Friday, 29 Sep 2023

Economy

Colorado’s economy growing but slowing as the hiring rate declines

Growing but slowing is how a new report describes Colorado’s economy. The state’s 1.2% growth in employment in March was the country’s second-lowest, just behind West Virginia, and the state’s slowest since late 2021. Although revised numbers are expected to nudge the growth rate up, possibly to about 2%, Colorado will likely rise to only […]

Slower oil, gas activity leaves Greeley’s economy behind other Colorado metro areas

Nearly three years after the start of the pandemic, Greeley is the only one of Colorado’s metro areas whose economy hasn’t fully recovered and the reason might be the same one for its previous robust growth — the oil and gas industry. Overall, Colorado’s employment has rebounded and then some, reaching 117% of pre-pandemic levels […]

As Fed meets, investor angst over rate hikes spooks markets – The Denver Post

WASHINGTON — Wild volatility in the stock market this week has put heightened scrutiny on the Federal Reserve’s meeting Wednesday and whether the Fed will clarify just how fast it plans to tighten credit and potentially slow the economy. With high inflation squeezing consumers and businesses, the Fed is expected to signal that it will […]

Contact-free digital payments see big jump with Covid-19

SINGAPORE – More people are turning to digital payments amid Covid-19, with the volume of PayNow transactions set to far surpass that of last year. It has already hit $64 billion in value from January to October, well up on the $25 billion recorded in the same period last year, the Association of Banks in […]

China signals its discomfort over yuan rally with daily fixing

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) – China’s central bank has signaled a limit to its tolerance for the yuan’s recent advance by setting its reference rate at a weaker-than-expected level. The gap between the daily fixing set by the People’s Bank of China and the forecast in a Bloomberg survey of analysts and traders was the largest since […]

China's bid to rival US as debt haven at risk after crackdowns

TORONTO (BLOOMBERG) – To a world full of fixed-income investors starved of safe assets with attractive yields, China’s government bonds had become a tempting sight in recent years. However, red flags are now being hoisted. A series of government crackdowns on everything from property developers to technology firms is triggering questions about whether a sudden […]

Choppy markets expected as Omicron unfolds and inflation persists

SINGAPORE – Inflation, rising interest rates, anaemic economic and jobs recovery, Omicron. The sum of all fears weighed heavily on the market last week, resulting in volatility not seen since August. The dismal November jobs report – where US non-farm payrolls increased by a mere 210,000 versus the 546,000 rise in October, combined with the […]

PSA to acquire US supply chain company BDP International

SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) – PSA International has agreed to acquire BDP International, a United States-based company providing supply chain, transportation and logistics solutions, both companies said on Wednesday (Dec 1). The port operator will acquire privately-held BDP International from New York-based private equity firm Greenbriar Equity Group LP, subject to formal approvals by the […]

Broken supply chains threaten ruin at growing number of small US firms

NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) – A growing cohort of smaller companies that survived the cold depths of the Covid-19 pandemic say now they’re in danger because the economy is too hot. Mattress sellers, flooring manufacturers and makers of clean energy equipment are warning that stretched supply chains and runaway freight bills have pushed them to the […]

New Kranji facility attracts firms with high technical specifications

SINGAPORE – Beng Hock Mechanical Engineering will be moving next year into a new facility in Kranji, where the local company will implement new digital solutions projected to help it save between $150,000 and $220,000 annually. This will be accomplished through new warehouse management solutions as well as new enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which […]