UK Jan retail sales dive 8.2% on virus lockdown: data

15:54, February 19, 2021

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  Chinese in UK find ways to celebrate despite lockdown

  Dragon dancers perform at the Chinese New Year parade in London in February 2019.One of the biggest celebrations outside of Asia usually takes place in London and features a parade of dancers, entertainers and floats passing through the streets from Trafalgar Square to Chinatown.She said they usuall

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  US retail sales jump in January as recovery gains traction

  US shoppers resumed spending in January, the first increase since September and another sign of growing optimism as President Joe Biden works to win approval for his $1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan.In this Dec. 19, 2020 file photo, Shoppers wear a mask as they leave a department store in Vernon Hills, Ill. (Photo: AP)But the size of the package has raised some concerns it could reignite inflation, which has been absent from the economy for the past year.Those fears could be reinforced by a surprise surge in producer prices last month, but officials argue the economy needs the spending jolt amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and US central bankers have brushed off inflation concerns.The final size of the stimulus could shrink as the plan makes its way through congressional committees, but Democrats, who have a slim majority in both houses, hope to win approval by March 15, when expanded unemployment benefits are set to expire.Along with consumers opening their wallets, data showed manufacturing continues to rise, business executives are more confident that conditions will improve in coming months, and homebuilders remain optimistic the hot housing market will continue.US retail sales spiked 5.3 percent, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday, after declining in the final three months of 2020.The January rebound came after Congress approved a new round of government aid in late December, including extended unemployment benefits.Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics said the gain is "likely in response to fiscal aid that is providing critical support to household balance sheets."- Sustained recovery -Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics cautioned that sales in February are likely to experience "a correction" partly due to severe weather in much of the country. But "March should see the start of a sustained recovery, provided the recent downward track in Covid cases continues," he said."Bigger increases should t...

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  New Zealand city going into 3-day lockdown after virus found

  New Zealands largest city of Auckland will be placed in a three-day lockdown beginning just before midnight Sunday following the discovery of three unexplained coronavirus virus in the community.File photo of Auckland by CFPPrime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the move Sunday evening after an urgent meeting with other top lawmakers in the Cabinet. She said they decided to take a cautious approach until they found out more about the outbreak, including whether the infections were of the more contagious variants.The rest of New Zealand will also be placed under heightened restrictions although will not go into lockdown, Ardern said.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below:In a significant setback to New Zealand’s efforts to keep the coronavirus from spreading in the community, three people from one Auckland family have tested positive with the source of the infections unknown, health officials announced Sunday.The news prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to cancel her plans and return to the capital Wellington for further briefings and decision-making.New Zealand had successfully stamped out community spread of the virus, although new cases are regularly caught at the border among returning travelers, all of whom are required to spend two weeks in quarantine.Officials said they’re keeping an open mind on how the Auckland mother, father and daughter caught the disease. They said the mother works at an airline catering company, and officials are investigating whether there is a link to infected passengers.Officials said the daughter’s high school will be closed on Monday and Tuesday as a precaution, but so far they have not announced any broader restrictions.“We are gathering all of the facts as quickly as we can, and the system that served us so well in the past is really gearing up to do so again,” said COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins.He described the cases as new and active. He said scientists are carrying out genome sequen...