UNITED KINGDOM
Unemployment drops
Unemployment fell unexpectedly to the lowest since 1974 as people dropped out of the workforce at a record rate. The government said that 3.5 percent of adults were looking for work in the three months through August, down from 3.6 percent the month before and a rate last lower in 1974. Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng hailed the figures as indicating strength in the UK. “The fundamentals of the UK economy remain resilient, with unemployment at its lowest point for almost 50 years,” Kwarteng said in a statement. Average earnings growth excluding bonuses accelerated to 5.4 percent, Office for National Statistics figures showed.
AUSTRALIA
Confidence near historic low
Consumer confidence is hovering around historic lows at the same time as business conditions strengthen, reinforcing a divide between households and corporates’ experiences in the economy. Westpac Banking Corp’s index of consumer sentiment slid to 83.7, highlighting that pessimists easily outweigh optimists with the divide at 100. Shortly after, National Australia Bank Ltd’s business conditions — measuring hiring, sales and profits — rose above their pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak. The contrast likely reflects policy lags, with the Reserve Bank of Australia hiking interest rates by 2.5 percentage points since May as it tries to rein in inflation.
AIRLINES
Region’s outlook improves
Passenger airline traffic in the Asia-Pacific region should recover to about 73 percent of 2019 levels by the end of the year as travel restrictions relax, up from 53 percent in August, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said yesterday. “There is no mistaking I think the momentum is very strong especially with all major markets in the Asia-Pacific now open except for China,” IATA Asia-Pacific vice president Philip Goh (吳仕綿) told reporters on a webinar. Taiwan’s border controls are to ease tomorrow. The year-end traffic estimate is based on China opening its borders soon, although the actual date remains unclear, Goh said.
AUTOMAKERS
NEV China sales rise
New-energy vehicle (NEV) sales in China retained their strong momentum last month, led by record sales from local automaker BYD Co (比亞迪) and US electric vehicle giant Tesla Inc. Total NEV sales, which include pure-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, rose 83 percent from a year earlier to 611,000 units, China Passenger Car Association data released yesterday showed. BYD sold just over 200,000 vehicles for the first time, while Tesla delivered a record 83,135 vehicles after upgrading production capacity at its Shanghai factory. Overall passenger vehicle sales in China increased 21 percent from a year earlier to 1.95 million units last month, the association said.
TURKEY
Deficit enters 10th month
Turkey’s current account remained in deficit for a 10th consecutive month as the trade balance took a hit from a global rally in energy prices. The deficit widened to US$3.1 billion in August compared with a surplus of US$1.1 billion the same month a year earlier, Turkey’s central bank said yesterday. The shortfall for the first eight months of this year widened to US$39.7 billion. Tourism revenue was US$5.1 billion, with services posting a surplus of US$7.2 billion. Foreign tourist arrivals had risen by an annual 58 percent in August, a separate data release said.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
RSS