Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron will reassess the country’s recovery plan in September, possibly adding to the 100 billion euros ($120 billion) of stimulus his government is already injecting into the economy. Such a boost would arrive just six months before presidential elections, where management of the health crisis and the growth rebound are set to be key battlegrounds. Before ...
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Verizon sells 90% of media division to Apollo for $5 billion
Bloomberg Verizon Communications Inc said it’s selling its media division to Apollo Global Management Inc. for $5 billion, a move that will jettison once-dominant online brands like AOL and Yahoo. The unit will be known as Yahoo after the close of the transaction, which is expected in the second half of this year, Verizon said in a statement Monday. Guru ...
Read More »Swiss economy shows signs of life as vaccinations gain pace
Bloomberg Switzerland’s economy is bouncing back from the pandemic-induced slump, with manufacturing sector activity at an all-time high and companies gearing up to take on more staff. The purchasing managers’ index for industry hit its highest since at least 1995 in April, with a gauge for the service sector also signaling a pickup. Monday’s data come on the back of ...
Read More »Denmark plans to spend 60% of EU crisis funds on climate measures
Bloomberg Denmark wants to spend a majority of the European Union’s fund for post-pandemic recovery on financing its efforts to achieve an ambitious climate target. The Nordic country has earmarked 60% of its share of the EU crisis fund on green initiatives, clearly above the 37% required by the conditions of the fund. Denmark expects an allocation of 11.6 billion ...
Read More »Apple’s app store had 78% margin in 2019
Bloomberg Apple Inc’s App Store had operating margins of almost 78% in fiscal year 2019, according to testimony from an Epic Games Inc. expert witness based on documents obtained from the iPhone maker. The figure comes from Ned Barnes, a financial and economics researcher, who said he obtained documents “prepared by Apple’s Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis group and produced ...
Read More »Europe casts aside double-dip slump as growth restarts
Bloomberg Europe’s economy is finally turning the corner from its worst crisis in the postwar period after a devastating double-dip recession. Grim confirmation of another slump in the first quarter still failed to dim prospects for the region that are as bright as they have been since the pandemic struck, with European Union-funded multi-year stimulus plans also finally taking form ...
Read More »Canadian output on cusp of full recovery after 11th monthly gain
Bloomberg Canada’s economy continued its run of surprising strength at the start of the year, validating expectations that activity will soon return to pre-pandemic levels. Gross domestic product grew (GDP) 0.4% in February, Statistics Canada reported in Ottawa. A preliminary estimate shows momentum kept up in March with output expanding 0.9%, which would be the 11th-straight monthly gain in the GDP. ...
Read More »US jobs recovery from Covid-19 crisis looks robust
Bloomberg The US economy probably notched up another bumper month of hiring in April, tallying with other reports that suggest growth momentum is building in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Payrolls may have risen by 978,000, according to median estimate of economists, above the 916,000 gain in March, while unemployment is seen falling below 6%. The Labour Department report ...
Read More »Korean economy joins China in surpassing pre-Covid peak
Bloomberg South Korea led the developed world to join China in exceeding the size of its pre-pandemic economy, as investment and exports helped it expand faster than expected. Gross domestic product grew 1.6% during January-March from the previous quarter, the Bank of Korea said, easily beating economists’ consensus for a 1.1% expansion. That pushed GDP above the level at the ...
Read More »Asia’s kids risk $1.25trn in income from closed schools
Bloomberg Widespread school closures amid the pandemic will likely reduce students’ future productivity and wages, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said, estimating the present value of prospective lost earnings at $1.25 trillion for developing Asia. The region’s students, who on average have lost nearly one-third of the academic year to school closures, could see a 2.4% decline in their future ...
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