2024-11-19 18:18

WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Employment dropped considerably in Washington State and Florida in October, suggesting that a strike by factory workers at Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab and Hurricane Helene accounted for much of the abrupt slowdown in U.S. job growth last month. The Labor Department's state employment and unemployment report on Tuesday showed nonfarm payroll employment fell by 38,000 jobs in Florida last month and declined by 35,900 jobs in Washington State. Helene hit Florida's Big Bend region as a powerful Category 4 hurricane in late September, before cutting a destructive path through the South region. Payrolls also fell in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. They barely rose in Georgia. J.P. Morgan economist Abiel Reinhart estimated that the hurricanes had subtracted about 85,000 jobs from payrolls in October. Reinhart based his estimate on comparison of the October payrolls change in the states with their 6-month average. Others favored comparing the change to the three-month average, which suggested a roughly 65,000 hit. "There may have been some slowdown in payroll growth in these states recently that would favor using the 3-month average for comparison, though, given that state data can be noisy, we think it is also fair to use a longer comparison window," said Reinhart. "Comparing with the 12-month average would give a 90,000 drag." Boeing factory workers on the West Coast went on a seven-week strike, before accepting a new contract early this month. Economists estimated that the strike and hurricane probably subtracted between 100,000 and 125,000 jobs from payrolls last month. Overall nonfarm payrolls increased by a paltry 12,000 jobs in October, the fewest since December 2020, after rising 223,000 in September. "The 'clean' payroll read would have been closer to 135,000-140,000, compared with a three- and six-month trailing average of 148,000," said Reinhart. With the strike over and rebuilding in the areas devastated by Helene underway, a rebound in job growth is expected in November. First-time applications for state unemployment benefits have already dropped from a 14-month high touched in early October. "What today's data means is that we have 109,000 as a base for November before we consider any actual payrolls growth," said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING. "The striking workers have now returned to work and the approximately 65,000 people who weren't counted in October because of the hurricane will be there in the November data." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/boeing-strike-helene-depress-payrolls-washington-state-florida-2024-11-19/

2024-11-19 18:00

State challenges 2023 deal between California Air Resources Board and manufacturer California still awaiting approval from EPA for fleet EV rule Nebraska says companies colluded and will hike costs for buyers Nov 19 (Reuters) - Nebraska Attorney General Michael Hilgers on Tuesday filed an antitrust lawsuit against some of the largest heavy-duty truck manufacturers accusing them of limiting the availability of diesel-powered semi-trucks in a shift to clean electric trucks. The lawsuit says the truck makers are engaged in "an industry-wide conspiracy" to phase out medium and heavy-duty internal combustion vehicles, driven by California's green regulations that aim to eventually end production of such semi-trucks. The attorney general filed suit in state court against Daimler (DTGGe.DE) , opens new tab; Navistar, a unit of Volkswagen's Traton (8TRA.DE) , opens new tab; Paccar (PCAR.O) , opens new tab; Volvo Group North America (VOLVb.ST) , opens new tab; and the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association. "Eliminating diesel-powered semi-trucks is practically impossible to accomplish and would impose enormous costs," Hilgers said. "These manufacturers' collusion will raise prices, reduce output, increase costs on Nebraskans, and is a classic antitrust violation." The lawsuit takes aim at a July 2023 deal reached between California Air Resources Board and major truck manufacturers and the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association that gave the industry flexibility to meet emissions requirements. The companies agreed to meet California's vehicle standards "regardless of whether any other entity challenges California's authority to set more stringent emissions standards," CARB said at the time. CARB and Paccar declined to comment. The other companies and the association did not immediately comment. In March 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved California's plans to require a rising number of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks. California is still awaiting EPA approval for its Advanced Clean Fleets regulations on phasing in use of zero emission medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, and light-duty package delivery vehicles. The rule would require manufacturers to only manufacture , opens new tab ZEV medium- and heavy-duty trucks starting in 2036. In May, Nebraska and 15 other states sued CARB over its clean fleets rule. California Governor Gavin Newsom said last year that half of all heavy duty trucks sold in California will be electric by 2035. The state plans to mandate by 2045 that all operations of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles be zero emission where feasible. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/nebraska-files-antitrust-lawsuit-against-heavy-duty-truck-manufacturers-over-ev-2024-11-19/

2024-11-19 17:54

SAO PAULO, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday he spoke with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi about expanding scientific and business trade between both countries in areas including the energy and pharmaceutical sectors. In a post on X, the Brazilian president said that during G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro Modi was invited to visit Brazil again next year, adding he also expects to visit India sometime in 2025. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/brazilian-indian-leaders-discuss-expanding-energy-pharmaceutical-trade-2024-11-19/

