Latest news with #0.6
Scoop
24-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
SEEK Employment Report
According to the latest SEEK NZ Employment Report, job ads fell 2% in May, seasonally adjusted, following two months of growth. Job ads are now 8% lower y/y which is the slowest rate of decline since November 2022, indicating a moderation of the steep declines of the past two years. Applications per job ad have peaked again, rising 2% m/m, making for an extremely high level of competition among candidates for the job ads on offer. There were small pockets of growth in the Public Service and Professional Services sectors in May. Healthcare & Medical and Community Services & Development were the largest industries to record job ad growth in May, rising 3% and 2% respectively m/m. Three regions recorded monthly job ad growth in May: Taranaki (6%), Wellington (2%) and Southland (1%). Wellington is the only one of the larger regions where job ads have grown y/y (2%), the first annual rise in two-and-a-half years. SEEK Country Manager Rob Clark says: 'The trend data tells a clear picture and that is one of flat ad volumes for the past eight months. After close to two years of near uninterrupted decline between 2022 and 2024, this shows that volumes have stabilised and are even beginning to see some pockets of growth. Wellington, which was particularly impacted by falling demand toward the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, has recorded broad growth in ad volumes over the past eleven months. It was one of only three regions where job ads rose month-on-month, along with Southland and Taranaki. While the decline in demand for workers has slowed, candidate appetite has not abated in the same way, rising to the highest on record again this month.' *Applications per job ad are recorded with a one-month lag. Data shown in this report refers to April data. SEEK Advertised Salary Index - Quarterly to May 2025 The quarterly SEEK NZ Advertised Salary Index (ASI) measures the growth in advertised salaries for jobs posted on SEEK in New Zealand. This report examines national trends up to the quarter ending May 2025. Advertised salary growth rose by 0.6% q/q in the quarter to May, while annual advertised salary growth slowed to 2.4% y/y in May, with the rate of decline for annual growth slowing. SEEK Country Manager Rob Clark says: 'Annual average advertised salary growth continues to slow, despite faster growth in the most recent quarter. Average annual growth across the Rest of the South Island has picked up in the most recent quarter, likely driven by notable employment growth in Otago which has added a lot of jobs over the past year. Around half of all industries are seeing their average advertised salaries growing faster than inflation, which is good news for job seekers in these industries.'
Business Times
19-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Indonesia central bank makes market intervention after rupiah depreciation
[JAKARTA] Indonesia's central bank intervened in the foreign exchange market in a measured way on Thursday (Jun 19), an official said, after the rupiah had fallen to a one-month low against the US dollar. The rupiah was down by about 0.6 per cent on the day at 16,400 per dollar as of 0807 GMT, LSEG data showed. The depreciation was due to the US Federal Reserve's decision to hold its key interest rate on Wednesday as well as rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, said Erwin Gunawan Hutapea, head of the monetary department at Bank Indonesia's (BI). 'Going forward, BI will continue to pay close attention to global and domestic dynamics and maintain exchange rate stability as part of its commitment to support economic recovery and maintain inflation within the target range,' he told Reuters. BI decided to pause its easing cycle on Wednesday after cutting interest rates three times since September. REUTERS
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First Post
18-06-2025
- Business
- First Post
US retail sales post biggest drop of 2025 as tariffs and economic worries bite
Amid warnings of a grim second half of the year, US retail sales fell 0.9%. The worse-than-expected decline coincided with decline in manufacturing and loss of home-buyer sentiment to lowest in three years. read more US retail sales fell 0.9 per cent in May — worse than the economists' expectation of a 0.6 per cent fall. This is This was the sharpest monthly decline in retail sales since January and the second consecutive decline after sales fell 0.1 per cent in April. The retail sales decline is one of the many adverse markers that economist and business leaders interpret as a sign of incoming troubles. The adverse markers have emerged at a time when US President Donald Trump's trade policies, primarily driven by tariffs, have sown uncertainty in global trade and have plunged the United States into fears of inflation — or something worse known as 'stagflation' in which inflationary and recessionary pressures coexist. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Industrial production falls, home-builder sentiment lowest since 2022 Beside retail sales decline, industrial production fell 0.2 per cent in May for the second time in three months. The fall in industrial production is a sign that the uptick in economic activity in the first quarter is now over. The 0.2 per cent decline was more than 0.1 per cent forecast by economists in a survey conducted by Wall Street Journal. