Reports released Thursday showed contrasting realities between South America's two largest countries. While consumption grew 1.2% interannually in January, according to the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (Abras), the situation was quite the opposite in Argentina due to rampant inflation outpacing wage updates.
The Chinese economy expanded 8,1% in 2021, following the 2,2% of 2020, as steadily growing industrial production and exceptional trade performance offset a drop in retail sales. Still, that figure fell short of economists' expectations for an 8.4% growth and year on year growth rate fell to 4,9% in the third quarter and 4% in the fourth quarter.
Nearly 1,000 UK pubs shut last year, although the rate of closures is slowing, new research claims. About 76 pubs a month vanished from the communities they served in 2018, as people spent less on going out and pubs faced cost pressures, said property firm Altus Group.