February 2, 2023
United States:
US Labor Market Seen Cooling, But Not Nearly Enough for Fed
US hiring likely continued to moderate at the start of the year, though still-solid wage growth, an unemployment rate near historical lows and high vacancies are seen stiffening the Federal Reserve’s resolve to keep rates elevated for some time.
Friday’s jobs report is expected to show payrolls rose by 190,000 in January. Economists also estimate that average hourly earnings rose 0.3% for a second month and the unemployment rate slightly ticked up from a five-decade low.
Europe:
ECB Delivers Half-Point Hike and Vows Another Before Reassessing
The European Central Bank lifted interest rates by a half-point and pledged another such move before officials then take stock of where borrowing costs must go to tame inflation.
Policymakers, as expected, raised the deposit rate to 2.5%, the highest since 2008. They warned that the most aggressive bout of monetary tightening in ECB history isn’t done — even as energy prices plunge and the Federal Reserve moderates the pace of its own hikes.
Asia:
India Unveils Income Tax Bonanza a Year Before Elections
India will forego 350 billion rupees ($4.28 billion) in revenue by raising the cap on income tax exemption and cutting rates, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said as she presented the annual budget on Wednesday.
The government will lift the exemption bar to up to 700,000 rupees a year from a previous threshold of 500,000 rupees as it cut the maximum income tax rate to 39% and reduced the highest surcharge to 25% from 37%.
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