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Fossil fuel subsidies rise, aid cut for poorer countries
With development finance plummeting across wealthy nations, a new ranking exposes which countries actually deliver for the world's poorest - and which are letting geopolitics trump progress. Sweden has claimed top spot in the 2025 Commitment to Development Index, maintaining its position as the world's most development-focused economy - despite a shrinking lead over rivals. The Center for Global Development's latest analysis ranks 38 major economies across eight policy areas that affect global poverty, from trade and migration to climate action and technology transfer.Credit: CDIGermany finished second overall and leads among G7 nations, driven by the highest per-capita acceptance of migrants and refugees among measured countries. The country allocated €1.066 billion to integration courses in 2025 - a €302.8 million increase from initial plans - after accepting more than 34,800 Afghan refugees through special admission programs since 2021. Norway rounded out the top three with strong development finance and investment policies, though high agricultural subsidies and fossil fuel production dragged its score down. The findings arrive as four of the world's largest aid providers - the U.S., UK, France and Germany - hav
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BLS to release delayed September jobs report
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release its delayed September employment report on 20 November, following a six-week postponement caused by the United States government shutdown. However, there remain concerns as to whether October’s data will ever be published, leaving a hole in the economic record at a time of heightened uncertainty over the labour market and interest rate outlook. The BLS confirmed last week that the September employment situation report — originally set for 3 October — will now be released on Thursday, November 20, at 8:30 am ET (Friday 12:30 am AEDT). The prolonged shutdown halted the agency’s funding and prevented the compilation and publication of key economic data, including the payrolls survey. Even with the release of September’s figures, a significant data gap will remain. The BLS has not indicated whether an October report will be produced. Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said October employment figures would be incomplete, with no unemployment rate available because the household survey did not take place. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also reinforced the message last week, stating that the October report is unlikely ever
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Australian consumer, business confidence rebound
Australian consumer sentiment rebounded strongly in November as households grew more optimistic about the economy, supported by signs of a domestic recovery and easing external risks. The Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index surged 12.8% to 103.8 in November, its first reading above 100 since 2021, marking a return to positive territory from 92.1 in October. The rise was driven largely by renewed optimism over the economic outlook. Both the “economic outlook, next 12 months” and “economic outlook, next 5 years” sub-indexes jumped sharply, up 16.6% and 15.3% respectively, placing them well above long-term averages. Matthew Hassan, Head of Australian Macro-Forecasting noted that the lift reflected a combination of domestic and international developments favouring growth. “Domestically, there are clearer signs that a recovery is gaining momentum, especially around consumer demand and housing markets. Meanwhile, external threats also appear to have eased with a de-escalation of U.S.–China trade tensions and recent meetings between Australia and the U.S. resulting in a new deal on the supply of critical minerals and rare earths.” “The real surprise, though, is how much these positives have outweighed rene
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US shutdown takes toll on consumer sentiment
As the federal government shutdown stretches beyond one month, American confidence in the economy is sinking fast with the University of Michigan’s latest survey revealing consumer sentiment hovering near record lows — a clear sign that frustration is spreading nationwide. Across the country, millions of Americans are growing more anxious as the government shutdown drags on, halting paychecks, freezing federal programs, and creating a fear that the worst is yet to come. The University of Michigan’s November 2025 survey shows that consumer sentiment fell sharply to 50.3, down from 53.6 in October. That represents a 6.2% decline in a single month and is nearly 30% lower than a year ago. The last time confidence was this low was in June 2022, when inflation was hitting 40-year highs. According to Joanne Hsu, the survey’s director, the ongoing shutdown is the main driver of consumer pessimism. “With the federal government shutdown dragging on for over a month, consumers are now expressing worries about potential negative consequences for the economy,” she explained. And those worries don’t discriminate — they’re being felt across all ages, income groups, and political affiliations. In addition to measuring t
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Consumer watch: CBA tops Choice 2025 Shonky Awards
