China's exports grew 2.3% in December from a year earlier, customs data showed on Friday, adding to signs global trade is slowly turning a corner with the prospect of lower borrowing costs on the horizon, but deflationary pressures still loom.

Headline U.S. inflation accelerated in December, while an annual underlying reading slowed marginally, as Federal Reserve officials search for signs of easing price gains before rolling out possible interest rate cuts this year.

British employers advertised 32% fewer job vacancies last month than they did in December 2022, industry figures showed on Friday in a further sign of a cooling in the hiring market which surged immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chinese consumer inflation increased slightly in December as the year-end holidays boosted spending, although a sustained decline in producer inflation showed that a disinflationary trend was still decidedly in play.

Japan logged its largest current account surplus for the second consecutive month in November, as the trade deficit narrowed while its service balance turned surplus due to increased inbound tourism after pandemic controls were lifted last year.

Global trade declined by 1.3% from November to December 2023 as militant attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea led to a plunge in the volumes of cargo transported in that key region, a German economic institute said on Thursday.