Washington / AFP The US economy grew faster than originally thought in the second quarter of this year, with Commerce Department figures released on Thursday showing a 1.4 percent annual rate. The previous estimate had been a gloomier 1.1 percent. Thursday’s figures surpassed an analyst consensus, which had called for a revision to 1.3 percent. In releasing the new ...

  Frankfurt / AFP German inflation in September jumped to its highest level since May 2015, data showed Thursday, in welcome news for the European Central Bank’s efforts to boost prices with a massive stimulus programme. Inflation rose by 0.7 percent this month compared to the year before, according to preliminary figures from Germany’s federal statistics office Destatis. The figure ...

  Bloomberg Bond investors are giving Chile’s Masisa SA a vote of confidence as the wood-panel maker unloads assets, pays debt and becomes less reliant on Venezuela. Its $200 million of notes due in 2019 have returned 27 percent in 2016, almost twice the average for emerging-market corporate debt. The junk-rated securities sank to a record low last year on ...