Exports of intermediate goods sustain gains in Q1 of 2021 after rebound from pandemic

World exports of intermediate goods (IG), such as parts and components, rose by 20% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021 according to a new WTO quarterly report to help track the health of global supply chains. Read more →

Jobs slowdown puts Fed’s taper timeline in doubt

A sharp slowdown in US jobs growth precludes the possibility that the Federal Reserve will announce plans this month to begin scaling back its pandemic-era stimulus. Read more →

Inflation could spark new global financial crisis, says Russia’s central bank

Russia’s central bank says a new financial crisis on the scale of the 2008 collapse could happen in less than 18 months if global inflation is not kept in check. Read more →

Economic losses from extreme weather hit £3.6tn over five decades

Developed nations have incurred the bulk of $3.6tn in economic losses from severe weather events over the past five decades. Read more →

China says US tensions threaten fight against climate change

China has warned the US that a “strategic miscalculation” in its relations with Beijing had stoked bilateral tensions that risked derailing high-level talks aimed at combating the global threat of climate change. Read more →

How cooperation on trade can help tackle plastic pollution

About 75% of all the plastic ever produced has become waste, a trend that may continue if measures to reduce, substitute, collect, recycle and sustainably dispose of plastics are not put in place with harmonized global rules worldwide. Read more →

UK labour crisis could last up to two years, CBI warns

The labour crisis could last for up to two years, Britain’s leading business lobby group has warned, as it called for ministers to take action on visas for foreign workers and stop “waiting for shortages to solve themselves”. Read more →