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, which measures home-builder confidence, fell to the lowest since 2022. In retail sales as well as industrial production, automobile sector was the only promising sector. Manufacturing rose 0.1 per cent in May compared to 0.5 per cent contraction the previous month on the back of a jump in automobile production. Excluding automobiles, manufacturing fell 0.3 per cent. Trump's tariffs are doing little to support investment in domestic manufacturing capacity by making foreign-produced goods less competitive, said Samuel Tombs, the Chief US Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, to MarketWatch. Foreign companies may also be hesitant to source US-manufactured goods out of concern that their governments may impose new tariffs if the trade war intensifies, Tombs further said. In May, vehicles and parts output increased 4.9 per cent. Retail sales fell 0.3 per cent excluding automobiles. This was worse than the estimate of 0.1 per cent again. 'Americans bought cars in March ahead of tariffs and stayed away from car dealerships in May. Families are wary of higher prices and are being a lot more selective with where they spend their money. People are hunting for deals and aren't eager to buy unless they see a good one,' said Heather Long, the Chief Economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, told CNBC. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Grim forecasts for second half — thanks to tariffs In the midst of such markers, economists and business leaders have warned it is about to get worse. Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said, 'Trade-war uncertainty, rising input prices, and slowing US and global demand are expected to weigh on manufacturing activity this year. We are forecasting a large pullback in business-equipment spending in the second quarter following a first-quarter surge.' Sam Bullard, senior economist at Wells Fargo, said the outlook for industrial production over the rest of the year 'is dim, as slowing economic growth and the strains of tariffs lead to quarterly declines over the final three quarters of 2025'. Michael Pearce, the Deputy Chief Economist at Oxford Economics, told Reuters, 'Tariff announcements have had a clear impact on the timing of large-ticket purchases, notably autos, but there are few signs yet that tariffs are leading to a general pullback in consumer spending. We expect a more marked slowdown to take hold in the second half of the year, as tariffs begin to weigh on real disposable incomes.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The weakening of US dollar as a result of loss of confidence in the currency because of Trump's trade policies, is a sign 'that inflation will pick up this summer and into the fall as prices start to reflect the higher costs for goods from enacted tariffs' Ben Ayers, a senior economist at Nationwide, told the news agency.
Business Standard
18-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Wall Street Slips on Geopolitical Tensions, Weak Retail Data and Sector Losses
U.S. stocks fell as Israel-Iran worries resurfaced, May retail sales disappointed and sectors like airlines and housing posted sharp declines. The Nasdaq slid 180.12 points (0.9%) to 19,521.09, the S&P 500 decreased 50.39 points (0.8%) to 5,982.72 and the Dow fell 299.29 points (0.7%) to 42,215.80. Wall Street dipped as traders took profits from Mondays rally amid fresh Israel-Iran tensions. Trump left the G7 summit early, denying it was for a ceasefire, and later demanded Irans unconditional surrender, fueling market worries. The Commerce Department said retail sales slid by 0.9% in May after edging down by a revised 0.1% in April. Excluding a steep drop in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales fell by 0.3% in May after coming in unchanged in April. Ex-auto sales were expected to inch up by 0.1%. Airline stocks significantly moved downwards after rebounding on Monday, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 3.8%. Housing stocks were considerably weak, as reflected by the 2.5% slump by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. Pharmaceutical, telecom and healthcare stocks were notably weak while energy stocks regained ground along with the price of crude oil. Asia-Pacific stocks turned in a mixed performance. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index increased by 0.6% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.3%. The major European markets all moved to the downside while the German DAX Index slumped by 1.1%, the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.8% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index decreased by 0.5%. In the bond market, treasuries regained ground following the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, tumbled by 6.5 bps to 4.38%.
Wall Street Journal
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- Wall Street Journal
Retail Sales Fell More Than Expected in May
Consumer spending dropped more than forecast last month, after a surge earlier this year in car buying. Retail sales fell 0.9% in May from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said. That was worse than the 0.6% decline economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected. The decline was partly driven by lower levels of auto purchases. Many Americans rushed to buy cars before Trump launched his major tariffs this year, hoping to avoid higher prices. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales fell just 0.3% in May. That was still below consensus expectations for a 0.1% gain. Retail sales measure spending at stores, online and in restaurants, and are seasonally adjusted. To date, inflation has ticked up only modestly this year. The steepest of the White House's tariffs affecting China were temporarily pulled back in May, and the two countries came to an agreement maintaining that deal last week, Trump said. Many businesses stockpiled items to get ahead of Trump's tariffs, and economists expect price increases resulting from tariffs to show up later this summer or in the fall.
