Food and shipping costs rise ever higher

<p>Kia ora, </p><p>Welcome to Friday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the International edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>Today we lead with news of no respite from ever higher shipping costs and higher food costs.</p><p>But first in the US, the number of <a href="https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/ui-claims/20211594.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>people claiming jobless benefits</strong></a> fell last week to 288,000, and the number of people on these programs is down to 2.6 mln. Both represent substantial progress</p><p>All eyes are on tomorrow's non-farm payrolls report. In the meantime American <a href="https://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/prel/pdf/s-i-o.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>factory order data</strong></a> brought no surprises with a small rise in July from a healthy June level.</p><p>The US <a href="https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/ft900.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>trade deficit</strong></a> didn't widen in July, and given the track of the past eight years, this is somewhat unusual and better than analysts had expected. Their exports rose faster than their imports.</p><p>Canadian <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210902/dq210902b-eng.htm?HPA=1" target="_blank"><strong>building permit levels fell</strong></a> in July, and that was not expected.</p><p>We have previously noted there is an election campaign underway in Canada. One of the planks of the ruling party is for a <a href="https://liberal.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/292/2021/09/Forward-For-Everyone-Financial-and-Costing-Plan.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>3% surtax on profits of large banks and insurance companies</strong></a>. Doom scenarios are being rolled out there by opposition forces. But Australia has had a "<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2017/June/The_Major_Bank_Levy_explained" target="_blan