Economy

• Friday, October 5th 2012 - 22:55 UTC

  Brazil September inflation higher on food prices, but bank could further cut Selic rate

  

  September inflation in Brazil was up 0.57% on higher food prices according to the latest release from the country’s stats office, IBGE. This was the highest rate since last April (0.64%) and the steepest for September since 2003, (0.78%).

• Friday, October 5th 2012 - 22:51 UTC

  Significant drop in US unemployment triggers controversy with former GE CEO

  

  The US unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest rate since January 2009, figures from the Department of Labour have shown, surprising analysts who had been expecting a small rise.

• Friday, October 5th 2012 - 22:47 UTC

  Decline in Canada’s canola crop impacts on oilseed markets

  

  Chicago soybean futures edged higher on Friday, building on the last two sessions of gains with support from a revival in US exports and a surprise decline in estimates for Canada's canola crop.

• Friday, October 5th 2012 - 19:57 UTC

  Capriles claims Chavez ‘handed out’ 9 billion dollars to Mercosur allies

  

  Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles claims that the regime of President Hugo Chavez handed out nine billion dollars to Mercosur members (except for Brazil and Chile) as part of his plan to “export the Bolivarian revolution”.

• Friday, October 5th 2012 - 06:10 UTC

  Argentine Coast and Border Guards conflict unchanged in its fourth day

  

  Argentine Border and Coast Guards members were moving into their fourth day of conflict despite the fact the government of President Cristina Fernandez had deposited their full pay-checks that had been ‘mistakenly’ severely cut, based on Decree 1307. Prospects are that the conflict could extend until Tuesday.

• Friday, October 5th 2012 - 06:02 UTC

  Bank of England leaves rates and QE unchanged waiting for next set of stats

  

  Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided at its monthly meeting on Thursday not to introduce any new stimulus measures. It has kept interest rates at their record low of 0.5% and not to raise the amount of quantitative easing (QE) from the current level of £375bn.

• Friday, October 5th 2012 - 05:58 UTC

  Draghi says ECB bond-buying program waiting for its first customer

  

  The European Central Bank decided on Thursday to keep its main refinancing rate unchanged in a bid to calm markets but the focus really has been on when exactly its bond-buying program will get off the ground.

• Thursday, October 4th 2012 - 19:52 UTC

  FAO Prices Index up 1.4% in September pushed by dairy and meats

  

  Following two months of stability, the FAO Price Index rose slightly in September 2012, up 1.4%, or 3 points, from its level in August. The Index, based on the prices of a basket of internationally traded food commodities, climbed to 216 points in September from 213 points in August.

• Thursday, October 4th 2012 - 19:40 UTC

  Latam expected to expand 3% more in line with global trends, says World Bank

  

  Latin America and the Caribbean region (LAC) will be growing at 3%, more in line with global trends but even with GDP beginning to slow, the region’s unemployment rate stood at 6.5%, approaching historic lows and well below its peak of 11% a decade ago, according to the latest semi-annual report “The Labour Market Story Behind Latin America’s Transformation,” by the World Bank’s Office of the Chief Economist for the region.

• Thursday, October 4th 2012 - 19:23 UTC

  Latam created 35 million jobs in last decade and helped combat income inequality

  

  Labour markets played an important role the transformation and advance of the Latin American economy in the past decade as more than 35 million additional jobs were created in that period plus the fact that high informality declined in seven out of nine countries of the region.