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1. Latest US employment data shines light on market stability
Unexpectedly, job openings in the U.S. rose in May, according to data from the Labor Department, the Associated Press reports. Employers in the U.S. posted 7.8 million vacancies in May, which is up from 7.4 million in April and the highest since last November.
For June, ADP revealed Wednesday that private companies in the U.S. lost 33,000 jobs, according to payroll data. It's the first decrease since March 2023, CNBC reports. Originally, economists polled by Dow Jones predicted a growth of 100,000 jobs for the month. Meanwhile, annual pay was up 4.4% year over year.
“Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month,” Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, said in a news release.
According to the report, hospitality and leisure jobs grew by 32,000 in June.
2. Europe sees 2% inflation growth
The Eurozone's inflation reached the European Central Bank’s target of a 2% increase year over year, statistics agency Eurostat revealed on Tuesday. According to the Wall Street Journal, policymakers will likely leave the key interest rate unchanged later this month.
Last month, the ECB cut its key interest rate for the eighth time since June 2024. Investors believe rates will be reduced again later this year, but remain the same this month.
The increase in inflation in the region, which includes 20 countries, was due mostly to energy prices, which rose amid the Israel-Iran conflict.
3. African hotels get creative with financing to spark openings
Erwin Garnier, senior director of development, Africa, Radisson Hotel Group, said investors and owners in Africa still do not look at hotel development as a separate, specialized real estate class, CoStar News' Terence Baker reports.
And, amid the continent's unique headwinds, financing new hotels requires some ingenuity.
“There is a lack of understanding of market opportunities and feasibility. At Radisson, we want to accelerate via conversions. Yes, that takes longer than it does in Europe, so we have to support our developers with the right talent and the right funding strategy,” Garnier said during a panel discussion at the Future Hospitality Summit Africa.
4. New report finds cause of Heathrow Airport's March fire
A new report published Wednesday found that the March fire at Heathrow Airport — which shut down the airport for 16 hours and disrupted over 1,000 flights — was due to an electrical issue that's been known about for several years. The New York Times reported that the National Energy System Operator's 77-page final report points to the issue being caused by moisture in an insulated transformer conductor that had originally been detected by the electricity operator National Grid in 2018.
“Evidence provided to the review revealed that multiple attempts were made to schedule basic maintenance, none of which went ahead,” the report said.
According to the BBC, the airport is considering legal action against National Grid in light of the report's discoveries.
5. North Korean beach resort opens
A new beach resort in North Korea started welcoming in guests this week. While the country still operates under inbound tourist restrictions, the AP reports that the resort is in the Wonsan-Kalma eastern coastal tourist zone — an area that North Korea says can accommodate nearly 20,000 people. So far, the resort has brought in domestic guests.
The new resort is a part of Kim Jong Un’s push to boost tourism as an economic driver for the country, but what kind of tourists the initiative is targeting is unclear for the moment. A group of Russian tourists are expected for an eight-day trip beginning July 7.
"Since February 2024, North Korea has been accepting Russian tourists amid expanding military cooperation between the countries," the article states. "But Russian government records seen by South Korean experts show a little more than 2,000 Russians, only about 880 of them tourists, visited North Korea last year, a number that is too small to revive North Korea’s tourism."