Japan cuts economy view on weaker factory output &#8211; Financial Post

TOKYO — Japan’s government has trimmed its overall view on the economy for the fourth time this year due to a downgrade in its assessment of manufacturing output in spite of a U.S.-China trade truce.

It described the economy as recovering at a moderate pace, in its December report, but said weakness centered on manufacturers increased a notch amid continued softness in exports, which was a slightly bleaker view than last month.

The assessment suggests domestic demand remains strong enough to offset risks to Japan’s export-reliant economy from slowing global growth and pressures on exports from the 17-month-long Sino-U.S. trade war.

But the downbeat estimation could add pressure on the government to devise new steps to support growth and for the central bank to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy.

On Thursday, the Bank of Japan kept its short- and long-term rate targets steady though it warned that risks to the recovery remained high.

The last time the government marked down its view on the economy four times in a single year was in 2012.

The downgrade was mainly the result of a cut in the view on industrial production because of the widening impact from declining car exports, including on steel, chemical and electronic component manufacturers.

“Some weakness that appeared in other industries related to car production was the trigger for this further downgrade,” an official from the Cabinet Office, which helps coordinate government policy, said at a briefing.

The government left untouched its view on most of the other individual components of the report, offering a generally positive view of domestic demand.

It also downgraded its overall assessment of the economy in October, May and March this year.

Japan’s economy, the world’s third-largest, grew in the third quarter at the slowest pace seen so far this year, though it still expanded an annualized 1.8%, mostly driven by robust capital spending and domestic demand. (Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Economy

Why falling immigration isn't that bad for the economy during COVID-19 – Yahoo Canada Finance

Published

10 hours ago

September 18, 2020

COVID-19 travel restrictions have put a big dent in immigration, widely seen as something the economy relies on, but the negative effects aren’t as bad as they might seem.

The latest government numbers show 13,645 fewer permanent residents came to Canada in July, down 63 per cent from the same month last year. April and June were similarly weak periods, making the likelihood of reaching the federal government’s target of 341,000 less likely.

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="For a country like Canada with an aging population and relatively low population growth, immigration is needed to counter demographic headwinds. But the pandemic’s effects more generally, far outweigh the specific negative effects of lower immigration.” data-reactid=”18″>For a country like Canada with an aging population and relatively low population growth, immigration is needed to counter demographic headwinds. But the pandemic’s effects more generally, far outweigh the specific negative effects of lower immigration.

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="“I think we need to keep the incremental impact of new immigration on economic growth in perspective. Even at its maximum pace in recent years, it was adding roughly 1 per cent to population per year and roughly the same to the labour force.” BMO chief economist Doug Porter told Yahoo Finance Canada. ” data-reactid=”19″>“I think we need to keep the incremental impact of new immigration on economic growth in perspective. Even at its maximum pace in recent years, it was adding roughly 1 per cent to population per year and roughly the same to the labour force.” BMO chief economist Doug Porter told Yahoo Finance Canada.

“So, even a complete shutdown of immigration would (roughly) shave 1 percentage point from growth (or a bit less). Not small by any means, but that compares with what could be a 6 per cent drop in GDP (OECD said -5.8 per cent for this year, we are looking at -5.5 per cent).”

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Around 1.1 million Canadians are still out of work, so immigrant workers aren’t exactly in high demand these days.” data-reactid=”21″>Around 1.1 million Canadians are still out of work, so immigrant workers aren’t exactly in high demand these days.

“Overall, given the realities of COVID and the now-soft demand for labour, the cool down in immigration by itself will not be particularly harmful — and certainly less so than it would have been say a year ago.” said Porter.

Long term effects without immigration

Pedro Antunes, the Conference Board of Canada’s chief economist, also thinks the effects are mitigated in the short-term but that doesn’t mean the economy will be totally unscathed.

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="“Some sectors will be affected because immigration drives consumer spending, demand for housing, and other services directly related to increased population,” he told Yahoo Finance Canada.” data-reactid=”25″>“Some sectors will be affected because immigration drives consumer spending, demand for housing, and other services directly related to increased population,” he told Yahoo Finance Canada.

