• The U.S. Coast Guard is actively searching for the source of an underwater pipeline leak off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. The leak, estimated to have released over a million gallons of crude oil, prompted the closure of the 67-mile-long pipeline by Main Pass Oil Gathering Co. on Thursday.
• Oil recovery efforts are underway, with overflight teams observing visible oil moving southwest away from the Louisiana shore. While the exact volume of discharged oil is not confirmed, initial estimates by the Coast Guard suggest 1.1 million gallons (26,190 barrels). So far, there have been no reported injuries or shoreline impacts. The cause of the leak is under investigation.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reported the activation of the National Response Team, consisting of 15 federal entities, to coordinate the response to this oil pollution incident. The company owning the pipeline, Third Coast Infrastructure, has not provided comments, deferring inquiries to the Coast Guard.

(Source: Reuters)

• Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, says the Ministry will continue to place “tremendous emphasis” on the mining sector to facilitate growth and to identify new markets for export.
• The commitment was given as the country saw a 164.2 per cent expansion in the mining and quarrying sector for the April to June quarter compared to the same period last year.
• Minister Green said the growth was largely due to a higher output of aluminium linked to increased production at the Jamalco alumina refinery in Clarendon. Notably, there was an over 100 per cent increase in limestone exports.
• Turning to other developments in the sector, the Minister said that a ‘Mining Matters’ mobile app, which will allow Jamaicans to report grievances caused by the adverse effects of mining and quarrying activities, will be launched this month. The app is being developed in partnership with the European Union (EU).
• The app will help to frame problems reported in a structured and systematic framework, clearly enhancing visibility and facilitating a comprehensive response. The application will also allow residents to do real-time reporting and allow agencies to respond in real time.
• The Minister first spoke to JIS News about the software last month, along with a cost of production (COP) app aimed at assisting stakeholders in the sector to improve their business operations. The COP app will better assist operators in calculating costs, pricing their products, and determining profit margins.

(Source: JIS News)

• Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, says micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) should take advantage of the assistance being offered by local funding agencies, to broaden their appeal overseas.
• Senator Hill, who was addressing the MSME Business Roadshow at the Half Moon Conference Centre in Montego Bay, St. James, on October 26, said his Ministry and all its relevant agencies will be targeting small business operators, offering expert help and guidance to better prepare them for the export market.
• The MSME sector constitutes 60 to 70 per cent of all jobs and contributes 44 per cent to GDP, noting that their importance cannot be overstated. There are approximately 64,000 people employed in the MSME sector.

(Source: JIS News)

• President Luis Abinader has expressed confidence in achieving the goal of welcoming 10 million tourists to the Dominican Republic this year. During an event organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Abinader stated that the countdown has begun toward this objective, emphasizing the positive impact of tourism on the livelihoods of Dominicans and the country’s economy.
• The event also showcased an advertising campaign featuring renowned Dominican artists singing together to achieve “10 million smiles.” The Dominican Republic has seen impressive tourism numbers, with 619,204 visitors in October, bringing the total for 2023 to 8,245,189. This represents a 23% growth compared to the same period in the previous year.
• The Ministry of Tourism highlighted the role of cruise tourism in this growth, with over 1.6 million visitors arriving via cruise ships in 2023, and emphasized the support for new ports like Taino Bay. To reach the 10 million tourist goal, an additional 1,754,811 arrivals are needed.
• President Abinader mentioned upcoming transformative projects that will continue to drive tourism growth and emphasized the importance of tourism for prosperity, development, employment, and improving the quality of life for the Dominican people.
• In other news, The Dominican Republic has replaced Ecuador as Latin America’s 7th largest economy, according to a Latinvex analysis of the latest data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF forecasts that the Dominican Republic will keep that position for the next five years as well likely supported by sustained high growth rates that have enhanced the scale and wealth levels of the economy.

