Weekly newsletter October 24 to October 28
October 24, 2022
October 25, 2022
Ian's Damage to Florida Agriculture as High as $1.8 Billion Hurricane Ian caused as much as $1.8 billion in damages to Florida agriculture last month, state agriculture officials said. The Category 4 storm caused between $1.1 billion and $1.8 billion in losses to the state's crops and agriculture infrastructure when it tore through the peninsula after landing in southwest Florida, according to a preliminary estimate released Monday by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Photo: CBS News
Rishi Sunak will be the U.K.'s new prime minister Rishi Sunak will be the next prime minister of the United Kingdom, following current premier Liz Truss' announcement last week that she will step down. The 42-year-old former U.K. treasury chief will be the country's third prime minister in under two months, its youngest prime minister since 1812, and the first person of color to serve in the role. He is of Indian heritage and Hindu faith.
Crop damage ranged from $686 million to $1.2 billion. The biggest losses came from citrus which had damages between $416 million and $675 million, the Department of Agriculture report said. The hurricane hit almost at the start of the citrus growing season in Florida, which produces about 60% of all the citrus consumed in the U.S. When it comes to non-citrus fruits and vegetables, Florida lost an estimated $153.7 million to $230.5 million, or around 10% to 15% of crops, just as the planting season was getting into full gear. Many fields lost plastic and drip-tape irrigation and other infrastructure, the report said.
"I pledge that I will service you with integrity and humility," Sunak said, at the headquarters of Britain's Conservative Party on Monday. "It is the greatest privilege of my life to be able to serve the party I love and give back to the country I owe so much to." Sunak will only become the prime minister once Truss formally submits her resignation to King Charles III, and the monarch then formally asks Sunak to form a new government. That is expected to happen as soon as Tuesday. But with the recent political chaos caused by convulsions within the Conservative Party itself, the "Tories," as the Conservatives are also known, are polling at historic lows against Labour. Photo: US News Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/05/energy/opec-oil-gas-prices/index.html
Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2022-10-25/ians-damage-to-floridaagriculture-as-high-as-1-8-billion
October 26, 2022
October 27, 2022
European Central Bank raises rates by three quarters of a point and promises more to come The European Central Bank hiked interest rates by three quarters of a percentage point on Thursday, promising further hikes to come and forecasting an extended economic slowdown. The move will take the benchmark rate for the 19 countries using the euro to 1.5%. The central bank has now hiked rates at three consecutive meetings by a combined 2 percentage points in a bid to get control of inflation even as a recession looms. Before the hiking cycle began, rates in the region had been negative since 2014.
Photo: US News
New Home Sales Tumble 10.9% in September The new homes market continued to be hurt by rising mortgage rates and affordability issues in September, as sales dropped 10.9%, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported on Wednesday. The median price of a new home, meanwhile, rose to $470,600. New homes sales in September were at an annual rate of 603,000, down from August’s revised 677,000. That is 17.6% below the level a year ago. “Sales of new single-family homes plummeted in September as higher mortgage rates sideline more home buyers,” said Lisa Sturtervant, chief economist at Bright MLS. “Builders have been facing declining monthly sales for seven consecutive months and the outlook is for continued slow sales activity throughout the rest of the year.”
“Inflation remains far too high and will stay above the [2%] target for an extended period,” the ECB said in a statement. “In recent months, soaring energy and food prices, supply bottlenecks and the post-pandemic recovery in demand have led to a broadening of price pressures and an increase in inflation,” it added. The eurozone’s annual rate of inflation hit a record 9.9% in September, up from 9.1% in August. The “unexpected and extraordinary” rise in inflation had surprised policymakers, ECB President Christine Lagarde told reporters on Thursday. She said that increases in retail energy prices could push inflation even higher in the medium term.
“It remains to be seen the extent to which product and pricing will adjust, but if rates continue to rise it is likely that we will see the for-sale market continue to slow towards year's end – and prices of homes will continue to adjust downward,” said Kelly Mangold of RCLCO real estate consulting firm. Photo: CNN News Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2022-10-26/new-home-salestumble-10-9-in-september
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/27/economy/european-central-bank-interestrates/index.html
October 27, 2022
Photo: CNN News
The US economy bounced back last quarter after shrinking in the first half of the year The US economy grew last quarter, bouncing back after shrinking in the first half of the year. Gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — rose by an annualized rate of 2.6% during the third quarter, according to initial estimates released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s a turnaround from a decline of 1.6% in the first quarter of the year and negative 0.6% in the second. Economists had projected third-quarter growth of 2.4%, according to consensus estimates on Refinitiv. The welcome burst in economic growth was mostly fueled by a rebalancing of imports and exports, with fewer foreign goods shipped to the United States as consumers shifted their attention away from pandemicfueled spending on sofas, bikes and other durable goods and turned to travel and dining out. “This is the sort of GDP report we should be happy to see at this point in a recovery,” said Dean Baker at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in a note. “However, with the Federal Reserve continuing to hike rates, and most of the impact of past rate hikes yet to be felt, this could be the last good report we see for a while.” Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/27/economy/us-gdp-third-quarter-initial/index.html