Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s economy contracted 1.1 percent in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic took hold, but saw a remarkable recovery late in the year as outbreaks were brought under control and restrictions lifted. Official figures released Wednesday showed the economy grew 3.1 percent in the October-December quarter following a 3.4 percent increase in the previous quarter. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said it was the first time since records began 60 years ago […]
(Eagle News) – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is pushing for the entire country to be placed under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) starting March. NEDA Acting Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua told President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night, Feb. 15 that as a “balancing act,” the country should be placed under the more relaxed MGCQ to save the economy from further bleeding, but with the strict implementation of minimum health protocols to […]
by Roland JACKSON LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s economy shrank by a record 9.9 percent last year on the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic despite managing strong growth in the second half, official data showed Friday. Finance minister Rishi Sunak said the economy had suffered a “serious shock” from the Covid-19 global health crisis. The data came one week after the Bank of England forecast economic recovery on the back of Britain’s successful ongoing […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia on Friday logged its first annual contraction since the 1998 Asian financial crisis, as the coronavirus pandemic slammed Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. The country’s gross domestic product fell 2.07 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, the statistics agency said, with transportation and tourism among the hardest-hit sectors. Friday’s data marked the first time Indonesia’s economy contracted on a full-year basis since it was in the depths of the regional […]
by Taimaz SZIRNIKS Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Demand for electric vehicles soared in the EU last year as buyers took advantage of government subsidies for clean cars aimed at helping manufacturers weather the unprecedented hit from the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said Thursday. Some 538,772 fully electric autos were sold across the bloc, up 117 percent from 2019, while sales of plug-in hybrids more than tripled, to 507,059 from […]
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest smartphone and memory chip maker reported fourth-quarter net profits up by more than a quarter year-on-year Thursday, with coronavirus-driven working from home boosting demand for devices powered by its chips. But the figures were below market expectations according to Bloomberg News, and the company warned of persisting uncertainties over the pandemic, and lower profits in Q1 2021 due […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s economy contracted sharply by 11 percent in 2020 due to the upheaval triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Statistics Institute said in a first estimate published Friday. The figure is largely in line with the fall of 11.2 percent predicted by Spain’s government although the International Monetary Fund had seen a sharper contraction of 12.8 percent. France also saw its economy shrink by 8.3 percent in 2020, Germany […]
Facebook profit surged in the final three months of last year as people enduring the holidays in a pandemic turned to the leading social network for work and pleasure, the company said Wednesday. Facebook reported profit of $11.2 billion on revenue of $28 billion, increases of 53 percent and 33 percent when compared with the same period the prior year. “We had a strong end to the year as people and businesses continued to […]
Apple said Wednesday that profits surged in the final three months of the year on growing sales of iPhones and services, which lifted revenues to an all-time record. Profit in the period ended December 26 rose 29 percent from a year ago to $28.7 billion, while revenues grew 21 percent to $111.4 billion, with international sales accounting for nearly two-thirds of sales. Sales topped the $100 billion mark for the first time as Apple won […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France Presse The coronavirus pandemic took a huge toll on global jobs last year, the United Nations said Monday, with the equivalent of more than a quarter of a billion lost. In a fresh study, the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) found that a full 8.8 percent of global working hours were lost in 2020, compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. That is equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs, […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s annual inflation rate jumped in December partly on higher transport costs as Covid restrictions temporarily eased, official data showed Wednesday. The rate, as measured by the UK’s Consumer Prices Index, rose to 0.6 percent last month from 0.3 percent in November, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. Analysts’ consensus forecasts had been for a rise to 0.5 percent. “Transport costs… as well as petrol prices rose […]
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore’s economy suffered its worst ever annual contraction in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hammered the city-state’s vital trade and tourism sectors, official data showed Monday. But the 5.8 percent decline was not as bad as feared — official forecasts had predicted a fall of up to 6.5 percent — as economic activity picked up with the easing of curbs. The financial hub plunged into its first recession since the 2008 […]
