It took all of 15 seconds for Vice President Kamala Harris to render mostly irrelevant a data release that has long been considered one of the most important in the world. The latest read on the US labour market was disappointing, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by just 49,000 in January, falling short of the median estimate of a 105,000 gain ...

The lockdowns of the past year have tempted food delivery companies in the US and Europe to gorge. But they’re filling up on the equivalent of junk food — offerings that accelerate growth but have little nutritional value. Top of the list is grocery deliveries. Platforms such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo have capitalised on more people ordering groceries online ...

Australia’s iron-ore miners could be excused for casting a nervous eye north. With little fanfare, China, the world’s biggest consumer of iron ore, opened its doors to 3,000 tons of Japanese scrap metal. It was the country’s first such import since it imposed a near-total ban on “foreign garbage” in 2019. It won’t be the last. In the short-term, that ...