Bloomberg Germany spent about 42 billion euros ($48 billion) on a program to secure jobs threatened by the coronavirus pandemic. A government program to pay most of an employee’s wages when they can’t work because of operational issues like lockdowns was worth the cost, Germany’s Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said in an interview with Tagespiegel. “The alternative — namely allowing ...

  Bloomberg US retail sales rebounded by more than forecast with the biggest gain since March, as Americans kept spending through a Covid-19 spike and hot inflation to help drive the economic recovery. The value of overall purchases rise 3.8% in January after a downwardly revised 2.5% drop in the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed. The median estimate in ...

  Bloomberg Norway’s economy expanded faster than expected at the end of last year, cementing the outlook for a string of interest rate hikes by Norges Bank from next month. Mainland gross domestic product, which adjusts for the oil-rich nation’s offshore industry, grows 1.4% in fourth quarter from previous three months, the statistics office said. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg and ...