2024-11-19 17:53

NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A consumer advocacy group has launched a complaint against PJM Interconnection, saying the largest U.S. grid operator is unfairly awarding record high payments to power plants and pushing up electricity costs for homes and businesses. The filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday is the second recent complaint over PJM Interconnection's 2025-2026 capacity market auction, which set prices for power generators that were more than 800% higher than the previous year. Following the results, PJM leaders said the all-time high prices were largely caused by ballooning power demand and shrinking supply as fossil-fired power generators retire. "These clearing price outcomes do not match the market facts on the ground," the joint consumer advocacy group said in its complaint. "PJM's existing capacity market rules are unjust and unreasonable." The consumer advocacy group, which includes the Illinois Attorney General's Office, Maryland Office of People's Counsel, New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel and Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, said the rules governing PJM's capacity auction should be changed. A PJM spokesperson said the organization was reviewing the complaint and did not provide comment. PJM Interconnection pays power plants to operate at times of high demand, with prices for the payments set at annual auctions using an evolving set of rules to determine those prices. The latest auction increased capacity costs to consumers to $14.7 billion from $2.2 billion, the complaint said. Under current PJM capacity market rules, some estimates project the 2026/2027 auction could result in charges to ratepayers surging to $37 billion, the complaint says. PJM delayed that auction, which was scheduled for December, by six months to address a separate complaint against it filed by environmental groups, including the Sierra Club. "There is a lot of back and forth by various parties in terms of trying to get the rules to reflect what they want the outcome to be," said Paul Patterson, an analyst at Glenrock Associates LLC in New York. The PJM market watchdog and the governors of Pennsylvania, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware are among those to criticize the grid operator's market rules and call for changes. Among the suggested changes is factoring in currently excluded power plants with special contracts, known as RMR agreements, to be included in the auction. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-grid-operator-faces-new-complaint-over-power-supply-auction-2024-11-19/

2024-11-19 16:57

Canadian dollar gains 0.3% against the greenback Canada's annual rate of inflation rises to 2% Investors dial back bets on jumbo rate cut Canada-U.S. 10-year spread narrows 4.6 basis points TORONTO, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened for a second day against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday as hotter-than-expected domestic inflation data spurred investors to reduce bets on another outsized interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada. Canada's annual inflation rate increased to 2.0% in October from 1.6% in September, eclipsing the 1.9% rate that economists had forecast, as gas prices fell less than the previous month. "This was a relatively hotter inflation report that tentatively scaled back the probability of upsizing December's likely rate cut but with further important developments still ahead," Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank, said in a note. "Markets responded by putting a bid to the Canadian dollar." Money markets see a 23% chance the BoC would cut interest rates by half a percentage point at its next policy decision on Dec. 12, down from 38% before the data. The BoC eased by 50 basis points in October, the first cut of that magnitude in 15 years outside of the pandemic era. Upcoming third-quarter gross domestic product data on Nov. 29 and the November employment report on Dec. 6 could also help guide BoC easing expectations, Holt said. The Canadian dollar was trading 0.3% higher at 1.3970 to the U.S. dollar, or 71.58 U.S. cents, extending its rebound from a 4-1/2-year low on Friday at 1.4105. The price of oil , one of Canada's major exports, was trading 0.2% lower at $69.01 a barrel as the restart of production at Norway's Johan Sverdrup oilfield offset investor concerns about an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war. Canadian bond yields moved higher across the curve. The 10-year was up 1.6 basis points at 3.294%, while the gap between it and the U.S. equivalent was trading 4.6 basis points narrower at roughly 109 basis points in favor of the U.S. note. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/canadian-dollar-rises-cpi-data-clips-jumbo-rate-cut-bets-2024-11-19/

2024-11-19 16:10

MOSCOW, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Russia has banned cryptocurrency mining in several Siberian regions to prevent power shortages during the winter and has restricted it in areas of Ukraine that it has declared annexed, a government commission announced on Tuesday. The ban will be enforced during the winter months in three regions near Lake Baikal, where cryptocurrency mining has flourished in recent years due to the low cost of electricity, primarily generated by large hydropower plants. In the annexed areas of Ukraine, much of the energy infrastructure has been destroyed since Russia sent in its forces in 2022, leading to power shortages. According to official estimates, cryptocurrency mining in Russia consumes 16 billion kilowatt-hours annually, or about 1.5% of the country's electricity consumption, creating challenges for regions with harsh climates. Along with the United States, China, Kazakhstan, and Canada, Russia is a global leader in crypto-mining. This year, Russia enacted a new law regulating the activity and introduced taxes, expecting to collect up to 200 billion roubles ($2 billion) a year from miners. ($1 = 100.5705 roubles) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/technology/russia-restricts-cryptocurrency-mining-low-energy-regions-2024-11-19/