But a rise above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target, a flexible average, is unlikely to worry policymakers. The U.S. central bank is expected to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy stance for a while as the economy battles the pandemic. Excess capacity remains throughout the economy, which could limit companies’ ability to raise prices.
Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, slipped 0.2 percent last month as outlays at restaurants declined. Spending at hospitals also fell, probably as patients stayed away in fear of contracting the coronavirus.
Households also cut back spending on recreation. Consumer spending tumbled 0.7 percent in November. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast spending would fall 0.4 percent in December.
When adjusted for inflation, consumer spending decreased 0.6 percent last month after dropping 0.7 percent in November. That probably sets a lower base for consumer spending in the first quarter.
China makes major purchase of U.S. corn
China booked its biggest purchase of American corn yet, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday, buying more at once than any country except the Soviet Union 30 years ago, as it tries to meet a surge in demand for animal feed.
The purchase, and a string of deals this week, means China is on course to become the world’s largest corn importer.
Its buying spree has driven up global prices of corn and other grains, and may stoke food inflation in economies already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.
The USDA reported private sales of 2.108 million tonnes of corn for delivery to China in the 2020-2021 marketing year. It was the second-biggest daily U.S. sale on record, eclipsed only by a deal for 3.72 million tonnes to the U.S.S.R. in January 1991.
It also topped China’s previous biggest U.S. purchase of 1.937 million tonnes in July 2020.
China has been looking to boost corn imports, three industry sources told Reuters in October, after storms and drought damage tightened domestic supplies and as the country’s pork industry recovers from a deadly swine disease that reduced the hog herd by nearly half.
The latest sale follows deals this week that netted China a combined 3.74 million tonnes of U.S. supplies, closing out what will be one of the largest U.S. corn export sales weeks on record.
The country’s corn imports could climb to between 25 million and 27 million tons in the current crop year, including 18 to 20 million from the United States.
If realized, that would make China the world’s biggest corn buyer. In the 2019-2020 marketing year, Chinese corn imports totaled just 7.6 million tons.
United Airlines said Friday that it has sent warnings of potential furloughs to some 14,000 employees whose jobs are at risk once a second round of payroll support for airlines expires April 1. Chicago-based United had recalled 13,000 employees from furlough when the fresh payroll package was passed in December. “Despite ongoing efforts to distribute vaccines, customer demand has not changed much since we recalled those employees,” United told employees.
Biogen and partner Eisai said Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has extended the review period for their experimental Alzheimer’s disease treatment by three months from March. The FDA extension raised some hopes that the drug may still be approved despite a panel of experts to the FDA voting against it in November. An FDA approval would make the drug, aducanumab, the first new treatment for Alzheimer’s in decades.
