· U.S. job growth likely regained steam in February
U.S. job growth likely accelerated in February as more services businesses reopened amid falling new COVID-19 cases, quickening vaccination rates and additional pandemic relief money from the government, putting the labor market recovery back on firmer footing and on course for further gains in the months ahead.
The Labor Department’s closely watched employment report on Friday will, however, also offer a reminder that as the United States enters the second year of the coronavirus pandemic the recovery remains excruciatingly slow, with millions of Americans experiencing long spells of joblessness and permanent unemployment.
Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 182,000 jobs last month after rising only 49,000 in January, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Payrolls declined in December for the first time in eight months.
· Employers likely added more jobs in February, but economists say there’s no bounce back yet
Hiring likely improved in February as more of the economy reopened, but winter weather could have hampered some activity.
Economists expect to see 210,000 payrolls were added in February, compared to just 49,000 in January, according to Dow Jones.
The unemployment rate is expected to have remained at 6.3%, but in coming months the level is likely to keep dropping as more of the public becomes vaccinated and service sector jobs return.
The range of expectations for job growth is wide, with Citigroup economists expecting 410,000 payrolls were added in February.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to release the employment report at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday.
Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays, said he does not expect that much strength in February.
Gapen said there are signs hiring improved starting in mid-February, and he expects just 100,000 jobs were added.
Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, said a year ago February was the last pre-pandemic month for hiring, and the unemployment rate was at just 3.5%. She expects just 150,000 jobs added in February this year.
“This is the one-year benchmark. It’s a long way from home,” she said. In April last year, there were more than 20 million jobs lost in one month.
· ‘I worry we’re getting numb’ to Covid numbers as states reopen, former CDC director says
The governors of Texas and Mississippi announced Tuesday that they are lifting mask mandates and allowing businesses to reopen at full capacity.
“It is now time to open Texas 100%,” Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, announced Thursday that a number of his state’s businesses will be allowed to reopen at full capacity beginning March 19.
Besser told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith,” that states should follow the lead of the CDC and heed the concerns of Director Rochelle Walensky, who said she is still “deeply concerned” about the virus.
· Fauci says military members who opt out of Covid vaccine are inadvertently ‘part of the problem’
· Japan to extend Tokyo area state of emergency to March 21
Nationwide, Japan has recorded some 433,000 cases and 8,050 deaths from Covid-19 as of Wednesday.
· Australia asks European Commission to review Italy's vaccine block
Australia has asked the European Commission to review a decision by Italy to block a shipment of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, while stressing on Friday the missing doses would not affect the rollout of Australia’s inoculation programme.
Italy, supported by the European Commission, barred the planned export of around 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine after the drug manufacturer failed to meet its European Union contract commitments.
· China sets 2021 GDP growth target of more than 6% as premier warns of ‘formidable tasks’ in finance
China has set growth target of over 6% for 2021, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced Friday at an annual parliamentary meeting — the country’s most important political event of the year.
Such growth would come off a low base.
China reported GDP growth of 2.3% last year — the only major economy to expand amid the coronavirus pandemic. The country’s official economic figures are often doubted for their accuracy.
· China spending on research and development to rise 7% per year in push for major tech breakthroughs
China will increase its spending on research and development over the next five years in a push to make “major breakthroughs” in technology, Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday.
The comments came during a speech at China’s annual parliamentary “Two Sessions” meeting as Beijing lays out its priorities for the coming years.
Tensions between the U.S. and China over the past few years have spilled over into the technology space hitting China’s biggest companies like Huawei and hurting critical industries like semiconductors.
China has tried to focus on boosting its domestic capabilities in a number of technological areas.
Li said China’s research and development spending will increase by more than 7% per year between 2021 and 2025. R&D will account for a higher percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) than in the previous 5 years. He did not give details on how much the government would spend in absolute terms.
China’s spending on R&D climbed 10.3% to 2.44 trillion Chinese yuan ($378 billion) and accounted for 2.4% of GDP in 2020, according to official statistics.
Meanwhile, central government expenditures on basic research will increase by 10.6%, Li said.
· China proposes changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system
· Bank of Japan’s Kuroda stresses need to keep bond yields ‘stably low’
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda stressed the need to keep long-term borrowing costs stably low to underpin an economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic, signaling that widening an implicit band for its yield target was hardly a done deal.
Markets are rife with speculation the BOJ will widen to 60 basis points from the current 40 points the band at which it allows 10-year bond yield to move around its 0% target.
· Japanese investors dump record amount of foreign bonds after surprise market rout
Japanese investors sold a record amount of foreign bonds late last month, with banks seen dumping U.S. bonds, although market participants expect buying to resume when the new financial year starts next month.
Data from the Ministry of Finance showed this week Japanese investors sold a total of 3.6 trillion yen ($33.4 billion) of foreign bonds during the second and the third week of February.
That was their biggest net selling in any two-week period since the ministry started collecting data in 2005, almost cancelling out their constant net buying since the start of the year.
· Japan's household spending likely fell in January due to 'state of emergency' curbs: Reuters poll
Japan’s household spending likely dropped in January from a year earlier, falling for a second straight month, after the government introduced a state of emergency to contain the coronavirus that month, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.
Household spending likely shed 2.1% in January from a year earlier, according to a median forecast in a Reuters poll of 15 economists, after a 0.6% decline in December.
On a monthly basis, spending likely fell 3.1% in January after a 0.9% gain in December, according to the poll.
Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) likely expanded an annualised 12.8% in October-December, according to analysts in the poll, slightly higher than a preliminary reading of 12.7%.
The government is due to release revised GDP data and household spending data on March 9.
· U.S. imposes trade sanctions on Myanmar, calls on China to help end coup as violence escalates
· Oil soars to near 14-month high as OPEC+ extends output cuts into April
Oil prices jumped more than $1 a barrel on Friday, hitting their highest levels in nearly 14 months, after OPEC and its allies agreed not to increase supply in April as they await a more substantial recovery in demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Brent crude futures for May rose to as high as $68 a barrel on Friday, a level not seen since Jan. 8, 2020. The contract was up $1.09, or 1.6%, to $67.83 a barrel at 0730 GMT, and was on track for a near 3% gain in the week.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 93 cents, or 1.5%, to $64.76 per barrel after hitting a high of $64.94 earlier in the session.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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