Bloomberg The euro-area economy strengthened further at the start of 2018, bringing with it signs of a long-awaited pickup in inflation. The improvement lifted IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index to 58.6 from 58.1 in December, higher than economists had forecast. The gauge is now at a level suggesting quarterly economic growth of close to 1 percent, according to the report. ...

Bloomberg The UK labour market displayed unexpected resilience in the three months through November as employment jumped and wage growth ticked higher. The number of people in work rose 102,000 to a record high, confounding market expectations that employment would fall. Basic pay growth quickened to 2.4 percent, the highest in almost a year, though it still lags well behind ...

Bloomberg Daimler AG, Siemens AG and other German manufacturers are under pressure to make concessions to employees as more disruptive walkouts loom in a contract dispute over wages and work hours. At talks, the IG Metall union is pushing employers to raise pay 6 percent and subsidise wages for workers reducing hours to care for kids or older family members. ...