Articles by: Miroslav Marinoff

Switzerland’s unemployment rate stable at 2.3%

Switzerland’s jobless rate has remained steady at 2.3% in May, data by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed, in line with market expectations. It has been the lowest rate since December 2023. The number of unemployed individuals dropped by 1,492 to 105,465 in May compared to a month ago. Switzerland’s youth unemployment rate, which […] Read more

Bank of Russia leaves policy rate at 16%, flags rate hike

The Bank of Russia (CBR) left its key policy rate without change at 16% for a fourth consecutive meeting in June, in line with market expectations. However, the central bank warned that it might raise interest rates at its next policy meeting, as domestic demand continued to outpace the limited current capacity of the nation’s […] Read more

Singapore’s Forex reserves at two-year high in May

Foreign exchange reserves in Singapore have risen to a new two-year high in May, the latest data by the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed on Friday. Foreign exchange reserves grew to SGD 500.863 billion in May from SGD 500.307 billion in the prior month. The latest figure was mostly driven by an increase in gold […] Read more

Reserve Bank of India leaves repo rate intact at 6.5%

The Reserve Bank of India left its key repo rate unchanged at 6.5% for an eighth straight policy meeting in June, in line with market expectations, as price pressures persisted. Annual CPI inflation in the country was reported at 4.85% in April, little changed compared to the March rate. It has remained within the central […] Read more

Canada’s Ivey PMI reported at 10-month low

Canada’s seasonally adjusted Ivey Purchasing Managers’ Index was reported at a reading of 52 in May, down from 63 in April. It has been the lowest PMI level since July 2023 and it fell well short of market consensus of 65. The gauge of inventories deteriorated to 49.1 in May from 52.8 in April, the […] Read more

European Central Bank lowers key policy rates by 25 bps

The European Central Bank slashed its main refinancing operations rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% at its June policy meeting, as widely expected. Additionally, the deposit facility rate was reduced to 3.75%, while the marginal lending rate – to 4.5%. This has been the first cut in the ECB’s key interest rates since 2016 […] Read more

Russia’s unemployment rate at fresh record low of 2.6%

The jobless rate in the Russian Federation has decreased to a fresh record low of 2.6% in April from 2.7% in March, the latest data by the Federal State Statistics Service showed. The drop was mostly a result of labor shortages of skilled workers due to the emigration and mobilization of men for the military […] Read more

US private payrolls growth slowest since January

Employers in the US private sector have added 152,000 jobs in May, data by Automatic Data Processing showed on Wednesday. This has been the slowest employment growth since January and it fell well short of market expectations of 175,000. In May, the service-providing sector added 149,000 job positions, as follows: – trade, transportation and utilities […] Read more

Singapore’s retail sales drop 1.2% YoY in April

Singapore’s retail sales were reported to have decreased at an annualized rate of 1.2% in April, following a revised up 2.8% surge in the preceding month. April has marked the first drop in retail sales since December 2023 and also the most considerable one since February 2022. In April, sales were lower for furniture and […] Read more

US job openings fall to lowest level since February 2021

The number of job openings in the US was reported at 8.059 million in April, or a decrease by 296,000 compared to the prior month. It has been the lowest number of openings since February 2021 and fell well short of market expectations of 8.34 million. In April, job openings were lower in health care […] Read more