1) Jobless claims for Americans slight rose last week
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week rose to the highest level since mid-November, climbing by 23,000 last week to 230,000, according to the announcement from the Department of Labor on Thursday. Still, the number is considerably at a lower level compared to historic standards.
2) U.S. Supreme Court pauses Biden’s vaccine mandate on workplace
The Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from enforcing vaccine-mandate or negative-test requirements for large private companies with 100 or more employees. Still, the court allowed a vaccine mandate to be in effect for medical facilities that take medicare or medicaid payments.
The U.S. is still ranked the highest in Covid-19 infections and deaths with a 7-day average of 780,000 new cases. The country recorded a total case of 63.6 million and a total death of 844,000.
3) South Korea raises benchmark rate to pre-Covid levels
South Korea’s central bank on Friday raised interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%, the highest since March 2020, to the same level of its pre-Covid rate. A lift in borrowing costs is in line with most economists as 25 of 35 from Reuters poll expected the South Korea’s central bank to do so.
4) Tisco Financial Group reports 12% growth in profit for 2021
Tisco Financial Group Public Company Limited (SET: TISCO) is the first Thai banking company to report its 2021 earnings to the market. The bank recorded nearly 12% increase in net profit for the year despite volatility amid the intensified Covid-19 pandemic during the middle of the year, rising global inflation rates and increasing potential from US Federal Reserve to speed up an increase in interest rate and Quantitative Tightening (QT).
