Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested he was open to holding interest rates steady at the central bank's meeting next month, saying that the current banking stress could mean rates may not need to rise as high as otherwise to slow the economy. Officials have indicated that their decision on whether to raise rates again at their June 13-14 policy meeting could be a close call.
The European Union has slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic by October. The fine surpasses the previous record of $806 million against Amazon in 2021 for privacy violations related to its advertising business. Details below.
Remember when Greece was in a very serious debt situation? Greece is now close to seeing its sovereign debt return to investment grade, a dramatic turnaround from its disastrous 2010 default. Details below. • Middle East Petroleum & Gas Conference, Dubai . Speakers include OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al-Ghais; WTI June futures expire; Hart Energy Super DUG Conference, Fort Worth, Texas
Immigrants' share of the U.S. labor force grows to a new high. Foreign-born workers' share of the U.S. labor force rose last year to the highest level in 27 years of records, as labor demand surged and the pandemic faded. People born outside the U.S. made up 18.1% of the overall labor force, up from 17.4% the prior year and the highest level in data back to 1996, the Labor Department said.
Gasoline demand fell 4.2%, to 8.9 million barrels a day in the latest week, according to the Energy Information Administration. OPIS estimates that prices could be down $1.25 to $1.50 a gallon by June from last year. — Methanol production traditionally uses natural gas, but as the world races to reduce emissions there is a growing opportunity for green methanol.
• The price of extra virgin olive oil has surged to an all-time high, with a 46% increase from last year, resulting in a price of $6,269.63 per metric ton as of April. This cost translates to about $6 per liter for consumers, although additional shipping, marketing, and sales costs will significantly raise the final price. Filippo Berio, a leading olive oil brand, reports that the latest olive season was the most challenging in 30 years due to record-low crop yields.
• U.N. agency: 2 million killed, $4.3 trillion in damages from extreme weather over past half-century. More than 2 million people have died over the past half-century around the world as a result of nearly 12,000 extreme weather, climate and water-related events, which have also caused $4.3 trillion of economic damage, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The United States took most of the economic damage, around $1.
— Ukraine's Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, was cut off from its power supply and is relying on diesel generators. The United Nations called the safety situation"extremely vulnerable." — President Biden said he expects U.S. relations with China to improve soon as a spat over an alleged spy balloon earlier this year shows signs of blowing over. Speaking to reporters on Sunday at the end of the G7 summit in Japan, he said"I think you're gonna see that begin to thaw very shortly." But the two superpowers also still disagree on a lot.
Other impacts: With the ban, Chinese companies can easily switch out its products for those made by competitors such as Samsung and SK Hynix, according to analysts and Western business executives who have consulted with Chinese authorities. Background: Texas DPS's checkpoints are supplementary to the commercial truck inspections performed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection . The DPS inspections have significantly slowed down CBP's processing. The Texas DPS stated the inspections' goal was to ensure road safety by checking that trucks are functioning properly. After initially inspecting all trailers from Mexico, DPS reduced the number of inspections from May 8.
The EPA's final plan does not include provisions for renewable fuel credits to be awarded to electric vehicle manufacturers using renewable natural gas. Reports suggest that the Biden administration removed these provisions to prevent potential legal challenges that could jeopardize the overall RFS levels.