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(Reuters) -President Donald Trump's permanent 25% tariff on imported autos has expanded the global trade war, feeding expectations for higher prices for cars and other products, but doing little to settle the debate about how policies of his two-month-old administration will affect the U.S. economy. With more tariff announcements looming next week, Federal Reserve policymakers remain in a holding pattern on interest rates. With surveys showing signs of economic trepidation and a drop in confidence, central bankers are watching to see if this spills into "hard" data like the still-low unemployment rate.

(Bloomberg) -- The withdrawal of a time-tested liquidity backstop offered by the Federal Reserve would represent the greatest risk to the dollar’s status as a reserve currency since the end of World War II, according to Deutsche Bank.Most Read from BloombergWhy 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 StrikesAffordable Housing Develop

Lebanon appointed asset manager Karim Souaid to the post of central bank governor Thursday as the government tries to reform the economy after months of war and decades of mismanagement and corruption. The country's economy has been in crisis for five years and desperately needs reforms to unlock international aid, and on top of that, Israel’s 14-month war with Hezbollah caused what the World Bank estimates was $11 billion in damages and economic losses. The appointment was announced by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, the International Court of Justice jurist who was named Lebanon’s premier in January following the election of President Joseph Aoun earlier that month.

Americans hoping their savings account rates will stay ahead of inflation have had a tough time over the past few years. Though the current U.S. inflation rate is 2.8% in 2025, according to the...

(Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund sees the US economy shifting into a lower gear this year as President Donald Trump pushes forward with aggressive tariffs but doesn’t see a recession on the horizon.Most Read from BloombergWhy 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 StrikesAffordable Housing Developers Stalled by Blocked

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.