The euro area's seasonally adjusted current account surplus increased to 25 billion euros in May from the revised 17 billion euros in the previous month, European Central Bank data showed Friday.
The consensus estimate for the month stood at 18.1 billion euros.
In the 12 months to May, the bloc's current account surplus totaled 272 billion euros, against 318 billion euros a year earlier.
The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the Australian labor market has been small so far, but the landscape is quickly rapidly, with the data pointing to the labor market changing in shape more than size, Jarden said in a report on Thursday.Deloitte Access Economics' Employment Forecasts report shows that so far, there is no observable divergence in employment growth between AI-disrupted and other occupations since AI emerged in 2022. It flagged a possible near-term inflationary impact from AI infrastructure investment, before any later disinflationary efficiency gain shows through.Occupations disrupted by AI are projected to grow by around 167,200 fewer workers over five years. Industry exposure is concentrated in financial, professional, scientific, and technical services, as well as information media.The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations' (DEWR) AI and Employment in Australia report found that employment in the most AI-exposed occupations grew 5.6% since Nov. 2022, compared with 9.5% in the least-exposed occupations. By February, employment sat around 2% below where the trend from before the launch of ChatGPT would have placed it.However, US data shows disruption at both junior and senior levels, with particular concern around entry-level roles.AI is expected to differentiate performance within the office real estate sector, with non-core suburban and metro markets at most risk, while premium-grade central business district assets forecast to prove relatively more resilient.Among real estate investment trusts, Dexus (ASX:DXS) carries the highest core-market weighting at 53%, ahead of GPT Group (ASX:GPT) at 31% as well as Mirvac (ASX:MGR) at 20%, positioning them comparatively better than portfolios skewed to secondary, non-core stock.Proposed national AI standards are expected to add costs for data center developers, but also bring faster approvals and greater certainty.
New Zealand consumer prices are expected to climb by 1.5% in the June quarter as the Middle East conflict drives oil prices up, Westpac said in a report on Friday.The rise would see the annual inflation rate rising to 4.1% from 3.1%, the highest level in two years, said Satish Ranchhod, Westpac NZ senior economist.Petrol prices have risen 20% over the quarter and diesel prices were up 51%, with recent months also seeing further increases in household energy prices.While core inflation has been softening, it remains above the 2% target midpoint even as economic growth slows and the labor market shows signs of softness.Westpac said its forecast aligns with the Reserve Bank's updated projection of 3.9% annual inflation, per the report.
ANZ now expects second-quarter annual headline inflation in New Zealand to accelerate by 0.9 percentage points to 4%, slightly below its previous forecast of 4.1% but still a touch higher than a New Zealand central bank estimate of 3.9%, ANZ said in a Friday report.The revision mainly reflects a faster moderation of fuel prices than previously assumed, as well as an expectation for lower pharmaceutical product prices, the bank said.It added that annual non-tradable inflation is expected to slow slightly to 3.4% in the June quarter, while tradable inflation is anticipated to accelerate more than 2 percentage points to 4.8%.On a quarterly basis, ANZ foresees headline inflation coming in at 1.4% driven mainly by fuel prices.The Reserve Bank of New Zealand may need to raise its official cash rate by a higher degree if inflation pressures remain above forecast and if it finds that domestic firms are quick to pass on cost increases but slow to pass on decreases, ANZ said.The biggest risk for the central bank is higher fuel prices potentially spilling over into other parts of the consumer price index basket, which could generate "a broader inflation impulse that proves difficult to contain," ANZ said.