#economic-impact-and-inflation-concerns

#economic-impact-and-inflation-concerns

Monthly job growth averaged about 15,000 in 2025 and has risen to roughly 70,000 so far in 2026, although the data remains volatile and subject to revision.

Leading US banks are not just going digital; they are realizing that digital savings and loans alone do not ensure sustained engagement or profitability. These services must connect to the banks' core strengths: trust, scale, and long-term financial relationships.

High energy prices are kryptonite for the housing market. Affordability, especially for those first-time home buyers, is now an elusive dream until oil prices come down and interest rates come down.

"According to my calculations, those first few days cost at least $16 billion. We are spending down munitions at an extraordinarily fast pace-to put it in perspective, we fired more Patriot missiles in the first four days of the Iran war than we have given to Ukraine over the past four years."

The thinktank warned on Monday that surging gas, electricity and petrol prices had fundamentally altered the outlook for living standards in 2026. Before the Iran war erupted in late February, working-age households were tracking towards modest income growth of 0.9 per cent. That figure has now swung to a projected decline of 0.6 per cent, a turnaround worth £480 per household.

Shipping costs have increased by more than 10 percent in the past month due to the US-Israel war on Iran. The 60-day waiver for the Jones Act aimed to lower energy costs but has had little impact on oil prices, which continue to rise amid the ongoing conflict.

China's exports have decelerated as the Iran war starts to affect global demand and supply chains, according to Gary Ng, a senior economist for Asia Pacific at French bank Natixis.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its global economic growth forecast as tensions between the United States and Iran have driven up energy and food costs globally. The IMF expected the global economy to grow by 3.1 percent this year, a slowdown from its earlier forecast of 3.3 percent.

The war in the Middle East will have certainly a huge impact for the Swiss exports because it represents 10% of the total Swiss watch exports, so it's quite substantial.

"Oil prices are higher again this morning, but Treasury yields are lower as the risks to economic growth begin to take precedence over the risks to inflation," Oxford Economics said in a note on Monday.