U.S. Economic News
April 24, 2019
U.S. News
The Financial Times reports that a new study by the European Central Bank found that escalations in global trade barriers could reduce U.S. GDP by 2.0% relative to the baseline expectation. The ECB’s research found that after one year of heightened trade tensions, U.S. economic growth would be hurt more than growth in Europe or China. FT
According to the Financial Times, business confidence in Germany weakened unexpectedly in April as sentiment deteriorated sharply in manufacturing and trade. Conditions continue to worsen for Europe’s largest economy despite signs of a rebound in the U.S. and China. FT
The New York Times reports that the effective U.S. minimum wage is at an all-time high at $11.80 an hour. Although the federal minimum wage has remained unchanged at $7.25 for the last decade, 89% of the nation’s minimum-wage employees earn higher wages due to state- and city-level minimum wages set above the federal level. NYT