US weekly jobless claims fall to the lowest level since the pandemic began: Economic wrap
Updated 14 October 2021
Ziyad Sabbah Lamyaa Bagazi Ruba Alrashed
New Department of Labor data show that initial weekly jobless claims in the US fell to 293,000 in the week ending 9 October. This is the lowest level since the pandemic began in 2020.
This reflects the economy's continued recovery as firings and layoffs slowed last week.
More US news
Producer prices increased by 0.5 percent month-on-month in September. This is the lowest rise in 2021 according to the US Bureau of Statistics, and 80 percent of the increase was accounted for by a 1.3 percent rise in prices of final goods.
This was accompanied by an annual increase in producer prices by 8.6 percent, the highest since 2010.
German output
Germany's leading economic institutes decreased their shared estimate growth for 2021 to 2.4 percent from the previously forecasted 3.7 percent as supply bottlenecks slow recovery in the manufacturing sector.
On the other hand, they raised the expected growth rate for 2022 to 4.8 percent rather than 3.9 percent and said that the German economy will reach normal capacity utilization in 2022.
Moreover, the institutes said that inflation will increase in 2022 by 2.5 percent and by 1.7 percent in 2023.
India’s balance of trade
India’s trade deficit increased significantly to $22.6 billion in September, up from the much-lower gap of $2.7 billion in September of last year, official data showed.
Imports soared by 84.8 percent year-on-year to $56.4 billion, mainly due to crude oil imports which almost tripled in value, as oil prices nearly doubled compared to a year earlier.
Exports also rose, but at a much lower pace, as it grew by 22.6 percent to reach $33.9 billion. Coffee and cashew exports led much of this increase.
Swedish inflation
Sweden’s inflation rate gained pace in September as it rose to 2.5 percent up from 2.1 percent in the previous month, data from Statistics Sweden revealed.
This is the highest rate since November of 2011. The new inflationary pressures were mainly fuelled by jumps in the housing & utilities index and the electricity & transport index as they rose by 5.1 percent and 6.2 percent respectively.
Turkey’s reserves
Changing by $2.2 billion, Turkish foreign exchange reserves increased to $85.4 billion on October 8, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey said.
RLC Global Forum helping retail experts exchange knowledge around new tech, industry leaders say
Updated 6 sec ago
Rashid Hassan
RIYADH: New technologies used to improve customer experience and day-to-day operations are driving Saudi Arabia’s retail transformation, industry leaders have told Arab News during a high-profile gathering in Riyadh.
On the sidelines of the RLC Global Forum, key players in the sector spoke to Arab News about how artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role as tech-savvy consumers look for integration between the virtual and physical worlds.
They also praised the role of the forum in bringing stakeholders together to exchange knowledge and ideas, which is driving forward retail offerings in the Kingdom and beyond.
The two-day RLC Global Forum started on Feb. 3 under the strategic theme “Growth Crossroads,” and brought together more than 2,000 global leaders, policymakers, and innovators from over 40 countries to define the next chapter of growth across retail, consumer, and lifestyle industries.
Speaking to Arab News, Majid Al-Gothmi, acting CEO of shopping centre management company Red Malls, said: “The Saudi retail sector is changing under Vision 2030. The transformation has helped our growth.”
He agreed that digital tools, AI, and new technologies are being used to improve customer experience and day-to-day operations.
“It’s helping us a lot in actually profiling our customers, understanding them, and providing better services to the younger generation,” said Al-Gothmi.
“Gen Z constitutes a major component of the retail market. We can see that 70 percent of the consumers are Gen-Z — they do most of their shopping online, over 60 percent of them,” he added, going on to say that his company’s focus is on “future proofing” shopping malls by integrating technology along with physical space that allows people to mingle comfortably and seamlessly.
Al-Gothmi described the RLC Global Forum as “an excellent platform gathering all the developers, retailers, brands, and most importantly, policymakers.”
He added: “This is a first, I think, where they share their insights, challenges, and exchange solutions, which helps the whole industry to move faster.”
Stefania Lazzaroni, CEO of Italian luxury brands association Altagamma Foundation, told Arab News that she expects steady growth for high-end products and experiences in the Kingdom.
She said: “There’s a new trend about hospitality, fine dining, longevity, and health spa beauty. These are the key factors that are growing. And we believe fine dining, hospitality and spa health as well will be a new trend even in this area. Honestly, they have been doing well for a couple of years.”
Stefania Lazzaroni, CEO of Altagamma Foundation. AN
Lazzaroni asserted that digital tools, AI and new technologies are being used to improve customer experience, as “the luxury client is very specific about what they want.”
She added: “Artificial intelligence is really perfect for us. We have a lot of counterfeiting all around the world, so technology can really support luxury brands in protecting their brands.
“So we are very pro artificial intelligence, which is changing the game and giving more strength and potential for luxury brands.”
The CEO explained that AI is also useful for talking to Gen Z, “which will be the clients of the future.”
She added: “So today with social media, TikTok, and so forth, there is an explosion of beauty, Gen Z is very much active on this.”
Abdel-Salam Bdeir, CEO at the Saudi Co. for Hardware, agreed that the retail sector is changing under Vision 2030 transformation.
He told Arab News: “We are building new technologies for AI to be used and demand planning and inventory optimization, marketing, and pricing optimization, margin, maximization.
“Even in security cameras, communication with customers, shopping behavior targeting certain sectors of customers, we are building all that as we speak.”
Bdeir believes technological progress brings both opportunities and challenges, among them the risk of fewer jobs.
He said: “With major international platforms entering the market, not only the jobs, but money goes to other markets. That’s why the United States, UK, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany put strict regulations on international platforms first to meet safety standards for the consumer and environmental standards, and second to secure jobs for locals.
“They also put higher tariffs, customs duties, on developing markets like India, Egypt, Turkiye, Brazil, Mexico, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia.”
Bdeir added: “So what is in my opinion, necessary is for the regulators to do what European countries and developing markets did to protect jobs, consumers and the economy.”
