• March 10, 2017
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China’s central bank head, Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan, on Friday indicated there’s a slight shift there away from the largely expansionary monetary policy that’s been in place for the last few years. With the economy healthier, the bank is moving to support government efforts to cut off overly generous credit and lower financial risks, he said

• March 10, 2017
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The U.S. economy added 235,000 net new jobs in February, beating expectations for 190,000 jobs. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.7% from 4.8%, while the labor force participation rate edged up slightly to 63% from 62.9% in January. Economists had forecast 190,000 job gains, according to the median estimate of a Bloomberg survey. Many

• March 9, 2017
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The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits jumped by 20,000 to 243,000 in early March, but layoffs remained near a 45-year low. Economists had expected initial jobless claims to total 238,000 in the seven days stretching from Feb. 26 to March 4

• March 9, 2017
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The price of imports rose in February for the third month in a row, and in a potentially worrisome sign, the increase spread beyond oil into other industrial and consumer goods. The import price index rose 0.2% in February following even bigger increases in the prior two months, the government reported Thursday. Yet unlike in

• March 9, 2017
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The European Central Bank offered no surprises Thursday as it left interest rates unchanged. The Governing Council left the main refinancing rate at 0%, while the rate on deposits parked overnight at the bank remains at minus 0.4%. The rate on the bank’s marginal lending facility remains at 0.25%. In a statement, the bank repeated

• March 9, 2017
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European government bond yields ticked lower on Thursday after the European Central Bank left its monetary-policy strategy steady. The yield on the 10-year German bund , considered the European benchmark, was up half a basis point on the day at 0.375%, while the yield on the 10-year French bond declined two basis points to 1.008%.

• March 9, 2017
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Gold futures pushed their slide into an eighth consecutive session Thursday as prices languished at their lowest since early February. A sharp drop for oil prices, as crude dropped below $49 a barrel for the first time this year, weighed on gold trading. The yellow metal fell even as a rising dollar index paused its

• March 9, 2017
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Rates for home loans spiked along with a surge in Treasury yields as Federal Reserve officials guided market expectations toward an interest rate increase next week. It is only the third week in 2017 in which interest rates have increased.

• March 8, 2017
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ADP says February was third-best month of jobs growth of the recovery. Private-sector employment increased by 298,000, ADP reported Thursday. That gain suggests a much better than forecast reading for the payrolls report due Friday, where expectations are for 200,000 jobs added.

• March 8, 2017
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Unit Labor Costs 1.7 vs. estimates of 1.6. Nonfarm Productivity 1.3 vs. estimates of 1.5. This is revised data from the 4th QTR.