Key Events Around the Globe: Jan 09 2026

China CPI inflation hits near 3-year high in Dec, PPI decline eases

Chinese consumer price index inflation rose to a near three-year high in December, advancing for a third straight month and indicating that a recovery in private spending was gaining traction.

Producer inflation shrank slightly less than expected, but remained in contraction for a 39th consecutive month.

CPI rose 0.8% year-on-year in December, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday. The print was in line with expectations and improved from the 0.7% seen in the prior month.

The CPI print was China’s strongest reading since February 2023.

Bessent worried more about loss of leverage than revenue if Trump loses Supreme Court case

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he was confident in the ability to reconstitute any lost tariff revenue by imposing duties under other legal authorities if the Supreme Court rules against President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs, but a loss would undercut Trump’s flexibility and leverage.

Bessent, speaking at an Economic Club of Minnesota event at which he touted the benefits of the administration’s economic agenda and discussed some of its plans in Venezuela following the removal of the South American country’s leader, defended the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as bringing China, Mexico and Canada to the negotiating table to curb fentanyl trafficking.

“What is not in doubt is ability to continue collecting tariffs at roughly the same level in terms of overall revenue,” Bessent said. “What is in doubt, and it’s a real change for the American people, was the president loses flexibility to use tariffs, both for national security, for negotiating leverage.”

Japan household spending picks up, signals steady consumption recovery

Japanese annual household spending unexpectedly grew in November, government data showed, rebounding from a sharp decline in October and aligning with a gradual recovery in private consumption.

Consumer spending rose 2.9% year-on-year, internal affairs ministry data showed, defying the median market forecast for a 0.9% drop.

On a seasonally adjusted, month-on-month basis, spending jumped 6.2%, versus an estimated 2.7% rise, the fastest pace since March 2021, the data showed.

An internal affairs ministry official said one-off, volatile categories, including automobile-related expenses, contributed to the November upside surprise.

US weekly jobless claims edge up; third-quarter worker productivity surges

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rose moderately last week amid a relatively low number of layoffs, though demand for labor remained sluggish, with businesses squeezing more output from their existing workforce.

Worker productivity grew at its fastest pace in two years in the third quarter, other data from the Labor Department showed on Thursday, suggesting the much anticipated artificial intelligence-driven boom was underway. The productivity surge, which depressed unit labor costs, underscored what economists have termed a jobless economic expansion. It followed on the heels of robust economic growth in the third quarter.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 208,000 for the week ended January 3. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 210,000 claims for the latest week. Claims have been choppy in recent weeks amid challenges adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations around the year-end holiday season. Through the volatility they have remained at levels consistent with low layoffs.

Source: HSL Prime Daily, 09 Jan 2026

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