Economy

• Saturday, March 5th 2011 - 07:21 UTC

  Energy prices for Chilean business the highest in three years

  

  The cost of producing energy keeps going up in Chile, as the drought in the north drags on and the international price of petroleum increases.

• Saturday, March 5th 2011 - 07:14 UTC

  Brazilian auto production increased 18.7% in February from January

  

  Automobile production in Brazil rose 18.7% in February from January, setting a record for the month, as exports surged on the back of increased global demand for automobiles, industry data showed on Friday.

• Saturday, March 5th 2011 - 07:12 UTC

  Argentina soy export terminals resume full activities

  

  Argentine dock workers reached a wage deal on Friday and called off a three-day-old protest that paralyzed two major soy export terminals and stopped 20 grains ships from loading, a union leader said.

• Saturday, March 5th 2011 - 06:49 UTC

  US unemployment surprise: falls to 8.9%, the lowest in nearly two years

  

  The U.S. economy added 192,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate fell to 8.9%, the lowest in nearly two years, the Labour Department said Friday. Last month’s jobs gain was the best since May.

• Saturday, March 5th 2011 - 06:40 UTC

  Argentina’s construction activity in January increased 11.7% over a year ago

  

  Argentina's construction activity grew at a slower pace in January, with many builders away on summer vacation, according to the national statistics agency, Indec.

• Saturday, March 5th 2011 - 06:34 UTC

  Global construction to outpace GDP growth in next 10 years with China and India leading

  

  Global construction will outpace GDP growth over the next 10 years, with China and India accounting for 38% of the 4.8 trillion US dollars increase in output by 2020, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said this week.

• Saturday, March 5th 2011 - 05:29 UTC

  Carnival hangover could bring capital ‘quarantine’ for speculative inflows

  

  The Brazilian government is considering additional foreign exchange measures to contain the rapid appreciation of the Real, a source inside the Finance Ministry told the Sao Paulo Estado news agency Friday.

• Saturday, March 5th 2011 - 05:20 UTC

  Unexpected slowdown of Brazilian inflation during February: 0.8%

  

  Retail prices in Brazil, as measured by the benchmark IPCA index, rose 0.8% in February, down from 0.83% January, the national statistics agency said in a report distributed in Rio de Janeiro Friday.

• Saturday, March 5th 2011 - 03:29 UTC

  USDA downplays upbeat forecasts of Argentine soybean harvest

  

  US Department of Agriculture attaches in Buenos Aires have warned against upbeat forecasts for Argentina's soybean harvest, saying many farms missed out on crop-reviving rainfall.

• Saturday, March 5th 2011 - 03:24 UTC

  Argentina’s car production up 5% and exports 8% during February

  

  Argentina's automotive industry made fewer cars in February than it did the previous month but output was up from the same month a year ago.