Economy

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 16:54 UTC

  Slightly encouraging signs from the EU in employment and manufacturing

  

  The number of unemployed in the Euro-zone has fallen, slightly, for the first time since April 2011. The fall in June came amid brightening economic prospects, suggesting an end to the bloc’s stubborn recession.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 16:38 UTC

  US economy performance better than expected; expansion in 2012 was 2.8%

  

  The US economy grew at an annualised pace of 1.7% in the second quarter of the year, the Commerce Department has said. That was a faster pace than expected by economists. It was also up from the growth rate for the first three months of 2013, which was revised lower to 1.1% from 1.8%.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 16:28 UTC

  Norwegian company converts fresh seaweed to dry powder for alginates in 24 hours

  

  Norwegian company FMC Biopolymer converts seaweed to alginate for use in thousands of products with an advanced 24 hour chemical process. ABB has supplied process automation, motors and drives to FMC Biopolymer for more than 20 years.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 16:17 UTC

  Vatican bank opens its books to comply with ‘honest and transparent’ promise

  

  The Vatican bank opened its web site www.ior.va on Wednesday as it steps up efforts to improve its tarnished image after a succession of financial scandals and repeated criticisms of its lack of transparency.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 06:09 UTC

  Ecuador’s Correa pondering whether to join Mercosur or the Pacific Alliance

  

  President Rafael Correa said that the determining factor for Ecuador to join as full member of Mercosur or the Alliance of the Pacific is the ‘flexibility’ granted in certain admission conditions, taking into account the fact that Ecuador does not have a national currency.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 06:00 UTC

  Brazil’s next soybean crop expected to increase 9% to a record 89.1 million tons

  

  Brazil’s 2013/14 soybean crop that starts planting in September is expected to grow by 9% under normal weather conditions to a record 89.1 million tons, local crop analyst AgRural said in a release.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 05:49 UTC

  In Mexico, Latam second largest economy over half the are catalogued as poor

  

  Poverty in Mexico, including extreme cases, decreased slightly between 2010 and 2012, reported the National Council for Evaluation of Social Development Policy. Official stats show that poverty in Mexico, Latam’ second largest economy went from 46.1% of the population in 2010 to 45.5% in 2012, while extreme poverty fell from 11.3% to 9.8%.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 05:35 UTC

  Falklands' Sea Lion project outstands in Premier Oil exploration opportunities

  

  Premier Oil, the British North Sea's oldest company outside the oil majors, is turning away from the region for future exploration opportunities such as the Catcher and the Sea Lion project in the Falkland Islands, according to a report published by Reuters.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 05:26 UTC

  Canadian town evicts oil sands companies that helped it grow

  

  The Canadian town of Fort McMurray, population 76,000, is the heart of Alberta's oil sands largesse--but the town is bursting at its seams with nowhere to expand because the land surrounding it is owned by oil companies.

• Tuesday, July 30th 2013 - 03:50 UTC

  “The party is over” for Latam countries China-dependent on their exports

  

  “The party is over” and Latinamerican countries should be concerned since the Chinese economy is slowing down, apparently entering a low growth period and many in the region have become notoriously ‘China-dependent’ after a decade of strong expanding sustained bilateral relations.