Japan's consumer prices rose in August, official data showed Friday, but inflation was still way below the central bank's target, as authorities struggle to slay deflation in the world's third-biggest economy.

After stripping out volatile prices for fresh food, inflation was 0.7 percent, according to the internal affairs ministry, the eighth straight month of price rises and in line with market expectations.

Unemployment in Germany hit a surprise new low in September, official data showed Friday, the latest in a string of sunny indicators as the upswing continues in Europe's top economy.

Economic losses from severe storms, hurricanes, floods, drought and wildfires are projected to reach at least $360 billion a year in the next decade in America, about half of annual U.S. growth, according to a report out Wednesday.

President Donald Trump's new plan for broad-based income tax cuts debuted to mixed reviews, with industry cheering while economists cautioned it could increase deficits with only modest gains in growth.

The EU's auditor on Thursday hailed progress in the bloc's wasteful spending, which fell to 4.2 billion euros in 2016, but warned that future spending commitments had hit an all-time high of nearly 240 billion euros.

The assessment comes as EU states wrangle over how to fill the budgetary hole left by Brexit, and as Britain disputes the bloc's claim about how much it owes towards future commitments.

Germans will be slightly less confident about future income and less keen on splashing out in October, a survey predicted Thursday, even as belief in the country's economic strength remains high.

The government of Emmanuel Macron unveils its first budget Wednesday as the young president seeks to kick-start the French economy with a business-friendly agenda.

Major gas producers in Australia agreed Wednesday to boost domestic supplies to help arrest a looming power crisis after the government threatened to slap them with export restrictions.

Lending by eurozone bank to households and companies grew faster in August than the previous month, figures from the European Central Bank showed Wednesday.

Overall credit to the private sector grew 2.7 percent year-on-year last month, adjusting for some purely financial transactions -- an increase of 0.1 percentage point over July's pace.

The United States announced Tuesday it was imposing preliminary anti-dumping duties of 220 percent on CSeries jets made by Canadian aerospace firm Bombardier following a complaint by American manufacturer Boeing.