
Chile's economic activity fell by 15.3% in May from the same month a year ago, the central bank said on Wednesday, hitting yet another historic low as measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus left many out of work and businesses shuttered.

The coronavirus crisis has taken a much heavier toll on jobs than previously feared, the UN said Tuesday, warning that the situation in the Americas was particularly dire. In a fresh study, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that by the mid-year point, global working hours were down 14% compared to last December - equivalent to some 400 million full-time jobs.

A bilateral trade agreement between Colombia and the United Kingdom has passed in Colombia’s plenary senate session and now passes to the Andean nation’s lower house for approval. <br />
The legislation seeks to maintain uninterrupted trade access, terms and conditions between Colombia and the UK that have existed under the Colombia – European Union agreement.

The European Union’s most powerful member, Germany, takes over the bloc’s rotating presidency as of Wednesday amid a raft of challenges — from COVID-19 and the economic devastation it has wrought, to Brexit, trade with China and tensions with the United States.

British proposals to give the City of London access to the European Union are “unacceptable” because they seek to maintain the benefits of the single market without the obligations, the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Tuesday.

Britain’s economy shrank by the most since 1979 in early 2020 as households slashed their spending, according to official data that included the first few days of the coronavirus lockdown.

Japan and Britain aim to clinch a trade deal by the end of July and Tokyo wants to secure at least the same automobile tariffs as it has in its existing European Union trade pact, Tokyo’s chief negotiator said.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) aims to secure an agreement on cutting fisheries subsidies this year, the chair of the talks, and a WTO official said on Tuesday, despite the cancellation of a major meeting due to COVID-19.

The U.S. economy still appears headed for a V-shaped recovery despite some setbacks in efforts to reopen state economies that had been shuttered for the coronavirus, a top White House adviser said on Monday.

Argentina's economic activity plummeted in April, the first full month that social-distancing measures that shut down non-essential businesses and other activities were in effect.