The US economy added a better-than-expected 204,000 jobs in October, according to the latest figures from the Labor Department. There had been fears that the 16-day shutdown of government services last month could have hit jobs growth.
The US Federal Reserve could still scale back its massive bond buying program at an October meeting should data point to a stronger economy, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Friday. October is a live meeting he told Bloomberg television.
Brazil's economy is going through a mini crisis stemming from global markets turbulence made worse by confusing messages from the US Federal Reserve, complained Finance Minister Guido Mantega.
Chile cut its copper output forecast for the year to 5.53 million tons due to setbacks at certain mines, though production is still expected to jump from 2012 as a new deposit comes online, the mining ministry said this week.
The Federal Reserve is likely to deliver another round of monetary stimulus “fairly soon” unless the economy improves considerably, minutes from the US central bank's August meeting show.
US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said banks need to have more capital at hand in order to ensure the financial system is stable. Bernanke said regulators were taking steps to force financial institutions to hold higher capital buffers, even if they allow for a long period of implementation to prevent any market disruptions.
Capital flows to emerging markets won’t significantly slow when the US Federal Reserve ends its bond-purchasing program known as quantitative easing, said Olivier Blanchard, chief economist at the IMF.