Higher imports of mineral fuels caused Japan to turn a deficit of 1.47 trillion yen ($12.9 billion) in 2021, from a surplus of 388 billion yen in the previous year.

Purchases of the group of petroleum, coal and other fuels surged by 50.3 percent from a year earlier while imports of raw materials increased by an annual rate of 46 percent, according to the country’s Ministry of Finance.

Growth of imports outpaced that of exports as they rose by 24.3 percent and 21.5 percent, respectively.

Sales of mineral fuels went up by 37.3 percent while those of manufactured goods were 32.3 percent higher. In particular, exports of iron and steel products rose by 48.1 percent from a year ago.

British inflation

The UK’s inflationary pressures are set to continue gaining momentum as consumer prices rose to their highest level since 1992, the Bank of England Governor, Andrew Bailey, said.

Gas prices could still be a major source of risk as political issues in Ukraine continue to rise, Bloomberg reported, citing the central banker.

British wages also seem to be picking up pace, which could induce what is known as wage-price spiral.

Australia’s unemployment dip

The unemployment rate in Australia dropped by 0.5 percent to reach 4.2 percent in December, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

“This is the lowest unemployment rate since August 2008, just before the start of the Global Financial Crisis and Lehman Brothers collapse, when it was 4 per cent. This is also close to the lowest unemployment rate in the monthly series — February 2008 — and for a rate below 4 we need to look back to the 1970’s when the survey was quarterly,” Bjorn Jarvis, head of labor statistics at the ABS, said.

French business confidence

Due to a gloomier outlook in the services, France’s business climate indicator dropped by two points to 107 in January, data from the country’s official statistics agency showed.

However, the index remains above the long-term average of 100, Insee said.

The decline of outlook in services was attributed to managers’ negative opinions concerning general activity prospects in the sector.

The retail, wholesale and building sectors all reported worse confidence in January. On the other hand, the manufacturing sector had a more favorable outlook as managers’ opinions on order books improved. Supply chain disruptions remain present, but they have mitigated slightly.