JAPAN
Unemployment rate falls
The unemployment rate has fallen for the first time in three months, potentially feeding into higher wages and providing support for the Bank of Japan’s sustainable inflation goal. The jobless rate dropped to 2.6 percent last month, as the number of those without jobs declined by 150,000 from the previous month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said yesterday. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to decline to 2.7 percent. Separate data showed the jobs-to-applicants ratio remained unchanged from the previous month at 1.32, meaning there were 132 jobs available to every 100 applicants and indicating continued relative tightness in the labor market. “Various economic indicators show that the state of labor shortage is returning to pre-pandemic levels or worse, and there is strong pressure to raise wages,” SMBC Nikko Securities Inc economist Koya Miyamae said.
AUSTRALIA
New home approvals tumble
Approvals to build new homes tumbled to the lowest level in 11 years, driven by fewer permits for apartment buildings, suggesting weak residential property investment would continue to drag on the economy. Total dwelling approvals slid 8.1 percent last month from a month earlier as permits for apartments plunged 16.5 percent, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed yesterday. While the monthly series can be volatile, the trend has been weak for an extended period, with total approvals falling 24.1 percent from a year earlier. “Total dwellings approved fell to the lowest level since April 2012,” Australian Bureau of Statistics head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi said in a statement. “Private sector house approvals also continued to decline.”
UNITED KINGDOM
Retail prices up 9 percent
Prices in stores are rising at a record pace as the cost-of-living crisis shows little indication of easing. Shop price inflation accelerated to 9 percent this month, a new peak for an index that started in 2005, the British Retail Consortium said yesterday. That was an increase from 8.8 percent last month. “To help mitigate the impact of inflation, shoppers are saving money by looking for seasonal promotions on the high street and taking advantage of the price reductions offered by supermarket loyalty schemes,” said Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NielsenIQ, which produces the data for the British Retail Consortium. Food inflation decelerated to 15.4 percent this month, down from 15.7 percent last month, the consortium said. Lower energy and commodity costs meant lower prices on staples including butter, milk, fruit and fish.
SWITZERLAND
GDP growth beats forecasts
The economy picked up momentum at the beginning of the year after a stagnant finish to last year, while industry outlook and factory orders point to more difficult times ahead. GDP grew by 0.5 percent in the first quarter, government data published yesterday showed. That exceeded every single economist estimate in a Bloomberg survey, which had a median forecast of 0.1 percent. The main driver of the recovery was domestic consumption, which made up for flat government demand. The KOF Economic Barometer, published separately yesterday, declined a second consecutive month this month, showing that the “outlook for the Swiss economy for the middle of 2023 is thus deteriorating further and remains at a below-average level.”
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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