April 29, 2020 Tremendous human and economic hardship blankets the United States and the World due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The outbreak has resulted in the implementation of numerous measures to protect public health while inducing declines in economic activity and a surge in job losses. The Federal Reserve cites, “weaker demand
April 29, 2020 Unemployment rates trended upward for the month of March in 253 of the 389 metropolitan states compared to twelve months earlier. According to Bureau Labor Statistics (BLS), unemployment rates were, “lower in 123 areas, and unchanged in 13 areas.” Jobless rates lower than 3.0% were recorded in 45 areas while 11 areas
Date: April 27, 2020 Caribbean Cement Company Limited (CCC), for the three months ended March 2020, reported total revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, an increase of 2% increase when compared with the $4.45 billion reported in 2019. Cost of sales amounted to $2.68 billion (2019: $2.30 billion), which resulted in gross profit of
April 24, 2020 In 2019, the year prior to COVID-19 containment measures were widely introduced by EU Member States, unemployment rates continued to vary widely across the NUTS 2 regions of the EU’s 27 Member States, as noted by Eurostat. The lowest rates were observed in four Czech regions: Prague and Central Bohemia (both 1.3%),
April 23, 2020 The seasonally adjusted general government deficit to GDP ratio in the fourth quarter of 2019 was 0.7% in both the euro area (EA19) and the EU27, both stable compared with the third quarter of 2019, according to Eurostat. Seasonally adjusted government revenue and expenditure for the euro area and EU27 Total government
April 23, 2020 Brent Oil Brent oil prices decreased by 19.95% or US$5.55, as prices fell this week relative to the prior week. Oil traded on April 23, 2020 at a price of US$22.27 per barrel relative to US$27.82 on April 16, 2020. Brent oil opened 2020 year at US$66.25 per barrel. Petrojam prices 87
April 22, 2020 According to Eurostat, “in 2019, the government deficit of both the euro area (EA19) and the EU27 increased in relative terms compared with 2018, while the government debt declined in both zones.” Furthermore, in the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio increased from 0.5% in 2018 to 0.6% in 2019,
April 22. 2020 The Government notes the unprecedented collapse in world oil markets today where prices collapsed more than 99% before going negative. Over the past few weeks, we have had a small team from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service working with our bankers and multilateral partners on the possibility of hedging
April 21, 2020 In the year 2019, the year before COVID-19 containment measures were widely introduced by EU Member States, the employment rate of people aged 20 to 64 in the European Union of 27 Member States (EU) rose to 73.1% relative to 72.4% in 2018, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European
April 20, 2020 The Euro Area Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union noted that, “the first estimate for euro area (EA19) exports of goods to the rest of the world in February 2020 was €189.3 billion, an increase of 1.6% compared with February 2019 (€186.3 bn).” In comparison to February 2019, imports from the
