Short-term business statistics showed weaker results in August, with industrial production slowing down and manufacturing declined compared to the same month of the previous year. The trend appeared in the latest Monthly Review of the Bulgarian Economy of the Ministry of Finance. Data show that, at the same time, growth in retail has accelerated. The business climate indicator declined in September due to a deterioration in demand for construction and services but remained above the long-term average. In September, registered unemployment remained at 5.6% from the previous month, reflecting almost the same number of incoming and outgoing unemployed. In September, consumer prices, measured by HICP, declined by 0.3% on August, driven mainly by lower prices for market services. The annual rate of inflation slowed to 3.6% as a result of the lower contribution of market services. Base inflation also declined to 2.6% yoy. The current account surplus for the period from January to July amounted to EUR 933.7 million (1.7% of projected GDP).

Bulgaria's industrial producer price index (PPI) rose 3.7% year-on-year in September, after increasing by 3.8% in August, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said. On a monthly comparison basis, producer prices added 0.3% in September, after losing 0.1% in the previous month, the NSI said in a monthly report on producer prices in industry. The PPI on the domestic market climbed 3.1% on the year and increased by 0.3% month-on-month in September. The PPI on the international market added 4.5% on the year and was 0.4% lower than the value recorded the month before.

The outsourcing industry in Bulgaria grew by 18.2% in 2017, generating 4.8% (EUR 2.1 billion) of the country's GDP and paying 7.9% of the wages in the national economy, Bulgarian Outsourcing Association President Ivailo Slavov said. In 2017, the country's outsourcing industry employed 67,000 people in 477 companies. The number of employees is expected to reach 70,000 in 2018. These are mainly people aged under 30 and earning a monthly wage of between BGN 1,500 and BGN 2,500, Slavov said. Other speakers at the news conference said the average monthly wage in their companies exceeds BGN 4,000. Only 16% of the work of outsourcing companies in Bulgaria is related to telephone services. The remaining 84% of their activities generate higher added value by creating knowledge products and database management output, Slavov said. Back in 2013, the sector generated 2.9% of GDP. By 2021, it is expected to produce almost 8% (EUR 4 billion) of GDP by using a workforce of 80,000 people.

More than BGN 3.2 billion are the investments of the energy company AES in Bulgaria for 17 years. The investments of the corporation in our country are in projects for clean and reliable energy. AES builds and manages in our country the most modern power plant - AES Galabovo and the Waste Disposal Facility from the production process, as well as the biggest wind farm St. Nicholas. Worldwide, AES is a leader in providing sustainable energy and storage solutions and is active in 15 countries. Through the Center based in Sofia for Shared Services in Finance, Information Technology, Supply, the corporation serves its businesses in Europe and Asia, enabling young and qualified Bulgarians to develop and realize their potential.

The international company, Mondelez, producer of chocolate Milka and Svoge announced that it will launch new products on the Bulgarian market. It is planning to start offering its brand of chewing gums and candy Halls. "With this new brand for Bulgarian consumers, the company is entering a new product category in our country, with the ambition to strengthen its position as one of the major manufacturers of chewing gums and candies in the world," the manufacturer said.

A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the InvestBulgaria Agency and the Municipality of Sliven. The aim is to create a favorable environment for attracting entrepreneurs to the city. The document was signed by the executive director of IBA, Stamen Yanev, and the mayor Stefan Radev. One of the ideas is to look for entrepreneurs in high technology, automotive or airplane parts. The minimum requirements are the amount of the investments to be over BGN 5 million, in a period of up to 5 years, and the newly created jobs - at least over 100-150, Stamen Yanev said. The new industrial zone of Sliven will be located in the area of the former agricultural airport Burshen, near the main road to Yambol. It will occupy the plots around the airport with a total area of 2500 decares. Mayor Radev announced that the administration had prepared the Comprehensive planning.

Steel radiator manufacturer Korado Bulgaria, part of Czech Republic's Korado Group, said that its net profit rose to BGN 5.5 million in the first nine months of the year from BGN 4.2 million in the same period of 2017, following an increase in revenue. Korado Bulgaria's total operating revenue grew to BGN 34 million in the January-September period from BGN 32.4 million in the comparable period of last year. The company's operating expenses remained relatively unchanged at BGN 28.2 million in the review period. Korado Bulgaria sold 407,992 units in the review period, only 2% of which on the local market. The company sold 434,354 units in the corresponding period of 2017. The company's interim reports from last year show that its towel rail radiators output was significantly higher in the first nine months of 2017 - 87,410 units. Earlier this month, Vojtech Chamek, CEO of Korado Group, said in an interview for the TOP 100 SEE 2018 that the group sees strong growth potential in the segment of bathroom and towel radiators, where it plans to expand its production capacity. At the end of September, Czech-based Korado held an 82.56% stake in Korado Bulgaria. Korado Bulgaria was registered in 1998 when the Czech company acquired 98.2% of the originally German-Bulgarian steel radiators production plant in Strazhitsa, in northern Bulgaria. The plant exports its output to the markets of Romania, Ukraine, France, Hungary and Bosnia.

Iberdrola has officially launched its 350 megawatt (MW) Wikinger offshore wind farm. In a statement Monday, Iberdrola said that the facility was the first offshore wind farm to be "one hundred percent designed and operated" by a Spanish business. Iberdrola said it had invested more than 1.4 billion euros ($1.59 billion) in the plant. The Wikinger site is situated off the north east-coast of the German island of Rugen, in the Baltic Sea. Its 5 MW Siemens Gamesa AD 5-135 turbines stand 165 meters tall, with their blades measuring 67 meters in length. Fully operational and connected to the German grid, Wikinger supplies renewable energy to 350,000 homes. This helps displace almost 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to Iberdrola. Iberdrola's chairman, Ignacio Galan, said that the wind farm represented a new step in the company's commitment to supplying reliable, efficient and clean electricity. "We will continue to champion offshore wind technology since it enables us to drive the energy transition to a sustainable, low carbon economy," he added.

President Donald Trump said he is planning to terminate birthright citizenship, potentially setting up another constitutional standoff. Trump said he will sign an executive order that would remove the right to citizenship for babies of noncitizens and unauthorized immigrants born on U.S. soil. "It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don't," Trump said in the interview by Axios on HBO, the news site's new documentary series. "We're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States ... with all of those benefits," Trump said. "It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And it has to end." "It's in the process. It'll happen ... with an executive order." Trump's comments come as he continues to push a hard anti-immigration line ahead of next week's midterm elections. On Monday, the Defense Department announced plans to deploy 5,200 active duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border by end of the week as a migrant caravan made its way north from Central America.

Japan’s Shikoku Electric Power Co restarted unit 3 at its Ikata nuclear plant in Ehime Prefecture after the Hiroshima high court lifted a suspension order which had kept the unit offline for almost a year. Commercial operation of the unit is scheduled for 28 November. The high court accepted an appeal by Shikoku Electric, ruling that there are no safety risks associated with potential volcanic activity in the nearby region, reversing its provisional injunction of December 2017. The injunction had ordered the utility to stop the 890MWe pressurised water reactor (PWR) until 30 September, following a request from a local opposition group. However, the high court said on 25 September that the group's concerns about a possible destructive volcanic eruption during the plant's operating period were unfounded. The Hiroshima District Court rejected the group’s call to extend the injunction. Ikata 3 received Nuclear Regulatory Authority approval to resume operation in April 2016, having been idle since being taken offline for routine inspection in April 2011.