The nationalist Sweden Democrats took their biggest-ever share of votes in a general election Sunday, with preliminary results giving the center-right bloc of parties a slim majority over the incumbent center-left government.
However a large number of overseas and postal votes are still to be counted, and the outcome could change, with a definitive result not expected for several days.
Ukraine's Rout of Russian Forces Poses Challenge of How to Exploit Gains
Ukraine seized the initiative in its war against Russia, claiming to have recaptured more than 1,000 square miles in the northeastern Kharkiv region over recent days as it handed Moscow one of its biggest setbacks since Russian troops invaded more than six months ago.
Ukraine's military said Sunday it was recapturing villages in the area around Kupyansk and Izyum, two cities that Russian forces fled Saturday as Ukrainian troops advanced on them. Those two cities had been central to a key war goal of Russian President Vladimir Putin: to seize full control of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, together known as Donbas. Russian forces have used Izyum as a base to strike other towns in the area.
GLOBAL NEWS
Inflation Showed Signs of Easing in Several Industries in August
U.S. consumer-price inflation showed signs of moderating in August for the second straight month, though the decrease was uneven across sectors and it remains unclear whether the slowdown will continue.
Gasoline prices fell sharply in August, airfares dropped and used cars and hotels ebbed, while rent increases also gave hints of slowing, according to private firms that track such data.
Fed Officials Back Another Large Rate Increase
A Federal Reserve official suggested he would support raising interest rates by another 0.75-percentage point later this month to combat inflation, the latest policy maker to do so.
Officials have been debating whether to raise rates by 0.5 point and 0.75 point at their coming Sept. 20-21 policy meeting, but they haven't pushed back against market expectations of the bigger move.
Covid-19 Illnesses Are Keeping at Least 500,000 Workers Out of U.S. Labor Force, Study Says
Illness caused by Covid-19 shrank the U.S. labor force by around 500,000 people, a hit that is likely to continue if the virus continues to sicken workers at current rates, according to a new study released Monday.
Millions of people left the labor force-the number of people working or looking for work-during the pandemic for various reasons, including retirement, lack of child care and fear of Covid. The total size of the labor force reached 164.7 million people in August, exceeding the February 2020 prepandemic level for the first time. The labor force would have 500,000 more members if not for the people sickened by Covid, according to the study's authors, economists Gopi Shah Goda of Stanford University and Evan J. Soltas, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
For Wall Street, a Strong Dollar Is Front and Center
The strong dollar is now one of Wall Street's main concerns.
On Main Street, a rising dollar boosts Americans' relative purchasing power by making imports cheaper. But the dollar is also at the center of world financial markets, and a stronger U.S. currency can have unforeseen consequences.
Outlook for Tech Stocks Darkens After Rocky Stretch
A rally in technology shares helped the stock market snap a three-week losing streak. There are already signs that reprieve may be short lived.
Investors are bailing out of technology-focused mutual and exchange-traded funds at the fastest clip since early February, when the tech selloff was first intensifying, according to data from Refinitiv Lipper. They yanked about $2.4 billion from such funds in the three weeks ended Wednesday.
Democrats' Effort to Speed Up Energy-Project Permitting Faces More Opposition
WASHINGTON-Congress is flashing warning signs about the prospects for passing legislation to speed up permitting of both renewable-energy and traditional fossil-fuel projects, with a growing number of lawmakers objecting to the proposal being tied to a must-pass spending bill.
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said he would attach the permitting bill to a short-term budget measure known as a continuing resolution needed to keep the government funded beyond the end of September. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have balked at supporting the permitting bill, leaving its fate up in the air with just a few weeks until the funding deadline.
Write to paul.larkins@dowjones.com
Write to us at newsletters@dowjones.com
We offer an enhanced version of this briefing that is optimized for viewing on mobile devices and sent directly to your email inbox. If you would like to sign up, please go to https://newsplus.wsj.com/subscriptions.
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-12-22 0539ET
