsized gains and suggesting that some of the upward pressure on inflation is beginning to wane. The consumer price index increased 0.3% from July, the smallest advance in seven months, according to Labour Department data released on Tuesday. Compared with a year ago, ...

Bloomberg Intuit Inc, the maker of TurboTax and QuickBooks software, agreed to buy privately held email marketing firm Mailchimp for $12 billion in cash and stock, uniting two providers of services for small businesses. The deal will bolster Intuit’s offerings for businesses looking for ways to reach and serve customers online. Intuit has offered QuickBooks accounting software to clients for ...

Bloomberg Hungary plans to offer a range of dollar and euro bonds to shore up its budget as it’s facing a potential delay in accessing European Union (EU) funds because of a feud with the bloc over democratic values. The country may sell 10-year and 30-year bonds in dollars, as well as seven-year and/or 20-year bonds in euros, according to ...

Bloomberg The global shipping industry is getting its biggest payday since 2008 as the combination of booming demand for goods and a global supply chain that’s collapsing under the weight of Covid-19 drives freight prices ever higher. Whether it’s giant container ships stacked high with of 40-foot steel boxes, bulk carriers whose cavernous holds house thousands of tons of coal, ...

Bloomberg Two of the leading investors at Italy’s Assicurazioni Generali SpA are escalating their battle with the insurer’s management in a push that could include replacing Chief Executive Officer Philippe Donnet. Construction magnate Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, who together own about 11% of Generali, reached an agreement to work toward “a more profitable and effective ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson risks strangling growth with higher taxes on business to fix the public finances in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s biggest business lobby said. The blunt criticism comes less than a week after Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak raised payroll levies on workers and companies to help fund health ...

Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc lost another suit over its drivers’ working rights after an Amsterdam court ruled workers who ferry passengers using the Uber app in the Netherlands are covered by a local collective labour law. The legal relationship between Uber and its drivers meets all of the characteristics of an employment contract, the court said in its judgement. Uber ...

Bloomberg The Greek government raised its growth estimate for 2021, with the country set to repeat the economic performance not seen in about two decades. The revised forecast came after a stronger-than-expected expansion in the second quarter, paving the way for the government to roll out $4 billion of additional tax-relief measures and other assistance to combat rising prices. “Today ...