Economy

Greenland's future
Mining CEO in Greenland: US government wants to invest in us

The US government is negotiating to invest in the mining company Amaroq's mineral project in Greenland, CEO Eldur Ólafsson tells CNBC. The company mines and explores for germanium, gold and copper, among other things.

When Donald Trump talks about taking over Greenland, he justifies it with the security situation in the Arctic, but the island's rich natural resources increase its strategic importance, writes CNN. In addition to oil and gas, Greenland is rich in important minerals that are needed in almost all new technology - a market that is currently dominated by China.

Actually extracting the minerals can be difficult due to inaccessible terrain, undeveloped infrastructure and current environmental regulations. But Eldur Ólafsson tells CNBC that extraction is possible with the right planning, and compares it to Russia and Alaska.

– One of the biggest challenges with all mining projects is usually moving the minerals long distances on land, says Ólafsson, adding that an advantage in this regard is that Greenland's minerals are often located near "deep fjords".

US job figures
50,000 new jobs in the US – clearly fewer than expected

The number of people employed outside the agricultural sector in the US rose by 50,000 people in December. This is clearly fewer than expected, although analysts' estimates were very spread out. The consensus was for 55,000 new jobs in December, according to the Factset survey, while the estimates in Bloomberg's and Wall Street Journal surveys were 70,000 and 73,000 new jobs, respectively.

Employment figures for October and November were revised downwards at the same time. For October, the figure is revised down to minus 105,000 new jobs from a previous minus 173,000. The November figure is revised down to 56,000 from a previously reported 64,000.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent from 4.6 percent the previous month. Trading Economics' consensus forecast indicated that unemployment would amount to 4.5 percent.

The share of the population included in the labor force fell to 62.4 percent in December compared to 62.5 percent in November.

The average hourly wage rose 3.8 percent on an annual basis. An increase of 3.6 percent was expected.

Futures rise on Wall Street on the news. 

 

US attack on Venezuela  Oil market

Trump: Oil giants to invest 100 billion in Venezuela

Oil giants promise to invest at least 100 billion dollars to revive Venezuela's oil sector. This is what Donald Trump writes on Truth Social ahead of a meeting later on Friday with leading industry representatives.

In the post, Trump also stated that he had called off a second attack on Venezuela because of what he called the country's "cooperation", including in rebuilding [...] "the oil and gas infrastructure", writes AFP.

Saab sales
Saab receives an order of 1.5 billion kronor from the defense

Saab receives an order from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration for 1.5 billion kronor, according to a press release. The order concerns the Trackfire Remote Weapon Station and goes to an ongoing defense project that will develop the Swedish Armed Forces' future amphibious forces.

- This order reflects our commitment to delivering state-of-the-art solutions that meet the changing needs of modern defense, says Saab's head of the Surveillance business area, Carl-Johan Bergholm, in the press release.