Economic Data

A tall green Yes Way gas station sign against a clear blue sky lists Regular Plus at $4.55, premium at $4.90 and diesel at $5.39 a gallon, beside a green fuel canopy and grain silos.

Inflation Is 3.7 Per Cent, Less Than Half Its Rate Before the 2022 Midterms. Gasoline and Mortgages Cost More Than They Did Then.

U.S. consumer prices rose 3.7 per cent in the year to September, against 8.2 per cent in the last reading before the November 2022 midterm elections, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Gasoline averaged $4.27 a gallon in the latest weekly survey, 47 cents more than on the eve of that vote. The October jobs and price reports come out after Tuesday's election.

By Daniel Okafor November 2, 2026

The yellow tiled facade of a factory building in Zhuhai, China, with bands of blue-green windows and a large sign reading G.Tech Technology Ltd. in Chinese and English against a blue sky.

World

China's Factory Index Fell to 49.3 in October. Construction New Orders Fell 5.7 Points, to 40.

China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.3 in October from 50.1 in September, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday 31 October. The non-manufacturing index fell to 49.7. Construction new orders dropped to 40.0, down 5.7 points in a month.

By Daniel Okafor November 1, 2026

Orange ship-to-shore container cranes over a black-hulled container ship stacked with blue, green and red containers at a quay in Busan, South Korea, with green hills behind and calm water in the foreground.

The Numbers

South Korea Exported $115.3 Billion in October, 93.7 Per Cent More Than a Year Ago. Chips Supplied Almost Three-Quarters of the Increase.

South Korea's exports rose 93.7 per cent from a year earlier to $115.28 billion in October, the trade ministry said on Sunday 1 November. Semiconductor exports rose 259.4 per cent to $56.44 billion, 48.9 per cent of the total. The figures are preliminary, and October had more working days than a year earlier.

By Alison Acosta November 1, 2026

A loaded container ship berthed under blue ship-to-shore cranes at a container terminal in Hai Phong, Vietnam, with a small fishing boat in the foreground.

World

China Says It Shipped America $258 Billion of Goods This Year. America Counted $158 Billion.

From January to July, China reported $258.1 billion of exports to the United States. The US Census Bureau recorded $158.3 billion of imports from China and Hong Kong. The difference, almost $100 billion, is five times its usual size, and a Peterson Institute analysis says tariff evasion is the most likely reason. Vietnam's figures run the other way.

By Alison Acosta October 3, 2026

Workers stand at a yellow-framed production machine inside a large factory hall, beside stacks of flattened cardboard on pallets and overhead ducting.

World

China's Factories Grew Again in September. What They Pay for Materials Grew Faster.

China's official manufacturing index rose to 50.1 in September, back above the line after two months of contraction. Production picked up and the services and construction gauge recovered. But the index of raw material prices jumped to 60.8, the steepest reading since the spring, while the index of prices factories charge rose to 54.0. The gap between what manufacturers pay and what they get is widening again.

By Alison Acosta October 1, 2026

Two hands assembling wiring and circuit boards inside an open electronics chassis.

World

One Number, Two Economies, and a Policy Aimed at Neither

China's factory gauge says contraction. Its high-tech sub-index says expansion. A single national figure is now averaging two manufacturing economies that are moving in opposite directions.

By Alison Acosta September 1, 2026

Economic Data

Tagged stories

Inflation Is 3.7 Per Cent, Less Than Half Its Rate Before the 2022 Midterms. Gasoline and Mortgages Cost More Than They Did Then.

China's Factory Index Fell to 49.3 in October. Construction New Orders Fell 5.7 Points, to 40.

South Korea Exported $115.3 Billion in October, 93.7 Per Cent More Than a Year Ago. Chips Supplied Almost Three-Quarters of the Increase.

China Says It Shipped America $258 Billion of Goods This Year. America Counted $158 Billion.

China's Factories Grew Again in September. What They Pay for Materials Grew Faster.

One Number, Two Economies, and a Policy Aimed at Neither