Bloomberg US productivity slumped for a second-straight quarter as the economy shrank, driving another surge in labour costs that risks keeping inflation elevated and further complicates the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame price increases. Productivity, or nonfarm business employee output per hour, decreased at a 4.6% annual rate in the second quarter after falling at a 7.4% pace in ...

Bloomberg Norway’s inflation exceeded forecasts for a fourth straight month, hitting a new 34-year high and adding pressure on Norges Bank to deliver a bigger interest rate hike this month than it has flagged earlier. Consumer prices rise 6.8% in July from a year earlier, the fastest pace since July 1988, according to data from Statistics Norway on Wednesday. Underlying ...

  Bloomberg Brazil consumer prices tumbled by the most on record in July after President Jair Bolsonaro slashed utility taxes to tame the soaring cost of living and lift his re-election chances. Official data showed consumer prices fall 0.68% compared to June, more than the -0.65% median estimate from analysts in Bloomberg survey. It was biggest monthly drop since the ...