WASHINGTON -- U.S. retail sales inched up by 1.2 percent in July amid a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, following growth in the prior two months, the country's Commerce Department reported on Friday.

Retail sales saw a revised 8.3 percent drop in March amid COVID-19 shutdowns, followed by a revised record 14.7-percent plunge in April. As businesses gradually reopened across the nation, retail sales increased by a revised 18.2 percent in May, followed by a revised 8.4 percent growth in June. (US-Retail Sales-COVID-19)

- - - -

BANGKOK -- Thailand's Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin on Friday said in a press briefing that the total number of unemployed people in Thailand was at around 2 to 3 million, instead of 7 to 8 million previously predicted.

The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) did the calculation, it cannot be wrong, as the latter is Thailand's economic planner, said Suchart. (Thailand-Unemployment)

- - - -

DUBLIN -- Ireland's goods imports and exports showed a month-on-month recovery in the second quarter of this year, according to figures released by the country's Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Friday.

In April, Ireland's goods exports fell to 11.46 billion euros (about 13.56 billion U.S. dollars) after hitting a monthly record high of 17.02 billion euros in March when the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was yet to be felt in the country. (Ireland-Imports-Exports)

- - - -

BUDAPEST -- Hungary's gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of this year plunged 13.6 percent year-on-year, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said in the first reading of data on Friday.

"The gross domestic product of Hungary went down by 13.6 percent according to raw data and by 13.5 percent according to seasonally and calendar adjusted and reconciled data in the second quarter of 2020 compared with the corresponding period of the previous year," KSH said. (Hungary-GDP-Q2)

- - - -

NICOSIA -- Cypriot economy contracted by 11.9 percent in the second quarter of this year under the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic crisis, compared with the corresponding quarter of 2019, according to a flash estimate released by the country's Statistical Service (CyStat) on Friday.

"The implementation of precautionary measures and relevant decrees to address the negative consequences of COVID-19 disease had a direct impact on the Cyprus economy," CyStat said in announcing seasonally and working day adjusted data. (Cyprus-Economic Data) Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)