International News

Bloomberg US job openings rise to a two-year high in February, led by gains in some of the industries hardest hit during the pandemic and indicating employers are poised to ramp up hiring in the coming months. The number of available positions increased to 7.37 million during the month from an upwardly revised 7.1 million in January, the Labour Department’s ...

Bloomberg An impasse between Brazil’s economic team and congress over this year’s budget will likely end up with President Jair Bolsonaro accepting only part of his economy chief’s austerity pleas as lawmakers push to ramp up spending ahead of next year’s elections. Bolsonaro has agreed to reject part of the budget proposal to make room for mandatory spending that was ...

Bloomberg Poland will probably keep borrowing costs at a record low, judging that threats to the economy from tighter Covid-19 restrictions outweigh a spike in inflation and a weaker national currency. Despite surging price growth prompting nearby Russia and Ukraine to hike interest rates, all economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict the central bank in Warsaw will leave its benchmark at ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to reassure the public that summer holidays are still a possibility, a day after warning that the government may not meet a May 17 goal to reopen its borders. While many popular holiday destinations are struggling with surges in Covid-19 cases, this doesn’t mean the government has given up on next month’s target, ...

Bloomberg The US is pressing ahead with plans to hit six nations that tax internet-based companies with retaliatory tariffs that could total almost $1 billion annually. Goods entering the US — ranging from Austrian grand pianos and British merry-go-rounds to Italian anchovies — could face tariffs of as much as 25% annually, documents published by the US Trade Representative (USTR) ...

Bloomberg France’s economy will rebound less than previously expected this year due to the latest four-week nationwide lockdown aimed at halting a surge in coronavirus cases. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire cut the country’s 2021 GDP growth forecast to 5% from 6%, following an 8.1% contraction last year. A Bloomberg survey in March showed economists were expecting the economy ...

Bloomberg Argentine Finance Minister Martin Guzman said finalising a plan with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to repay $45 billion in debt likely won’t happen by May or June. Changing the terms of a previous repayment program would require the support of nations like the US, China, Germany, Japan and France, the finance minister said in an interview with CNN ...

Bloomberg Everyone in England will be urged to take a coronavirus test twice a week as a new system of Covid passports is assessed for wide-scale use, under Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to reopen the economy after lockdown. Free test kits will be made available through local pharmacies, community centers and home delivery services, when the new regime goes ...

Bloomberg Germany increased planned bond sales in the second quarter by 2.5 billion euros ($2.9 billion), as the government ramps up borrowing to help offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The federal government will issue 59.5 billion euros of bonds and bills in the April-June period, up from 57 billion euros planned at the end of last year, the ...

Bloomberg The personal data of more than half a billion Facebook Inc users reemerged online for free, a reminder of the company’s ability to collect mountains of information and its struggles to protect these sensitive assets. The leak includes personal information on 533 million Facebook users, such as phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, locations, birth dates, bios and in ...