However, he believes it’s more important to look at the long term repercussions of reduced immigration.

“Canada’s underlying capacity is dependent on private and public investment, adoption of technology and the number of workers (and the skills of those workers). We know from our prior research that without immigration, our labour force would be flat or declining (since exiting baby-boomers outnumber school leavers),” said Antunes.

“If immigration levels are reduced over a few years (we think 2020 and 2021 at least) the result is a long-lasting impact on our potential (or productive capacity).”

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Jessy Bains is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jessysbains.” data-reactid=”29″>Jessy Bains is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jessysbains.

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.” data-reactid=”30″>Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.

Economy

EU looks to fast 5G, supercomputers to boost virus-hit economy – TheChronicleHerald.ca

Published

13 hours ago

September 18, 2020

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission on Friday urged the 27-country bloc to work together to speed up the rollout of fibre and 5G networks to boost the region’s virus-hit economy and secure its technology autonomy.

EU countries should develop a best practices toolbox by March 30 with the aim of cutting cost and red tape, provide timely access to 5G radio spectrum and allow for more cross-border coordination for radio spectrum for 5G services, the EU executive said.

The coronavirus outbreak showed how important internet services and 5G are, European digital chief Margrethe Vestager said.

“We have seen the current crisis highlight the importance of access to very high-speed internet for businesses, public services and citizens, but also to accelerate the pace towards 5G,” she said in a statement. “We must therefore work together towards fast network rollout without any further delays.”

The Commission also proposed a recommendation to boost research and activities to develop new supercomputing technologies.

“Keeping up in the international technological race is a priority, and Europe has both the know-how and the political will to play a leading role,” Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a statement.

The Commission is investing 8 billion euros($9.46 billion)in the next generation of supercomputers.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

Economy

Charting the Global Economy: Fed Signals Rates on Hold for Years – BNN

Published

14 hours ago

September 18, 2020

(Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve signaled it will keep its benchmark interest rate near zero through 2023 to help the world’s largest economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Cheap borrowing costs are fueling demand for U.S. housing and leaving builders brimming with optimism in the process. In China, retail sales and industrial output are on the mend, while in the U.K., the virus-related shutdowns are having a large negative impact on youth employment.

Here are some of the charts that appeared on Bloomberg this week, offering insight into the latest developments in the global economy:

World

The global economic slump won’t be as sharp as previously feared this year, though the recovery is losing pace and will need support from governments and central banks for some time yet, according to the OECD.

U.S.

The Federal Reserve’s so-called dot plot, which the central bank uses to signal its outlook for the path of interest rates, shows that officials expect no change in policy this year and borrowing costs near zero through 2023.

Homebuilder optimism rose to a record in September, with low mortgage rates driving a housing boom that has boosted the pandemic economy, National Association of Home Builders data show.

Europe

The U.K.’s lockdown hit young workers particularly hard, with employment in the 16-24 age category falling by 156,000. That may reflect the share of young workers in hotels, restaurants and bars, a sector devastated by the pandemic.

Asia

China’s economic recovery from Covid-19 accelerated, spurred by a rebound in consumption as virus restrictions eased and larger-than-expected gains in industrial output. Retail sales rose for the first time this year in August, by 0.5% from a year earlier, while industrial production expanded 5.6%, against a forecast of 5.1%.

Emerging Markets

Scoring 75 emerging-market and frontier economies, Bloomberg Economics finds that Asia leads in getting closer to pre-outbreak norms, with some countries in Africa and Eastern Europe also outperforming. Latin America is still struggling to contain the pandemic, with 18 of the bottom 25 in the ranking in Latin America or the Caribbean.

Saudi Arabia’s crude exports dropped to the lowest since at least 2016 in the second quarter as it led a campaign alongside Russia to curb oil production following a coronavirus-induced price crash. While the effort yielded a stark turnaround in prices in May and June, Saudi revenue from oil sales still plunged almost 62% in the three-month period from a year earlier.

South Africa is among the countries with the highest percentage of smokers globally, with almost one in every three adults lighting up. So when the government banned cigarette sales for about five months of the nation’s Covid-19 lockdown, some 90% found a workaround.