Australia’s Corporate Regulator Urges Pension Funds to Boost Technology Investment as Industry Grows 
South Korea Inflation Hits Five-Month Low as CPI Reaches Central Bank Target 
U.S. Stock Futures Rise as Investors Eye Big Tech Earnings and AI Momentum 
Asian Currencies Trade Sideways as Dollar Stabilizes, Yen Weakens Ahead of Japan Election 
Oil Prices Climb as Middle East Tensions and U.S. Inventory Data Boost Market Sentiment 
Taiwan Urges Stronger Trade Ties With Fellow Democracies, Rejects Economic Dependence on China 
China Services PMI Hits Three-Month High as New Orders and Hiring Improve 
U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower as Tech and AI Stocks Drag Wall Street Ahead of Key Earnings 
Data released from Eurostat showed on Friday that Eurozone's labor costs growth increased modestly to 1.3% y/y in the fourth quarter of 2015 after easing in the previous two quarters. The 0.2 percentage point improvement from Q3 still leaves growth well below the 1.9% growth of the first quarter of 2015.
Labour shortages are very different by country. The highest annual increases in hourly labor costs were seen in Romania, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Austria, while decreases were registered in Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
Overall, labour costs did not decline ruling out immediate deflationary spiral symptoms in the economy. However this release confirms that the current wage growth environment is not contributing to faster inflation.
Though unemployment is declining labour market pressures still remain weak. At the current pace of job market recovery, this means it is unlikely that price pressures become stronger before the fourth quarter of 2016.
