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BEIJING China’s exports growth slowed sharply to a much lower than expected 2.9 percent in November, a customs report said on Monday, underscoring the global headwinds dragging on an economy showing otherwise solid signs of a pick up in domestic activity. Data at the weekend showed both industrial output and retail sales rose in November at their fastest annual pace in eight months, reinforcing the view that growth in the world’s second-biggest economy is finally picking up after a long slide. However, weak exports will drag on the revival in the Chinese economy as its major buyers struggle; Europe and [...]

PARIS The euro zone is in the recovery room now the danger of a Greek default has been averted for a couple of years, but it is not yet safe from a Japanese-style “lost decade”. The currency area’s escape route hinges more on the pace of expansion in the United States and China, lifting the world economy, than on the policy mix in Europe, which will continue to favor austerity over growth in 2013. At best, Ireland and Portugal could emerge slimmed down from their bailout programmes and regain capital market access by the end of the year, demonstrating that [...]

SEOUL South Korean exports last month marked their first back-to-back growth of the year, but demand from the advanced economies was weak, data showed on Saturday, indicating any global recovery would be fragile at best. November exports grew by 3.9 percent over a year earlier to $ 47.8 billion on top of a revised 1.1 percent rise in October, while imports last month rose by 0.7 percent to $ 43.3 billion, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy data showed. The November data, released for the first time by a major exporting economy, and the robust survey findings in China disclosed earlier [...]

PARIS European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Friday that budgetary consolidation in the euro zone would entail a short-term economic impact but the currency bloc was on track for a recovery in the second half of 2013. “We have not yet emerged from the crisis,” Draghi told Europe 1 radio. “The recovery for most of the euro zone will certainly begin in the second half of 2013.” “It’s true that budgetary consolidation entails a short-term contraction of economic activity, but this budgetary consolidation is inevitable,” Draghi said, speaking through a translator. Draghi, in Paris for a conference with [...]

MADRID The prospect of a quick recovery in Spain remains remote and decisive policy action is needed if the economic and financial situation is to be turned around, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Thursday. In a report on Spain, the OECD also said the government should aim to meet its 2012 headline deficit target of 6.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product unless economic growth is far lower than expected. “The prospect of an immediate recovery remains remote as deleveraging of the private sector still has a long way to go while the feedback loop between [...]

Home resales rose in October and a gauge of homebuilder sentiment climbed to a six-year high in November, a sign slow improvements in the labor market are helping the housing sector recovery gain traction. The National Association of Realtors said on Monday that existing home sales climbed 2.1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million units, beating forecasts by Wall Street economists. The data suggests America’s recovery from the 2007-09 recession in becoming increasingly self-sustaining, with job creation helping drive home sales, which in turn are supporting economic growth. “The housing market is continuing to [...]

U.S. home resales unexpectedly rose in October, a sign that slow improvements in the country’s labor market are helping the housing sector recovery gain traction. The National Association of Realtors said on Monday that existing home sales climbed 2.1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million units. That was above the median forecast of a 4.75 million-unit rate in a Reuters poll. NAR economist Lawrence Yun said superstorm Sandy, which slammed in the U.S. East Coast on October 29, had only a slight impact on home resales. The only region where the pace of sales [...]

Europe’s financial crisis remains the biggest hurdle to global economic recovery and will be in focus at a meeting of world finance chiefs in Mexico City this weekend, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Friday. “Recognizing that Europe remains the strongest headwind to global growth, there will be considerable interest among the G20 on the European crisis response,” the official said. The comments contrast with those from some other members of the Group of 20 leading economies, who said the United States’ own fiscal problems will loom largest at the G20 meetings. The senior U.S. Treasury official, who spoke [...]

Four days after superstorm Sandy smashed into the U.S. Northeast, rescuers on Friday were still discovering the extent of the death and devastation in New York and the New Jersey shore, and anger mounted over gasoline shortages, power outages and waits for relief supplies. The total killed in one of the biggest storms to hit the United States jumped by a third on Thursday, to 98. In New York City, 40 people have been found dead, half of them in Staten Island, which was overrun by a wall of water on Monday. Among the dead in Staten Island were two [...]

BEIJING China’s exports and imports may continue to pick up in the fourth quarter as government measures to stabilize trade growth are gaining traction, a Commerce Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying on Thursday. Yao Jian, interviewed by the official Xinhua news agency, also warned against the downside risks faced by exporters, citing weak external demand, rising trade frictions and intensifying global competition. “China’s trade performance in the fourth quarter is likely to maintain the recovery momentum seen in September and will probably grow at the average pace of the past three quarters,” Yao was quoted as saying. China’s total [...]