U.S. Economic News
December 12, 2018
U.S. Economic Indicators
Consumer prices remained unchanged in November (up 2.2% on the year). The “core” CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.2% in November and is up 2.2% on the year. BLS Report
U.S. News
The Wall Street Journal reports that in a move to ease trade tensions with the U.S., China plans to replace its “Made in China 2025” industrial policy with a new policy that promises greater access for foreign companies. Chinese officials are drafting the replacement for the Made in China 2025 plan, which had previously sought to make China a pioneer in high tech industries at the expense of foreign firms. WSJ
John Reed of the Financial Times reports that a new U.N. report forecasts that the U.S.-China trade war will slow Asia-Pacific trade in 2019. The trade war is expected to cut Asia-Pacific export growth to 2.3% from around 4.0% in 2018 and could lower global GDP by $400 billion in 2019. FT