China’s Wen Targets Inflation. Fighting inflation is China’s top economic priority this year as the government aims to limit the risk of social unrest, Premier Wen Jiabao said in his state-of- the-nation speech. “We cannot allow price rises to affect the normal lives of low-income people,” Wen said in a report to the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress in Beijing today. “This problem concerns the people’s well-being, bears on overall interests and affects social stability.”
Wen, 68, confirmed targets of 4 percent for full-year inflation and 8 percent for economic growth, as the Communist Party seeks to maintain support for its 61-year rule. In the past two weekends, the government has deployed hundreds of police in Beijing and Shanghai after Internet calls for so- called Jasmine protests, inspired by revolts in the Middle East and North Africa.
“Inflation is a potential trigger point for social discontent,” said Liu Li-Gang, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in Hong Kong who formerly worked for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the World Bank. The government needs to boost lending and deposit rates by 0.75 percentage point by year-end, as well as raising wages and giving subsidies to the poor, he said.
Wen identified illegal land seizures, food safety, “exorbitant” house-price increases and “rampant corruption” in some places as among top public concerns. The government will “decisively” counter inflation and make it the “top priority in macroeconomic control,” he said. View full post on businessweek.com.
A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals.
Showing posts with label job. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job. Show all posts
Jobless Claims Decrease Last Week
Jobless Claims Drop. Service industries expanded in February at the fastest pace since 2005 and fewer Americans unexpectedly filed claims for jobless benefits, adding to evidence the U.S. recovery is gaining strength. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing businesses increased to 59.7 last month from 59.4 in January. A reading above 50 signals growth. The number of initial applications for unemployment insurance payments fell by 20,000 to 368,000 last week, the lowest since May 2008 and fewer than the most optimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, figures from the Labor Department showed.
Stocks rose as the figures supported the Federal Reserve’s assessment that the labor market is on the mend following the loss of 8.75 million positions during the recession. Brighter prospects about personal finances are bolstering consumer confidence, another report showed, increasing the odds that Americans will keep spending at stores like J.C. Penney Co. and Macy’s Inc. See more about Jobless Claims Drop.
“You’re getting a picture of an economy that is quite strong already and perhaps gathering momentum,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. “Sentiment has been picking up over the last two or three months and that stands to reason -- the stock market has done better, the economy has certainly done better, and, most importantly, the labor market is improving.” The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 1.7 percent to 1,330.97 at the 4 p.m. close in New York for its biggest gain in three months. The index is up 21 percent in the past six months. Source: businessweek.com
Stocks rose as the figures supported the Federal Reserve’s assessment that the labor market is on the mend following the loss of 8.75 million positions during the recession. Brighter prospects about personal finances are bolstering consumer confidence, another report showed, increasing the odds that Americans will keep spending at stores like J.C. Penney Co. and Macy’s Inc. See more about Jobless Claims Drop.
“You’re getting a picture of an economy that is quite strong already and perhaps gathering momentum,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. “Sentiment has been picking up over the last two or three months and that stands to reason -- the stock market has done better, the economy has certainly done better, and, most importantly, the labor market is improving.” The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 1.7 percent to 1,330.97 at the 4 p.m. close in New York for its biggest gain in three months. The index is up 21 percent in the past six months. Source: businessweek.com
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