Bankinter | University of Michigan consumer confidence (final figure) fell more than expected in February, to a 15-month low of 64.7 points versus 67.8 expected versus 71.1 previous. The fall occurred in both components of the index, both Current Situation (65.7 versus 68.7 preliminary versus 74.0 previous) and Expectations (64.0 versus 67.3 preliminary versus 69.3 previous). Opinion of the Bankinter analysis team: The decline in confidence comes at a time…

BancaMarch | First Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and then Justin Trudeau negotiated through telephone conversations with Trump to delay tariffs in exchange for stricter measures to combat immigration and cross-border drug trafficking. The planned measures consisted of imposing tariffs of 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada, with the exception of Canadian energy products, which would be subject to a 10% tariff. The White House executive orders do not contemplate…

BancaMarch | Trump’s plan to freeze government programme grants and loans has been blocked. The new administration’s measures have caused a stir across the country, as they could freeze payments to medical research programmes, road construction or natural disaster aid. The federal judge issued the temporary stay just minutes before the executive order was due to take effect and scheduled a hearing for 3 February. The White House has issued…

Banca March: Job growth in December rebounds to 256,000 new jobs, above the 165,000 expected by the market and also above November’s 212,000 (revised down from 227,000). The employment rate fell by one tenth of a percentage point to 4.1% and the total participation rate remained stable at 62.5%. Moreover, wages climbed at a pace of 3.9% year-on-year (0.3% month-on-month) maintaining a reasonable pace of growth, one tenth below last…

BancaMarch | The US Congress is close to agreeing on a stopgap government spending bill to avert Saturday’s government shutdown. The temporary measure will fund the government until 14 March. Lawmakers have agreed to add a number of provisions, including more than $100 billion in funding for disaster relief, more than $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers and authorising the sale of E15, a fuel blend that is 15%…