France’s Barnier Indicates Tweaks to Macron’s Economic Policies
  • September 6, 2024

France’s Barnier Indicates Tweaks to Macron’s Economic Policies

(Bloomberg) -- France’s newly appointed prime minister, Michel Barnier, indicated he’s willing to make minor changes to President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies that don’t compromise efforts to curb rising public debt.Most Read from BloombergWorld's Second Tallest Tower Spurs Debate About Who Needs ItThe Plan for the World’s Most Ambitious Skyscraper RenovationUC Berkeley Gives Transfer Students a Purpose-Built Home on CampusHow Americans Voted Their Way Into a Housing CrisisRome May Start

US Gulf Coast-bound fuel oil cargoes hit 5-yr low as refinery demand weakens
  • September 6, 2024

US Gulf Coast-bound fuel oil cargoes hit 5-yr low as refinery demand weakens

Fuel oil exports bound for the U.S. Gulf Coast slumped to their lowest level since January 2019 last month, a sign of weakened refinery demand as margins have softened, analysts said. Feedstocks like high sulfur fuel oil and other heavy residues can be refined into higher value products such as gasoline and diesel using secondary units. But loadings of those products to the Gulf Coast, America's largest refining hub, fell by a third in August from the prior month to 260,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to data from ship tracker Kpler, marking a more than five-year low.

Summers Says Jobs Weakness Makes It Closer Call on Fed Going 50
  • September 6, 2024

Summers Says Jobs Weakness Makes It Closer Call on Fed Going 50

(Bloomberg) -- Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said that while the August employment report wasn’t particularly poor, it did make predicting the size of the Federal Reserve’s likely interest-rate cut this month a tougher call.Most Read from BloombergWorld's Second Tallest Tower Spurs Debate About Who Needs ItThe Plan for the World’s Most Ambitious Skyscraper RenovationUC Berkeley Gives Transfer Students a Purpose-Built Home on CampusRome May Start Charging Entry to the Trevi FountainM

Saudis Cut October Crude Oil Price to Asia as Demand Wanes
  • September 6, 2024

Saudis Cut October Crude Oil Price to Asia as Demand Wanes

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia cut pricing of its flagship crude grade for its main market in Asia next month as concerns mount over waning demand.Most Read from BloombergWorld's Second Tallest Tower Spurs Debate About Who Needs ItThe Plan for the World’s Most Ambitious Skyscraper RenovationUC Berkeley Gives Transfer Students a Purpose-Built Home on CampusRome May Start Charging Entry to the Trevi FountainMadrid to Ban E-Scooter Rentals, Following Lead Set in ParisState-owned Saudi Aramco lowered t

Amazon says in a federal lawsuit that the NLRB's structure is unconstitutional
  • September 6, 2024

Amazon says in a federal lawsuit that the NLRB's structure is unconstitutional

Amazon is challenging the structure of the National Labor Relations Board in a lawsuit that also accuses the agency of improperly influencing the outcome of a union election at a company warehouse more than two years ago. The complaint, filed Thursday at a federal court in San Antonio, mirrors legal arguments the tech giant made in front of the agency earlier this year after NLRB prosecutors accused the company of maintaining policies that made it challenging for workers to organize and retaliating against some who did so. In the new legal filing, attorneys for Amazon pointed back to a lawsuit the agency filed against the company in March 2022, roughly a week before voting for a union election was set to begin at a company warehouse in the New York borough of Staten Island.

Fed’s Waller Says Jobs Data ‘Requires Action,’ Open to Big Cut
  • September 6, 2024

Fed’s Waller Says Jobs Data ‘Requires Action,’ Open to Big Cut

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said it’s important for the US central bank to begin cutting interest rates this month amid rising risks of further weakening in the labor market.Most Read from BloombergWorld's Second Tallest Tower Spurs Debate About Who Needs ItThe Plan for the World’s Most Ambitious Skyscraper RenovationUC Berkeley Gives Transfer Students a Purpose-Built Home on CampusRome May Start Charging Entry to the Trevi FountainMadrid to Ban E-Scooter Rentals,

Former Uruguay Bank Chief Who Beat Inflation Pivots to Growth
  • September 6, 2024

Former Uruguay Bank Chief Who Beat Inflation Pivots to Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Diego Labat tamed chronically high inflation in Uruguay as its central banker. Now he wants a shot at boosting the South American country’s lackluster growth as finance chief if voters give the ruling coalition another five-year mandate in October’s election.Most Read from BloombergWorld's Second Tallest Tower Spurs Debate About Who Needs ItThe Plan for the World’s Most Ambitious Skyscraper RenovationUC Berkeley Gives Transfer Students a Purpose-Built Home on CampusRome May Start

US Hiring Comes Up Short in Possible Warning Sign for Fed
  • September 6, 2024

US Hiring Comes Up Short in Possible Warning Sign for Fed

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the Economics Daily newsletter to discover what's driving the global economy.Most Read from BloombergWorld's Second Tallest Tower Spurs Debate About Who Needs ItThe Plan for the World’s Most Ambitious Skyscraper RenovationMadrid to Ban E-Scooter Rentals, Following Lead Set in ParisThe Outsized Cost of Expanding US RoadsRome May Start Charging Entry to the Trevi FountainUS hiring fell short of forecasts in August after downward revisions to the prior two months, a devel

Biden to sign order to prioritize federal grants for projects with higher worker wages and benefits
  • September 6, 2024

Biden to sign order to prioritize federal grants for projects with higher worker wages and benefits

President Joe Biden on Friday plans to sign an executive order for federal grants that would prioritize projects with labor agreements, wage standards, and benefits such as access to child care and apprenticeship programs. The Biden administration is trying to make the case that economic growth should flow out of better conditions for workers. “A good job is a job with security and benefits, where workers have the right to join a union, advocate for better working conditions, come home safe and healthy, and retire with dignity,” said Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.

Investor dash to cash continues ahead of Fed rate cut, BofA says
  • September 6, 2024

Investor dash to cash continues ahead of Fed rate cut, BofA says

Investors poured $61 billion into cash-like money market funds in the week to Wednesday, as they braced for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates for the first time in four years, Bank of America said on Friday. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Many investment fund managers have hoped rate cuts will lower the returns on money-market funds (MMFs) and send a torrent of cash into stocks and bonds. But, somewhat counter-intuitively, big investors tend to move into MMF as the range of short-term fixed income assets they hold typically offer higher returns for longer than short-term Treasury bills, whose yields are highly sensitive to Fed rates.