China’s President Xi: I told Putin that ties with Russia are a Chinese strategic choice

Members commenced their discussion of international economic developments by noting that inflation remained well above central banks’ targets, though it had moderated over prior months. Headline inflation had come off its peaks as energy prices had fallen and – outside the euro area – core inflation had also eased as reduced supply-chain pressures had led to slowing goods price inflation. Services inflation remained high in most economies, reflecting the tight labour market conditions and still-firm demand for services, but had been broadly stable recently. Rents inflation was also high in most advanced economies, but there were signs from new rental agreements that this could start to ease in the United States. The latest monthly data on core inflation had mostly been stronger than expected and had picked up noticeably in the United States and some euro area countries. Unemployment rates remained at multi-decade lows for many advanced economies and vacancy rates were still high. Nevertheless, employment growth had slowed and hiring intentions pointed to further moderation in coming months. Vacancy rates had declined from their peaks and vacancies had become slightly easier to fill. Members noted that wages growth had slowed from its earlier peaks in the United States and Canada, although in the United States it remained above rates consistent with sustainable achievement of the inflation target. Growth in domestic demand slowed in late 2022 across most advanced economies, driven by weaker growth in household consumption, particularly the demand for goods. Members observed that there had been signs of strength more recently, with indicators of services consumption and from business surveys holding up in several advanced economies, and a strong pick-up in US consumption in January. The housing sector remained an post at 8:30pm: RBA: STRINGENT POLICIES AND UNCERTAIN OUTLOOK MADE IT APPROPRIATE TO HOLD RATES STABLE AT SOME POINT. post at 8:30pm: RBA: BOARD WATCHING DATA ON JOBS, INFLATION, RETAIL SALES, BUSINESS SURVEYS, GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS #News #Markets #RBA #INFLATION #capitalhungry post at 8:31pm: RBA: INFLATION IS TOO HIGH, THE LABOUR MARKET IS TIGHT, AND BUSINESS SURVEYS ARE STRONG.