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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Another 2.12 million people filed for unemployment in the United States last week, pushing total layoffs since the start of the coronavirus crisis to more than 40 million, a level not seen since the Great Depression, the Labor Department said. The new filings, however, showed that the pace of the layoffs was subsiding as the US economy slowly begins to reopen. © Agence France-Presse
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The UN environmental agency said Wednesday it has received a request from host nation Britain to postpone this year’s global climate conference until November 2021 because of the coronavirus. This year’s COP 26 summit had been due to take place in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November before the pandemic forced a rethink and the possibility of rescheduling for March 2021. But it now appears it could take place […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore’s embattled economy could shrink by as much as seven percent this year, which would be the worst reading since independence, with the government saying Tuesday the coronavirus pandemic had throttled the key export sector. The city-state is seen as a bellwether of the global economy and the historic contraction highlights the extreme pain being wrought on countries by the killer disease. The warning also came hours before Singapore’s deputy prime […]
by Chris Stein Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Job losses in the United States are slowing but totaled an unheard-of 38.6 million since the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns began, while officials debate what additional steps will be needed to rescue the beleaguered economy. Another 2.43 million Americans were put out of work last week, fewer than the previous week but still among the highest figures on record, according to the latest Labor […]
by Chris Stein Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Job losses in the United States are slowing but totaled an unheard-of 38.6 million since the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns began, while officials debate what additional steps will be needed to rescue the beleaguered economy. Another 2.43 million Americans were put out of work last week, fewer than the previous week but still among the highest figures on record, according to the latest Labor Department […]
PEKIN, China (AFP) — China took the rare move of not setting an annual growth target this year after the coronavirus battered the world’s second-largest economy and ravaged global growth, Premier Li Keqiang said Friday. Instead, given “great uncertainty” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Beijing will “give priority to stabilizing employment and ensuring living standards”, he told the opening of the National People’s Congress. He also announced that China’s fiscal deficit was expected to be […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Consumer prices in Japan fell for the first time in more than three years last month, official data showed Friday, dragged down by the coronavirus pandemic and collapsing oil prices. Core prices in April, excluding volatile fresh food, slipped 0.2 percent from a year earlier, reversing a rise of 0.4 percent in March, according to the internal affairs ministry. It was the first drop in 40 months, the ministry said, and […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British unemployment jumped in the first quarter on the back of coronavirus, despite a lockdown being imposed only near the end of the period, official data showed Tuesday. The total number of unemployed people rose 50,000 to 1.3 million in three months to March from a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. The ONS also revealed that jobless claims, made under the Universal Credit welfare […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand’s economy shrank for the first time in six years because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered borders and devastated the tourism-reliant country. Some 40 million tourists were expected to arrive in Thailand this year, drawn to its sandy beaches, infamous nightlife and street food culture. But the outbreak has sharply bruised the country’s cash cow, with tourist vendors reporting as early as mid-January a drop in visitors after China […]
by Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan dived into its first recession since 2015, according to official data Monday, with the world’s third-largest economy shrinking by 0.9 percent in the first quarter as it wrestles with the fallout from the coronavirus. The drop in gross domestic product followed a 1.9-percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2019 as a tax hike and typhoons hit Japan hard — even before the pandemic […]
by Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan dived into its first recession since 2015, according to official data Monday, with the world’s third-largest economy shrinking by 0.9 percent in the first quarter as it wrestles with the fallout from the coronavirus. The drop in gross domestic product followed a 1.9-percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2019 as a tax hike and typhoons hit Japan hard — even before […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a $3 trillion coronavirus response package, the largest yet, to fund efforts to fight the pandemic and provide emergency payments to millions of American households. The Heroes Act was introduced in the House of Representatives and could be voted on in the Democratic-led chamber as early as this week. But the 1,815-page measure faced immediate opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate, where leaders have said a […]
