President Joe Biden on Monday urged U.S. companies to help workers gain access to vaccines and to raise their pay while touting an infusion of $350 billion in federal aid to state and local governments, saying that will help more parents obtain child care and return to work. Biden's remarks were designed to address ways employers can hire more workers and to help more people take jobs. The Labor Department reported on Friday the economy added 266,000 jobs in April, short of the million jobs that most forecasters had expected. Biden also defended himself against critics who have said expanded unemployment benefits offered in the COVID-19 relief bill passed in March are keeping Americans from taking new jobs.
China's factory-gate prices surge by most in over three years
China's factory gate prices rose at the fastest rate in three and a half years during April, as the world's second-largest economy
continued to gather momentum following record-setting growth in the January-March quarter. The producer price index (PPI) rose
6.8% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement, compared with a 6.5% rise tipped by a Reuters poll of
analysts and a 4.4% rise in March. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.9% in April from a year earlier. China's export growth beat
market expectations in April while imports for the month hit a decade high underscoring robust economic activity for the world's
second-largest economy. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by a record 18.3% in annual terms in the first
quarter. Many economists expect China's GDP growth to exceed 8% in 2021.
BOJ policymakers warned of risks to recovery prospects at April meeting
Bank of Japan policymakers warned of uncertainties over the country's economic recovery as pandemic curbs hurt service
consumption, a summary of their opinions voiced at an April policy meeting showed on Tuesday. At last month's rate review, the
central bank kept monetary policy steady and projected that Japan would recover from the COVID-19 pandemic's damage. But many
in the nine-member board highlighted risks clouding the outlook and stressed the need to focus on supporting the economy with
massive stimulus. As the pandemic persists, Japan has seen a divergence between manufacturers benefiting from robust global
demand and retailers struggling from the curbs on social activity.
Dollar hovers near 10-week lows as inflation expectations skyrocket
The 10-year government bond yield (interpolated) on the previous trading day was 1.77, +1.00 bps. The benchmark government
bond yield (LB31DA, 10.5 years) was 1.83, +1.00 bps. LB29DA could be between 1.81-1.85. Meantime, the latest closed US 10-year
bond yields was 1.63%, +3.00bps. USDTHB on the previous trading day closed around 31.10 Moving in a range from 31.06-31.13
this morning. USDTHB could be closed between 31.03-31.10 today. Meantime, The dollar languished at around 2-1/2 month lows on
Monday as investors bet that rising inflation would erode the currency's value as the U.S. Federal Reserve maintains its loose
monetary policy.
Sources : Bloomberg, CNBC, Investing, CEIC
