US employment rose more than expected in April, alleviating some concerns about the health of the world's largest economy even as one measure of consumer confidence came in at its lowest-ever level.

The ruling blocks the tariffs from being implemented against just two companies and the state of Washington for now, but it could open doors to further such outcomes.

The share of formal employment in Indonesia has been shrinking in recent years even as the official employment rate has come down, which points to deteriorating job quality in the country’s labor market.  

Singaporean airline Scoot launched twice-weekly flights between Belitung and Singapore on Sunday, marking the route’s inaugural service.

The bad loan rate began to spike in November 2025 and now hovers above 4 percent, while the fintech sector has come under pressure recently following the KPPU's ruling on monopolistic practices related to interest rates.

In a push to reduce the burden of fuel subsidies on the state budget and boost growth in the latter two quarters, the government is planning to roll out a new incentive for purchases of electric two- and four-wheelers in June.

Every dollar increase in the global oil price adds a burden of about Rp 6.8 billion (around $400 million) to the state budget.

The Indonesian economy exceeded expectations in the first quarter as the country posted the strongest gross domestic product growth in years, thanks to a seasonal boost to consumer spending.

The construction of the massive seawall project will be divided into 15 segments under a “parallel development” approach, but no launch date has been determined yet.

Fiscal strains are mounting across the region, particularly South Asia, as governments spend billions of dollars on subsidies and import duty waivers to compensate.

Plastic producers say the pressure is most acute upstream, where tight raw material supply and surging prices are driving up costs, forcing manufacturers to absorb them while trying to keep production running.

Experts warn of rising price pressure going forward, as fuel price hikes will only fully reflect in May data.

While manufacturing exports continued to expand, rising 3.96 percent in the first quarter and supported by strong nickel shipments, the gains were not enough to offset declines in mining exports caused by weaker coal shipments.

Output declined in April at the fastest pace in nearly a year, with firms pointing to higher input prices, material shortages and weaker purchasing power due to the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.

The Industrial Confidence Index (IKI), a monthly gauge of factory activity published by on Wednesday, came in at 51.75 last month, easing from March’s 51.86 but still above the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction.

The top US and Chinese economic officials held "candid" talks on Thursday ahead of a meeting set for May between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, with both sides raising complaints about the other's trade policies, the US Treasury and Chinese state media said.

Brussels has blacklisted the Karimun oil terminal over its alleged use in Russian oil shipments but says EU sanctions create no obligations for non-EU entities operating outside the Union. 

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell closed out eight years as head of the US central bank on Wednesday with interest rates on hold, rising concern about inflation, and an announcement that he would stay on as a Fed governor for now to defend the agency's independence from Trump administration "battering."

Political analysts and regional experts said the move to leave the groups of oil-producing nations, announced on Tuesday, was more than just a dispute over OPEC oil output quotas that Gulf sources say Abu Dhabi sees as tilted against the UAE.

Protesters are set to demand an end to outsourcing and low wages, arguing that current employment practices leave workers in prolonged contractual uncertainty. President Prabowo Subianto is set to attend Jakarta's main Labor Day commemoration on Friday.

Among the key downstream projects launched on Wednesday is the development of gasoline refinery facilities in Cilacap, Central Java, and Dumai, Riau, each with a processing capacity of 62,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The government has been scrambling since earlier this month to secure supplies of naphtha, a raw material used to produce plastic, from alternative sources such as African countries, India and the United States.

State logistics agency Perum Bulog has warned of limited availability of subsidized cooking oil Minyakita in several regions, citing a lack of fresh supply from producers as a key constraint in getting the product to traditional markets.    

Compressed natural gas (CNG) feedstock, mainly methane and ethane, is more readily available domestically, potentially reducing reliance on costly imported fuels. 

Up to 80 percent of Toba Pulp Lestari’s workforce of more than a thousand employees may be affected after the government revoked its forest concession permit over environmental violations.

The government believes it can push gross domestic product growth beyond the typical 5 percent rate in the second quarter despite unfavorable external conditions.

The state asset fund is eyeing a US$30 billion renewable energy project that will export power to Singapore as well as supply the national grid, but licensing and funding issues related to a prior solar farm deal continues to cast a cloud of uncertainty among investors.