Saudi Arabia's overall unemployment rate came in at 3.1% in the first quarter of 2026, down from 3.5% in the prior three-month period, the country's General Authority for Statistics said Tuesday.
The kingdom's unemployment rate stood at 2.8% in the first quarter of 2025.
Almost half, or 46%, of businesses in Australia reported operating expenses had increased over the past four weeks, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Tuesday.The survey of business conditions and sentiments was conducted between June 4 and June 15 in order to ascertain changing business behavior and sentiments in response to fuel prices or availability impacted by the closing of the Strait of Hormuz.Fuel prices, which jumped 71%, and business overheads, which rose 65%, were reported as the main reasons for increased operating expenses. The report showed that 33% of businesses expected operating expenses to increase over the next four weeks, down 3 percentage points from May.Meanwhile, 24% of businesses reported they expected revenue to fall over the next four weeks, down 4 percentage points month-over-month, and 31% of businesses reported revenue had decreased over the previous four weeks in June.In June, 16% of businesses experienced supply chain disruptions, unchanged from May, with the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector experiencing the most disruptions at 35%. This was followed by manufacturing at 28%, wholesale trade at 27%, and retail trade at 22%.ABS said 33% of these businesses were affected to a great extent by the disruptions, down 5 percentage points from May.Moreover, 73% of businesses reported fuel prices or availability had a negative impact on the business, up a single percentage point from May, while 58% of responding businesses made changes to business operations in June due to fuel prices or availability, down 2 percentage points month-over-month.Finally, 58% of businesses made changes to business operations, with 15% of these firms increasing prices in response to fuel prices or availability, data showed.
The UK's shop price inflation was stable at 1.2% year over year in June, unchanged from a month ago, a survey by the British Retail Consortium showed Tuesday.The latest reading matched the consensus forecast for the month.
The bad-loan ratio across Hong Kong banks declined in the first quarter of 2026, according to a quarterly update released by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Monday.The classified loan ratio of the banking sector decreased to 1.87% at the end of March from 2.01% at the end of December 2025, the HKMA said.The classified loan ratio for mainland-related lending also shrank to 1.79% from 1.94% a quarter earlier.The delinquency ratio of residential mortgages edged down to 0.13% from 0.14% in the prior quarter, while the delinquency ratio of credit card lending increased to 0.39% from 0.35%, figures showed.