Noah Smith Earlier this year, the U.S. Census Bureau delivered some good news. Finally, after years of what seemed like a sluggish and uncertain recovery, American incomes were rising strongly again. Median household income jumped by more than 5 percent in 2015, and the lion’s share of the gains went to middle-class and lower-income folks. Employment rose strongly, and ...

  Beijing / AFP China’s retail sales growth slowed last month, government data showed Monday, in a worrying sign for domestic demand in the world’s second-largest economy. Retail sales in October grew 10 percent from a year earlier, missing expectations for sales to match the previous month’s pace of 10.7 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. Other data ...

  Bloomberg Vodacom Group Ltd., Africa’s biggest wireless operator by market value, reported a 4.1 percent increase in first-half sales as strong growth in its home market of South Africa offset falling customer numbers in some international businesses. Sales rose to 40.2 billion rand ($2.8 billion), while service revenue growth was 5.3 percent, led by the addition of 2.3 million ...