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U.S. applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week, a sign that the labor market remains healthy as companies continue to retain their employees. Jobless claim filings ticked down by 1,000 to 224,000 for the week ending March 22, the Labor Department said Thursday. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs, and have remained mostly in a range between 200,000 and 250,000 for the past few years.

The U.S. economy expanded at a healthy annual 2.4% pace the final three months of 2024, supported by a year-end surge in consumer spending, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade of its previous estimate of fourth-quarter growth. Growth in gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — decelerated from a 3.1% pace in July-September 2024, the Commerce Department said. Consumer spending rose at a 4% pace, up from 3.7% in third-quarter 2023.

(Bloomberg) -- Norway’s central bank delayed a long-communicated cut in borrowing costs until later this year as officials responded to a flare-up in inflation.Most Read from BloombergThey Built a Secret Apartment in a Mall. Now the Mall Is Dying.Why Did the Government Declare War on My Adorable Tiny Truck?How SUVs Are Making Traffic WorseTrump Slashed International Aid. Geneva Is Feeling the Impact.These US Bridges Face High Risk of Catastrophic Ship StrikesNorges Bank held the deposit rate at

(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve should consider setting up an emergency program that would close out highly leveraged hedge-fund trades in the event of a crisis in the $29 trillion US Treasuries market, according to a panel of financial experts.Most Read from BloombergThey Built a Secret Apartment in a Mall. Now the Mall Is Dying.Why Did the Government Declare War on My Adorable Tiny Truck?How SUVs Are Making Traffic WorseTrump Slashed International Aid. Geneva Is Feeling the Impact.These US

(Bloomberg) -- US President Donald Trump’s trade war risks turning powerful influences that helped ease inflation over decades in the opposite direction.Most Read from BloombergThey Built a Secret Apartment in a Mall. Now the Mall Is Dying.Why Did the Government Declare War on My Adorable Tiny Truck?How SUVs Are Making Traffic WorseTrump Slashed International Aid. Geneva Is Feeling the Impact.These US Bridges Face High Risk of Catastrophic Ship Strikes“Some of the forces that helped the disinfla

(Bloomberg) -- Cnooc Ltd. posted higher annual earnings and boosted its dividend, as growth in energy output offset weaker prices.Most Read from BloombergThey Built a Secret Apartment in a Mall. Now the Mall Is Dying.Why Did the Government Declare War on My Adorable Tiny Truck?How SUVs Are Making Traffic WorseTrump Slashed International Aid. Geneva Is Feeling the Impact.These US Bridges Face High Risk of Catastrophic Ship StrikesNet income rose to 137.9 billion yuan ($19 billion) in 2024, from 1

Serbian oil company NIS, majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, is likely to get a last-minute, 30-day extension to its waiver from U.S. sanctions, the CEO of state gas company Srbijagas said on Thursday. The previous waiver is due to expire at midnight, and if it is not extended NIS could face crude supply cuts. NIS operates the only oil refinery in Serbia, which has annual capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the Balkan country's needs.