Tag - economy

 
 

ECONOMY

An official from the Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions writes down the results of this year's "shuntō" annual spring labor negotiations on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2025
Major Japanese companies agree to solid pay and bonus hikes
Toyota, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi, Fujitsu and NEC are among companies that say they have agreed to their respective labor unions' demands.
A Bloomberg survey said almost three quarters of Bank of Japan watchers who responded said that U.S. tariffs could exert enough of a drag on Japan’s economy to delay the central bank’s rate hike path.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 12, 2025
BOJ watchers see gradual rate hikes with higher terminal rate
Economists now anticipate the terminal rate to be 1.25%, up from 1% in the previous survey.
Coils of rolled steel sit in an industrial yard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 12, 2025
U.S.-Canada trade war heats up as Trump doubles metals tariffs, then backs off
The switch came after a Canadian official also backed off his own plans for a 25% surcharge on electricity.
A man walks past an electronic board showing the Nikkei 225 index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in the capital on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 11, 2025
Asian stocks slide as U.S. growth worries grip markets
In Asia, stocks were battered across the board with Japan's Nikkei and Taiwan stocks hitting their lowest levels since September.
A Vietnamese worker harvests tomatoes at a farm in the city of Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, in 2018.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2025
Amid labor shortage, Japan approves guidelines to upskill foreign workers
The new program aims to nurture trainees into skilled workers to motivate them to remain in the country.
Kazuo Momma, a former executive director in charge of monetary policy at the Bank of Japan, says June is the favored option for the central bank's next rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 11, 2025
BOJ’s next rate hike likely in June, former executive says
Kazuo Momma, a former executive director in charge of monetary policy, says the central bank is likely to move roughly every six months to maintain expectations.
Japan's economy expanded in the October-December quarter at a slower pace than earlier reported as consumption came in weaker than expected.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 11, 2025
Japan’s economic growth revised lower ahead of BOJ meet
The revised figures highlight pockets of weakness in the Japanese economy even as it continues to moderately expand.
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the opening bell in New York on Monday, when stocks plummeted as investors fretted that uncertainty over President Donald Trump's tariff policy could tip the world's biggest economy into a recession.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 11, 2025
Markets rocked by Trump show economic fear across Wall Street
What had been a steady pullback from the U.S. stock market accelerated sharply Monday as investors retreated from virtually every type of risk.
Japan logged a deficit of ¥257.6 billion in the current account, a measure of trade and investment flows, compared with a surplus of ¥334.3 billion a year before, according to the Finance Ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2025
Japan logs its first current account deficit in two years in January
The nation logged a deficit of ¥257.6 billion in the current account compared with a surplus of ¥334.3 billion a year before.
Base pay rose by 3.1% in January from a year earlier, the largest advance since October 1992, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2025
Japan records fastest gains in base pay since 1992, supporting BOJ moves
Data has also highlighted the impact of price growth, with real cash earnings falling 1.8%.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stands with him aboard Air Force One on his return to Washington on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2025
Trump declines to rule out recession in U.S. this year
The U.S. president's on-again, off-again tariff threats have roiled financial markets and stoked unease among consumers.
Qianmen street, Beijing, in March 2023. Though the immediate shock has passed, COVID-19's legacy continues to reshape global economies and markets.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2025
Five years on, the economic impact of COVID-19 lingers
Though the immediate shock has passed, COVID-19's legacy continues to reshape global economies and markets.
A man is silhouetted beneath a screen displaying Japan's Nikkei share average in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 8, 2025
Japanese stocks expected to remain on downward trend amid tariff turmoil
Uncertainties over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs this week pushed the Nikkei 225 index below 37,000 for the first time in six months.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday. Trump said tariffs could be imposed on Canadian dairy and lumber products within days, in a growing trade war with the United States' northern neighbor.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Mar 8, 2025
Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff strategy sows confusion
Hasty announcements have injected chaos into the economy and financial markets, casting doubts about the White House’s trade strategy.
Japan is grappling with a budget shortfall, and while raising the tax-free threshold has sparked political debate, the country's booming tourism industry presents an untapped revenue source.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2025
Japan has a revenue hole. Plug it with tourists
More than 35 years after sales tax was first introduced, it remains incredibly unpopular and reducing it is a regular promise of opposition parties.
Globally, women are severely underrepresented among leading roles in cinema, with female directors accounting for just over 10% of the industry in Japan. Achieving gender equality on-set would have far-reaching consequences for the whole of society.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2025
Without women behind the camera, equality stays out of the frame
Cinema isn't only about what stories are told, but who tells them. Overcoming severe underrepresentation, women are reshaping the film industry and cultural narratives.
The weighted average of wage hikes demanded by 2,939 member unions of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, in this year's shuntō labor-management negotiations came to 6.09%, a Rengo survey showed Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2025
Japan pay hike demands top 6% for first time in 32 years
It is the first time in 32 years for the average wage hike request to exceed 6%, amid the soaring cost of living and labor shortages.
Rengo says its member unions have demanded an average wage increase of 6.09% this year, up from last year’s 5.85%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025
Japan’s biggest union group demands highest wage hike since 1993
Member unions of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation are seeking an average wage increase of 6.09% this year, up from last year’s 5.85%.
Ukraine has become a leader in drone warfare, particularly with its innovative use of first-person view drones. These drones have proven highly effective in targeting Russian military equipment and ammunition depots.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2025
Breaking down Ukraine’s true value
With the U.S. now increasingly acting in Russia’s interests, supporting Ukraine is not just a moral imperative for Europe, it is an existential one.
The yield on Japan’s 10-year note climbed 7 basis points to 1.5%, the highest since 2009.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025
German bond rout goes global as yields surge in Japan
The yield on Japan’s 10-year note climbed 7 basis points to 1.5%, the highest since 2009.

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