(Sources: Dominican Today & IMF)

• United States airline JetBlue has announced a new partnership with banking group CIBC FirstCaribbean and payments technology company Mastercard to launch two credit cards for customers in five Caribbean markets where JetBlue operates.
• The new JetBlue Mastercard and JetBlue Select Mastercard by CIBC FirstCaribbean will provide card members rewards, benefits, and an opportunity to earn TrueBlue points that can be used to travel to more than 100 destinations in JetBlue's network, JetBlue said in a statement from its New York headquarters yesterday.
• In November 2023, these cards will for the first time be available to residents in Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbados, and the Cayman Islands.
• 'As a leading airline in the Caribbean, JetBlue maintains its commitment to delivering innovative programmes and products to more of our loyal customers in the region. We're excited to launch our partnership with CIBC FirstCaribbean and Mastercard to offer our customers even more benefits,' said Chris Buckner, VP, Loyalty & Partnerships at Jet-Blue.
• Chief executive officer of CIBC FirstCaribbean Mark St Hill said: 'We are delighted to join with our partners Mastercard and JetBlue, the preferred airline brand flying between the US and the Caribbean. Together we will make a formidable partnership allowing us to bring added value to JetBlue TrueBlue loyalty members regionally.'

 (Source: Trinidad Express Newspaper)

• Despite frequent predictions of a hiring slowdown in the U.S. job market, the consensus on Wall Street is that the October nonfarm payrolls report will show a sharp decline in job growth from the previous month. Economists anticipate only 170,000 new jobs, down from the prior month's 336,000.
• Contrary to expectations, some experts believe the job market remains resilient. Employers are still actively hiring, even though some trends like aggressive job switching and large wage gains are showing signs of reversing. Employers are offering incentives like flexible work scheduling to attract new talent.
• The labour force participation rate is slightly below its pre-pandemic level, and this will be closely watched. Wages increased by 4.2% from the previous year in September, but this is expected to decrease to 4% for October. Wages are a key component of inflation, and policymakers are monitoring this closely.
• Employers have been hiring more part-time workers in recent months while full-time positions have decreased. The rise in the jobless rate, which is approaching the threshold set by Sahm's Rule for potential recession, could be a concerning economic indicator. Additionally, strikes by American workers may have an impact on the October jobs report.
• High-frequency data from sources like Homebase suggests that employment levels and hours worked have declined in October, indicating a potential downward trend in the job market.

(Source: CNBC)

• In the third quarter, unit labour costs unexpectedly declined, providing some relief on the inflation front. Unit labour costs, which measure hourly compensation against productivity, fell by 0.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis. Economists had anticipated a gain of 0.7%. Over the 12 months, unit labour costs increased by 1.9%.
• The decline in unit labour costs was influenced by a 3.9% increase in hourly compensation, which was offset by a 4.7% rise in productivity. The productivity increases surpassed expectations, with output rising by 5.9% and hours worked increasing by 1.1%.
• These developments occurred as the Federal Reserve was actively trying to combat inflation by implementing a series of interest rate increases. Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that wage gains have decreased significantly over the past 18 months, bringing them closer to the target of 2% inflation over time.
• In other economic news, initial filings for unemployment benefits for the week ending on October 28 reached 217,000, representing a slight increase of 5,000 from the previous week and higher than the estimated 214,000. Continuing claims, which lag by a week, totalled 1.82 million, reflecting an increase of 35,000 and exceeding the estimated 1.81 million.

