Economy

• Friday, May 6th 2011 - 17:21 UTC

  US payrolls expanded in April, but jobless rate climbed to 9%

  United States employers in April added more jobs than forecast. Payrolls expanded by 244,000 last month, the biggest gain since May 2010, after a revised 221,000 increase the prior month, the Labour Department said Friday in Washington.

• Friday, May 6th 2011 - 00:10 UTC

  Uruguayan inflation eases in April but still is almost double the annual target

  

  Uruguay’s April consumer inflation, 0.34%, the lowest since last November came as a relief for government authorities, but the accumulated rate of the last twelve months was 8.34%, well above the Central bank 4% to 6% target. Furthermore compared to April 2010 inflation was almost double: 0.18% vs 0.34%, according to the country’s Statistics Institute, INE.

• Friday, May 6th 2011 - 00:03 UTC

  Commodity prices fall for the fourth day running; oil below 100 USD per barrel

  

  Commodity prices fell on Thursday for a fourth day, following weak economic news from Europe and the US. Oil prices were down 10% at one stage, with US light, sweet crude ending the day below 100 US dollars a barrel.

• Thursday, May 5th 2011 - 23:51 UTC

  Spain loses 12-year battle: Argentina can use La Rioja denomination for its wines

  

  Spain has lost its 12-year battle with Argentina over the use of the name La Rioja. The northwestern Argentine province of La Rioja was founded by a Spaniard in 1591; the Spanish were also responsible for introducing vines to the region, reports Decanter.com.

• Thursday, May 5th 2011 - 16:37 UTC

  FAO April food prices index stable but still 36% higher than in 2010

  

  Food prices remained virtually steady in April after falling in March following eight months of successive increases, FAO announced Thursday.

• Thursday, May 5th 2011 - 01:46 UTC

  Brazilian corporation becomes ‘orange juice king’ of the world

  

  Citrovita and Citrosuco of Brazil won European Union antitrust approval for their merger plan to form the world’s largest wholesale supplier of orange juice.

• Wednesday, May 4th 2011 - 23:15 UTC

  IMF warns Latam of ‘complacency’, leading to overheated economies

  

  Economic growth in much of Latin America remains strong, propelled by rising commodity prices, easy financing conditions, and stimulative policies. Growth exceeded 6% in 2010, and while it is projected to moderate to about 4¾% in 2011, the IMF says countries should remove the policy stimulus on a timely basis.

• Wednesday, May 4th 2011 - 23:12 UTC

  Argentina’s economic performance ‘below’ South America’s average

  

  The Argentine ‘development model’ had had its successes but it belongs to the average group of most South American countries that benefited by the explosive advance of commodity prices and since 2007 has fallen to the bottom half of performers in the region according to former Economy minister Martin Lousteau.

• Wednesday, May 4th 2011 - 23:07 UTC

  Argentina leads in horse meat exports: 23.880 tons in 2010

  

  In spite of its love for horses, Argentina is the world’s leading exporter of horse meat having shipped 23.880 tons in 2010, valued 75 million US dollars according to the country’s Animal health and Agro-food quality service, SENASA.

• Wednesday, May 4th 2011 - 21:17 UTC

  Latam FDI soars 40% in 2010, mainly natural resources and services

  

  Latin America and the Caribbean was the region with the strongest percentage increases as a recipient and source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), according to a report presented Wednesday in Mexico City by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC.