Inflation drops again in the European Union countries that use the euro currency but still hits painful 8.5%

South Korea has logged its biggest monthly trade deficit ever, at $12.7 billion in January, as exports of computer chips and other high-tech items sank and costs for importing oil and gas surged

Asian stock markets are higher after Wall Street rose ahead of what traders hope will be the last Federal Reserve interest rate hike for some time

American consumers are kicking off 2023 slightly less confident than they were at the end of last year as inflation and a potential recession continue to weigh on them

Rising factory output led to strong U.S. sales at the end of last year, pushing General Motors’ fourth-quarter net income up 16% over the same period a year ago

Pay and benefits for America’s workers grew at a healthy but more gradual pace in the final three months of 2022, the third straight slowdown that could help reassure the Federal Reserve that wage gains won’t fuel higher inflation

Europe’s economy has scraped out meager gains at the end of last year as galloping inflation fed by high energy prices and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine deterred people from spending in shops and restaurants

Samsung Electronics says its profit for the last quarter plummeted nearly 70% as a weak global economy depressed demand for its consumer electronics products and computer memory chips

Asian shares are mostly lower in muted trading as investors await decisions on interest rates and on earnings reports from around the world