WASHINGTON -- Initial jobless claims in the United States dropped to 360,000 last week, after ticking up from a pandemic low in the prior week, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
In the week ending July 10, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreased by 26,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 386,000, according to a report released by the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. (US-Jobless Claims-COVID 19)
----
JERUSALEM -- Israel on Thursday launched a national plan to open the economy to imports, the state's finance and economy ministries announced in a joint statement.
The plan is expected to reduce the regulatory burden on importers, especially small and medium-sized ones, by removing trade barriers, the statement said. (Israel-Economy-Imports Policy)
----
LONDON -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday unveiled measures to level up the country, including by taking a more flexible approach to devolution and growing the private sector.
He set out the catalytic role for government and the need to empower strong local leaders by taking a more flexible approach to devolution, with new "County Deals" to take devolution beyond the largest cities. (UK-PM-Economy)
----
ADDIS ABABA -- As COVID-19 has plunged Africa into its first recession in 25 years, the African Union (AU) Thursday underlined the need to address challenges of African integration to accelerate the economic recovery of the continent.
The 55-member pan-African bloc, since July 7, has been commemorating Africa Integration Day under the theme, "The Role of Continental Integration in Accelerating African Economic Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic", according to an AU statement on Thursday. (African Union-COVID-19-Economic Recovery) Enditem
