South Africa gold miners call strike

Gold miners in South Africa have called a strike over their wage demands, to start on Tuesday, mine-owners say.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has demanded rises of up to 60%.

Earlier this week, workers rejected an offer of increases of about 6% - the same as the current annual rate of inflation.

South Africa is one of the world's biggest gold producers, but output has been hit by underinvestment and poor labour relations, analysts say.

South Africa's biggest gold miners - AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony Gold and Sibanye - as well as several smaller operators, have been served with a formal strike notice, the chamber of mines said.

 

 NUM represents about 64% of South Africa's 120,000 gold miners.

South Africa is already grappling with strikes by car, construction and some aviation workers.

Petrol station employees are also set to embark on industrial action next week.

The government has called on the workers to ensure all strikes are peaceful.

Last year, 34 striking platinum miners were shot dead by police after their protests turned violent.

Analysts say President Jacob Zuma is under pressure from both sides of the political spectrum.

Some members of the governing African National Congress want him to do more to relieve poverty, while the business community is urging him to focus on reducing bureaucracy, attracting foreign investment and speeding up South Africa's sluggish economic growth.

Japan consumer price rises pick up pace on energy costs

Consumer prices in Japan rose at the fastest pace in nearly five years in July, as policymakers' attempts to end deflation appeared to pay off.

Consumer prices, excluding food, rose by 0.7% from a year earlier.

However, the faster inflation was mainly stoked by the rising cost of fuel imports due to a weak yen, rather than by an increase in domestic demand.

Japan has been trying to end years of deflation, or falling prices, seen as a major drag on its economic growth.

While falling prices may sound good, they hurt the economy as consumers and businesses tend to put off purchases in the hope of getting a cheaper deal later on.

Stagnant wages and revenues also make it harder for borrowers to pay off their debts

Policymakers have unveiled a series of measures in recent months to try reversing the trend of falling prices - something that Japan has been grappling with for the best part of the past two decades.

US consumers spend less than forecast in July

US consumers barely increased their spending in July, as workers saw their salaries shrink because of government spending cuts.

Spending increased by 0.1%, according to the US Commerce Department.

Big-ticket items, such as cars and fridges, saw the biggest declines.

Consumption makes up 70% of the economy, and the run-up to the new school year, starting in July, is typically the second-biggest shopping period of the year.

Large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Macy's and Kohl's have warned in recent earnings reports of sluggish consumer demand, as US job growth continues to lag and wages stagnate.

Further uncertainty over the timeline of the US Federal Reserve's decision to slow down its policy of propping up the US economy by keeping rates low has led to stock market volatility and increasing mortgage rates.

US stocks are set to end their worst month in a year later on Friday.

Separately, a final reading of US consumer sentiment data showed a drop, after a four-year high in July.

The August reading fell to 82.1 from July's 85.1, as concerns over the crisis in Syria led to further worries about oil and gas prices in the autumn.

The declines come just a day after US second-quarter GDP was revised upwards to 2.5% from 1.7%, surprising many economists.

Brazil GDP beats expectations for second quarter

Brazil's economy grew by 3.3% year-on-year in the second quarter, according to official new state figures.

The Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE) also said that the economy grew by 1.5% in the quarter from the previous one.

That number was above economists' predictions of 0.9%.

Finance Minister Guido Mantega earlier this month reduced 2013 growth targets to 2.5% from an already reduced 3.0% and for 2014 down to 4.0% from 4.5%.

The agricultural industry, which saw production surge 3.9%, was responsible for most of the growth in Latin America's biggest economy between April and June, following on from 9.7% growth in the first quarter.

The sector's performance was mainly due to soy production, which rose by 23.7% compared with the second quarter of 2012.

Meanwhile, corn production grew by 12.2%, beans rose 8.4% and rice production increased 2.9%.

India's GDP shows continuing slowdown

India's economy continues to slowdown according to the latest government figures.

For the April-to-June quarter, it grew at a rate of 4.4%, compared with the same period in the previous year.

It was a weaker performance than most economists had been expecting and was a slowdown from the first three months of the year, when growth was 4.8%.

A contraction in mining and manufacturing activity was behind the slowdown.

Friday's figures show the economy is now expanding at the slowest rate since 2009.

It adds to the pressure on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who earlier addressed parliament over the nation's economic problems.