INFLATION

Federal Reserve officials are increasingly confident the U.S. economic recovery is sustainable, even if they do not see employment picking up soon, minutes from their November meeting showed.

Federal Reserve officials are increasingly confident the U.S. economic recovery is sustainable, but they do not see employment picking up soon, according to minutes from their November meeting released on Tuesday.

Japanese cabinet ministers piled yet more pressure on the Bank of Japan on Tuesday to respond to deflation, with one saying the central bank was asleep at the wheel.

Two years of economic and market turmoil mean that investors cannot ignore the chances of even the most extreme events like global depression or a killer pandemic, a leading investment consultancy said on Monday.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said on Monday its gauge of the national economy fell further into negative territory in October, in a report that suggested the economic recovery could be in trouble.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans expects U.S. unemployment to peak at around 10.5 percent next spring and hopefully easing to about 9.5 percent by end-2010, according to comments published on Monday.

A group of U.S. business economists boosted their forecast for economic growth over the next year, but said the jobless rate will remain stubbornly high, a survey released on Monday showed.

A group of U.S. business economists boosted their forecast for economic growth over the next year, but said the jobless rate will remain stubbornly high, a survey released on Monday showed.

Gold powered to another record high on Monday, benefiting from its reputation as a hedge against inflation and sluggish economic growth, while oil and copper prices rose on a weaker dollar and supply concerns.

Investors tempted to put money into star hedge fund manager John Paulson's new gold portfolio will have to commit at least $10 million and leave the money locked up for at least one year, according to a prospectus.

The dollar rose on Friday, extending the previous day's gains as investors retreated from riskier assets, taking the shine off higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar.

Senior U.S. Federal Reserve officials said on Thursday inflation is not an immediate threat as a weak economic recovery and a grim outlook for jobs keep price pressures in check.

U.S. Federal Reserve officials on Thursday said inflation is not an imminent threat and downplayed the consequences of the falling U.S. dollar.

The U.S. economic recovery will be weaker than after previous deep recessions, and the high jobless rate will decline only slowly, the OECD said on Thursday.

The world's key central banks will not need to start raising policy interest rates until late 2010 due to low inflation and economic slack, and can then proceed gradually, the OECD said in a report published on Thursday.

Construction of new homes in the United States hit a six month low in October, providing more evidence of the economy's sluggish recovery, while a surge in the cost of new and used vehicles lifted consumer prices.

Third quarter Wage Cost Index data came in right on expectations increasing by 0.7% for the quarter and 3.6% on an annualised basis keeping the Aussie between 0.9290 and 0.9320 during morning trade. A story on Bloomberg quoting Chinese Central Bank adviser Fan Gang, who also heads the National Institute of Economic Research, as saying double digit growth in China would not be good as it poses a risk of promoting a property and commodity market bubble put a dampener on the AUD. With Chinese eco...

Construction of new homes in the United States hit a six month low in October, providing more evidence of the economy's sluggish recovery, while a surge in the cost of new and used vehicles lifted consumer prices.

A senior U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday the central bank may start tightening financial conditions by adjusting its extensive purchase programs, rather than by raising interest rates.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers was up 0.3 percent in October, according to a monthly report from the U.S. Labor Department.

Rising energy costs likely pushed consumer prices up in October, but core inflation was likely tempered by sagging rents, according to a Reuters poll of economists.