UK economy risks being hit by Brexit worry

Bloomberg British consumers are worried about prospects for the economy with Brexit on the horizon, and that could spark a shift in behaviour that drags even more on growth. Households have driven expansion for more than a year, but only because they saved less to keep up spending during 2017’s inflation surge. They may be less willing to do so ...

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Mexican business can pitch employees on candidates

Bloomberg Mexican businessmen aren’t breaking any laws when they ask their employees to not vote for a certain candidate, according to Lorenzo Cordova, head of Mexico’s electoral regulator. If and when any of these activities turn illegal, the National Electoral Institute will act accordingly, the newspaper Reforma reported, citing remarks by Cordova. As long as no laws are broken, their ...

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Mighty May auto sales show US economy in sweet spot

Bloomberg Auto sales were supposed to slow again this year. But with the US economy chugging along, car shoppers keep strolling into showrooms. The pickup in hiring and President Donald Trump’s tax cuts have helped keep new-vehicle demand humming. Almost every automaker’s May results beat analysts’ estimates, and several posted increases, led by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s 11 percent jump. ...

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N Korea gets relief only when it gives up nukes, says Mattis

Bloomberg North Korea will get relief from international sanctions only when it has shown irreversible moves toward denuclearisation, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said ahead of a summit next week between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Speaking on Sunday in Singapore at the start of a meeting with the defense ministers of South Korea and ...

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Le Maire to Germany: It’s now or never to strengthen euro zone

Bloomberg French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has a message for the German government on reform in the euro area: “It is now or never — jetzt oder nie.” After more than eight hours of tough talks with his counterparts from the Group of Seven that focused mostly on a trade dispute with the US, Le Maire found some time ...

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US, China risking status quo with actions, says Singapore

Bloomberg Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen criticised both the US and China for taking “unilateral actions,” lumping the two rivals together as nations challenging the current global order. In a speech to the annual IISS Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Ng said the world’s two-biggest economies were similarly using security considerations to justify their behavior — the US ...

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Venezuela frees more political prisoners

Bloomberg A group of 40 political prisoners in Venezuela were expected to be released on June 2, a day after President Nicolas Maduro granted conditional freedom to at least 39 people. The group includes at least six members of the opposition Voluntad Popular party, lawmaker Adriana Pichardo said. It doesn’t include the party’s founder, Leopoldo Lopez, though National Assembly lawmakers ...

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Duterte leaves to Congress tax law fate blamed for inflation

Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he will let lawmakers decide what to do with a tax law that his administration lobbied for and is now being partly blamed for rising prices. “The law was enacted by Congress, I leave it to Congress to decide whether or not to amend, suspend or modify the law,” Duterte said in a speech ...

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Why the economy roars

Every year, the Federal Reserve conducts a massive survey of American households to paint a portrait of their economic habits and spirits. The recently published findings for 2017 are worth examining for what they say about who should — and shouldn’t — get credit for the resilient US economy. Hint: It’s not who you think. Naturally, President Trump claims paternity. ...

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Low jobless rate isn’t great for stocks

When it comes to the unemployment rate and the stock market, lower is not always better. Investors cheered jobs report, which showed that the unemployment rate in May dropped to 3.8 percent. That was a shift from much of the rest of the year, when investors have reacted to strong earnings numbers and positive economic news with concerns that it ...

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