The outcome led a New York Federal Reserve weekly index of projected growth in gross domestic product to improve slightly. “It’s promising that initial unemployment claims have fallen, but there’s still a long road ahead.”The risks may be mounting. The pandemic payments had been authorised by lawmakers in March along with forgivable loans extended to hundreds of thousands of small businesses. Retail sales are expected to have risen 1.9% last month, according to the consensus estimate of analysts polled by Reuters. An Oxford Economics index combining health, economic and social data fell last week, and has shown little change since mid-June.

Source: bd News24 August 13, 2020 16:52 UTC