While Australia’s two largest supermarkets, Coles (ASX: COL) and Woolworths (ASX: WOW), may be the country’s least trusted brands according to Roy Morgan research, it was a bank stock that took out line honours in this year’s Shonky Awards. Shares in Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA) are up 22% over one year, after posting record annual profit exceeding $10 billion. But that didn’t stop the consumer watchdog, Choice, naming the country’s largest bank the most shonky operator after taking bad behaviour to new heights by refusing to refund low-income customers slugged with unfair fees. Now in its 20th year, Choices' Shonky Awards attempt to shed light on dodgy products, services and practices. Ironically, CBA’s fourth Shonky award in 2025 - making it the most awarded Australian company in the Shonkys’ history – follows on the heels of the bank being lauded the new winner in Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards for 2025 back in September. The banking giant previously won Shonky Awards for targeting primary school kids with its Dollarmites program, allowing financial planners to put clients into risky investments while pursuing bonus rewards, and having poorly performing credit cards linked to frequent flyer points.Fee refund ref

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Chinese manufacturing PMI slips in October
China’s factory growth in October missed market forecasts, according to a private survey. The RatingDog China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped from 51.2 in September to 50.6 in October, missing analysts' expectations of 50.9 in a Reuters poll. RatingDog founder Yao Yu said signals a slowdown in the pace of manufacturing expansion, and marketing concerns about weakening exports have persisted. “On the demand side, heightened trade uncertainty in October caused new export orders to fall sharply into contraction territory, dragging down the new orders reading,” Yu said. “On the production side, uncertainty in the external environment also dampened output growth. “Although production-related sub-indices declined month-on-month, they all remained in expansion territory. “Purchasing activity growth slowed significantly.” New export orders also fell at the quickest rate since May, with survey respondents attributing this to “rising trade uncertainty”. However, new jobs were increasing slightly, with the rate of job creation being the fastest in over two years, with Chinese manufacturers reporting that they hired additional workers to cope with the existing workload. The private survey showed the
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Falling US consumer confidence may tip Fed’s hand
United States consumer confidence weakened slightly in October to a six-month low, with mounting worry over near-term job availability giving the Federal Reserve more to think about when it decides whether to lower rates again on Wednesday. The Conference Board survey revealed yesterday that its consumer confidence index fell by 1 point to 94.6 in October from an upwardly revised September reading of 95.6. The decline in confidence was concentrated among consumers under the age of 35 and to a lesser extent those above 55 years, and improved among the 35 to 54 cohort. Meanwhile, the job market, a measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, dipped by 2.9 points to 71.5, and remains well below the 80, a pivotal point that typically signals a recession ahead. The share of consumers who expected fewer jobs over the next six months increased to a six-month high of 27.8% from 25.7% in September. The survey's so-called labour market differential, derived from data on respondents' views on whether jobs are plentiful or hard to get, widened to 9.4% from 8.7% last month. According to the Conference Board feedback to yesterday’s numbers, prices and inflation remained consumers’ biggest concern, while men
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US deficit falls by 2% to $1.78 trillion
The United States’ budget deficit declined 2% to US$1.78 trillion in the year to 30 September, as income taxes and tariff revenue increased but corporate taxes dipped. Individual income taxes represented the largest source of income at $2.66 billion, up from $2.43 billion the prior year, according to the Treasury Department, The Treasury reported $195 billion in income from tariffs, almost double the previous record. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had similarly estimated a $1.8 trillion deficit last week. This is the deficit's first annual decline since 2022. “Increases in collections of individual income taxes and customs duties were partially offset by a decline in corporate tax receipts,” the CBO wrote. Corporate tax receipts dropped to $452.09 billion, from $529.87 billion one year ago. In September, the U.S. collected $298 billion in individual income taxes, $134 billion in social insurance, $62 billion in corporate taxes, and $30 billion in tariff duties. Spending rose by around 4% in the year to 30 September. Social Security led in spending, at $1,581 billion, with the Medicare health program at $997 billion. Interest on the national debt reached more than $1.2 trillion, a new record, and up almost
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US consumer confidence hits five-month low in October
United States consumer confidence dropped to a five-month low in October amid a stagnant job market and high inflation, according to the University of Michigan’s preliminary Surveys of Consumers report. The report’s consumer sentiment index was 55.0 in October, down 22.0% year-over-year and down 0.2% from September. “Improvements this month in current personal finances and year-ahead business conditions were offset by declines in expectations for future personal finances as well as current buying conditions for durables. Overall, consumers perceive very few changes in the outlook for the economy from last month,” said Surveys of Consumers director Joanne Hsu. “Pocketbook issues like high prices and weakening job prospects remain at the forefront of consumers’ minds. At this time, consumers do not expect meaningful improvement in these factors.” The consumer expectations index fell by 30.9% year-over-year to 51.2, and was down 1.0% from September. Its current economic conditions index was 61.0, falling 6.0% from one year ago, but rising 1.0% from September. The consumer sentiment, consumer expectations, and current economic conditions indexes were all highest among Republicans and lowest among Democrats, with indepen