• One-on-One Limited has recorded a net loss of $37.76Mn for the financial year ending August 30, 2023, versus a net profit of $12.26Mn, last year.
• Revenue for the year slightly declined by 0.1% yoy to $266.58Mn. The performance was influenced by a fourth-quarter revenue dip; the company experienced a decline in revenues from $72.5Mn in 2022 to $44.3Mn in 2023. This drop can primarily be attributed to the dip in non-recurring project revenues, as the company’s strategic emphasis has been increasingly shifted towards building sustainable, recurring business lines. Consequently, the value of projects undertaken during this period was less than 2022.
• Despite revenues being flat year over year the company had growth in the B2G business line, which benefited from increased revenues from existing government contracts.
• Significant increase in expenses targeted at investing in the development and expansion of new products, and selling activities to increase awareness, led to a rise in operating expenses from $171.5Mn in 2022 to $230.4Mn for the comparative period in 2023.
• One’s stock price has declined by 18.7% since the start of the calendar year. The stock closed Wednesday’s trading session at $1.00 and currently trades at a P/B of 7x which is below the Junior Market Others Sector Average of 5.1x.
• One-on-One has made substantial investments over the year in the One Academy for Schools solution, which is expected to generate significant recurring revenues for the business going forward. While the 2023/24 financial year will commence with the company’s engagement in 25 schools for the One Academy, its target is to aggressively onboard a significant number of schools before the end of the financial year. This is a major initiative for the company and is expected to boost the company’s performance and ultimately, increase shareholders’ value.

(Sources: JSE and NCBCM Research)

• ExxonMobil and partners on Stabroek have made a “significant discovery” at the Lancetfish-2 appraisal well, offshore Guyana.
• The Guyana government said this was the fourth find this year and the total, since 2015, of 46. Other finds this year are the Fangtooth SE-1 and Lancetfish-1 on Stabroek, in addition to the Wei-1 discovery in the Corentyne Block.
• Most findings have been at Exxon's prolific Stabroek block, where oil production was inaugurated in 2019. The 6.6 million-acre (26,000-square km) block is expected to generate up to 1.2 million barrels of oil and gas per day by 2027.
• “This newly discovered reservoir will undergo a comprehensive appraisal process, which aligns with the ongoing appraisal activities for other discoveries in the region,” the government of Guyana said.

(Source: Energy Voice)

• After a strong rebound from the pandemic and continued resilience in early 2023, growth in Latin America and the Caribbean is projected to moderate from 4.1% in 2022 to 2.3% this year and remain around this rate in 2024.
• Furthermore, inflation is expected to converge gradually toward central banks’ targets, according to the latest IMF Regional Economic Outlook report for the Western Hemisphere.
• “Latin America has successfully weathered recent global shocks and showed a strong performance in 2022 and early 2023, although growth is softening. The slowdown reflects tighter policies to contain inflation and weakening external environment, including slower growth in trading partners, tighter external financing conditions, and lower commodity prices”, said Rodrigo Valdes, director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere department.  
• After reaching 7.8% in 2022, headline inflation in the region (excluding Argentina and Venezuela) is expected to decline to 5% in 2023 and to 3.6% next year, driven by weakening external and domestic demand, easing global supply constraints, and the lagged effects of currency appreciation in some countries.  
• The risks to the outlook appear more balanced compared to April 2023, although they remain tilted to the downside. External risks include lower growth in main trading partners, commodity price volatility, new inflationary shocks, renewed turbulence in global financial markets, and an intensification of geopolitical tensions.
• At the regional level, downside risks relate to a potential for reemergence of inflationary pressures and increased social tensions. Climate-related shocks also pose important challenges over the short and medium term, especially for Central America, Panama, the Dominican Republic subregion, and the Caribbean, including through their impact on outward migration.
• As inflation comes down and growth slows, policymakers will need to calibrate policies carefully. The swift response of the region’s central banks played a key role in controlling inflation and most are well placed to move forward with gradually easing their tight monetary policy stances, although they should remain attentive to risks. 
• “Prudent easing will continue to require a careful balance between placing inflation on a durable downward path while minimizing the risk of a prolonged period of low growth. Key to achieving the right balance is the pace of monetary easing and a proper assessment of the impact of past tightening on inflation, as monetary policy operates with lags. Central bank communication remains instrumental to the success of the disinflation effort”, added Mr. Valdes.

(Source: International Monetary Fund)