US annual inflation falls to slowest pace in over a year

Consumer inflation in the United States slipped in December to the lowest level in over a year, government data showed, signaling the worst of red-hot price increases may be over.

As American households struggled with decades-high inflation over the last year, the Federal Reserve hiked its benchmark lending rate at a pace unheard of since the 1980s in hopes of cooling the world's biggest economy.

On the back of the aggressive campaign, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 6.5pc from a year ago last month, the smallest increase since October 2021, said the Labor Department. The annual figure is also down from November's 7.1 percent spike.

"The index for gasoline was by far the largest contributor to the monthly all items decrease," said the Labor Department in a statement. This more than offset increases in the shelter component, the department added, with elevated rents still boosting consumer costs.

Between November and December, CPI dipped 0.1 percent, the first time in around two years it logged a month-on-month contraction, data showed. Malaysia's manufacturing sales value continued its double-digit growth by registering 11.8 percent to record 159.2 billion ringgit (36.4 billion U.S. dollars) in November 2022, official data showed Wednesday.

The growth was largely driven by the electrical and electronics products subsector, which surged 19 percent, and the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products industries, the Department of Statistics said in a statement. The expansion of sales value was also contributed by the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products that soared 15 percent, underpinned by the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products industries.

Sales value in the transport equipment and other manufactures also picked up strongly by 10.2 percent, boosted by the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers industries. The sales value of export-oriented industries, which contributed more than two-thirds or 72.9 percent of total sales, remained on a steady pace with 13.6 percent growth in November 2022.

The favorable performance was in line with the acceleration in external trade exports growth and price increases.

From January to November 2022, the sales value of the manufacturing sector jumped 16.6 percent to 1.64 trillion ringgit (375 billion dollars) as compared to the same period in 2021.

Two major airports in Beijing will see the number of incoming and outgoing flights surge 44 percent during the Spring Festival travel rush compared with the same period a year ago.

It is estimated that 62,000 flights will arrive at or depart from the Beijing Capital International Airport and the Beijing Daxing International Airport during the 40-daylong travel rush, according to the North China Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation

Administration of China.

A total of 1,241 inbound and outbound flights were expected to be made by the two airports, on the first day of this year's Spring Festival travel rush, said the administration.

The two airports are expecting the peak-travel period to start on January 14, with the daily inbound and outbound flights handled by these airports topping 1,700, Xinhua reported.

Large airlines, including China Southern Airlines, will resume the operation of international flight routes at the Beijing Daxing International Airport starting on January 17.

In Tokyo's Asakusa tourist district, caricaturist Masashi Higashitani is dusting off his Chinese as he prepares for an influx of travellers after Beijing ends inbound quarantine rules.

"We used to say 'ni hao' all the time," he said with a laugh as he whipped up a portrait in minutes.

Nearly 9.6 million Chinese visited Japan in 2019, the biggest group of foreign tourists by far and a massive leap from the 450,000 who came in 2003.

Higashitani estimates around 20 percent of his customers were from China before the pandemic, and he and his employees picked up Chinese phrases from those visitors and each other.