The ‘messy’ trend behind Australia’s rising unemployment is worrying economists

As Jim Chalmers moves among the global elite during the G20 talkfest with fellow finance ministers and big-time investors in Washington this week, he will be spruiking Australia’s enviable economic performance over recent years.A particular point of pride has been the strength of the labour market.Not only has unemployment stayed low, the increase in the share of working-age Australians with a job has climbed by 3.1 percentage points since immediately before the pandemic.That increase is twice the OECD average, and compares with zero growth in the US and New Zealand

Australia Post incorrectly charged tariffs on items ordered online being returned to the US

Australia Post incorrectly collected tariffs from customers returning items to the US after retail parcel services to the country resumed last week, the government-owned postal service has admitted.Australia Post said it had identified an error with a third-party provider where “a number of customers” were incorrectly charged a tariff for postal returns of US-manufactured items, which should not be subject to import duties.“The error was quickly fixed, and we are reaching out to impacted customers,” a spokesperson said in a statement. They will receive a refund.Parcel services were halted in August when the US suspended the “de minimis” exemption, which allowed parcels worth less than US$800 to enter the country duty-free

US regional bank stocks fall amid Wall Street concern over credit markets

US regional banking stocks fell sharply on Thursday after two banks disclosed issues with bad and fraudulent loans, amplifying concerns on Wall Street around the state of credit markets.Zions Bancorp announced it had a $50m charge-off over two bad loans from its subsidiary, California Bank & Trust in San Diego. Western Alliance also said it was dealing with a fraudulent borrower.Zions stock was down over 11% by Thursday afternoon, while Western Alliance was down over 10%. Shares of Jefferies Financial Group were down 9% for the day

Thousands in UK take legal action against Johnson & Johnson over alleged talc cancer link

Thousands of people are taking legal action against the US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, claiming it knowingly sold baby powder containing asbestos-contaminated talc in the UK.About 3,000 people have alleged that they or a family member developed forms of ovarian cancer or mesothelioma from using Johnson’s Baby Powder, and are seeking damages at the high court in London.Lawyers for the group said Johnson & Johnson, along with its current and former subsidiaries Johnson & Johnson Management and Kenvue UK, should all be held liable, according to court documents filed on Thursday by KP Law. It estimates the claims amount to more than £1bn.The lawyers said J&J “concealed” the risk to the public for decades

IMF chief reveals worries about private credit market keep her awake at night – as it happened

The head of the IMF has revealed that worries about a crisis in the private credit market keeps her awake at night, sometimes.Kristalina Georgieva was asked at today’s press briefing whether she is concerned about the health of the private credit markets, following the collapse of US auto parts supplier First Brands and car dealership Tricolor in recent weeks.Those failures prompted the boss of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, to warn this week that more “cockroaches” could emerge from the private credit sector.Q: Is this a concern for you about the health of the credit market – could it boil over into a crisis? How prepared is the world to cope with another crisis?Georgieva replies that the IMF is “concerned”, which it made clear in the financial stability report it issued this week.She says there has been a “very significant shift of financing” from the banking sector to non-bank financial institutions, to a point where more than half of financing is now there

Head of IMF says risks in private credit market keep her awake at night

The head of the International Monetary Fund has admitted that worrying about the risks building up in non-bank lending markets keeps her awake at night.Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday urged countries to pay more attention to the private credit market, after the failure of the sub-prime auto lender Tricolor and the car parts supplier First Brands.Speaking at the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington DC, Georgieva said the fund was concerned about the “very significant shift of financing” from the banking sector to non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs).Those NBFIs are not regulated as closely as the banking sector, she pointed out, meaning the world could end up in “a difficult place” if the private credit sector continued to grow significantly and the global economy then weakened.“This is why we are urging more attention to the non-bank financial institutions,” Georgieva told reporters, suggesting there should be more oversight of the sector