The package of reforms just laid out by Germany’s coalition could lift the nation’s GDP above 1% in 2027, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told ARD.

“I want to break out of this slump in our economy. We need to boost the potential growth again. I’d like to see the ‘1’ back in front of the decimal point next year,” Merz said, according to a transcript released by the German broadcaster. The German government in April halved its own GDP growth forecast for this year to 0.5%, and reduced the one for next year to 0.9%.

Merz and other top officials earlier Thursday presented a comprehensive package for reforms, including €10 billion ($11.4 billion) in annual income tax relief, as part of a wider push to revive economic growth. Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic-led bloc and the center-left Social Democrats reached the 34-point package after a meeting at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin that dragged on into the night. (BBG – Continue Reading)

Federal Reserve policymakers have less reason to deliver an interest-rate hike later this month, traders bet on Thursday, after a government report showed the US economy added far fewer jobs than expected in the last two months.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 57,000 jobs in June, the Labor Department's Bureau ⁠of Labour Statistics said in its closely watched employment report on Thursday. That was about half what economists had anticipated. May job gains were revised down to 129,000, from the 172,000 initially reported.

"The slowdown in payroll growth challenges the narrative of renewed labour market strength that has been building in recent months but, importantly, reinforces the view that the ⁠Federal Reserve is under little pressure to tighten policy," wrote Principal Asset Management chief global strategist Seema Shah. (RTRS – Continue Reading)