Correctly measuring firm market power in labour markets (‘monopsony power’) has implications for firms, workers, and the aggregate economy. A key challenge is the precise measurement of the concentration in demand for job tasks across firms. This column uses Norwegian register data to construct a new task-based measure of labour market concentration. It shows that […]
Around 40,000 Syrians who had fled areas affected by the deadly Feb. 6 earthquake have returned from Turkey to rebel-held northwestern Syria in the two weeks since Turkey eased restrictions on their movements, a Turkish official and a Syrian rebel official said. The immigration was recorded at four border crossings held by Syrian armed groups […]
India’s economic growth slowed further in the December quarter as pent up demand eased and weakness in the manufacturing sector continued. Asia’s third largest economy recorded year-on-year growth of 4.4% in October-December, down from 6.3% in July-September, data released by the government on Tuesday showed. The sharp fall in the year-on-year growth rate is also […]
India is likely to experience heat waves between March and May, especially in the key wheat producing central and northern states, the weather office said on Tuesday, as the country recorded its highest ever maximum temperature in February. A heat-wave for the second straight year could dent production of wheat, rapeseed and chickpeas, and complicate […]
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in Northern Ireland on Tuesday to sell his with the European Union to ease post-Brexit trade, a measure he hopes will finally break the political deadlock in the province. Sunak is trying to secure the backing of all sides in Northern Ireland so he can reset relations with the EU […]
ABUJA, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Provisional results from Nigeria’s disputed presidential election showed Bola Tinubu from the ruling party closing in on victory, a Reuters tally of votes in 33 of the country’s 36 states and the federal capital Abuja showed on Tuesday. Tinubu’s potential victory extends the All Progressives Congress party’s (APC) grip on power in […]
Sri Lanka is at a critical moment in its history. Years of economic mismanagement, weak governance, poor policy choices, and the impacts of external shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, plunged the country into its worst-ever crisis in 2022. Economic collapse and political instability have devastated lives and livelihoods […]
Central banks typically pay considerable attention to inflation expectations. This column exploits the richness and flexible design of the ECB’s Consumer Expectations Survey to explore recent changes in consumers’ medium-term inflation expectations. The data suggest that over the course of 2022 these expectations became less well anchored around the ECB’s 2% inflation target. By taking […]
Now that COVID-19 infection rates and deaths are at relatively low levels in the US, attention is turning to the significant proportion of the population who continue to report symptoms long after initial infection. This column describes how 14% of the 460,000 Americans in a US Census Bureau household survey reported suffering long COVID at […]
Japan will from Wednesday ease its COVID restrictions on travellers from China, dropping a requirement that everyone take a test for the virus upon arrival, its top government spokesperson said. Instead of blanket testing of travellers from mainland China, Japan will only test selected samples, although travellers will still need to show a negative test […]
