Hong Kong exports rise at slowest speed

HONG Kong's exports grew at the slowest pace in 14 months in November on weak demand in the United States, where a housing recession threatens to stall economic growth.

Shipments rose 6.6 percent from a year earlier to HK$244 billion (US$31 billion) after gaining 9.8 percent in October, the statistics department said yesterday.

The deepest housing slump in 16 years may undermine US consumer spending. The US economy will expand at a one percent annual pace in the fourth quarter after growing at a 4.9 percent rate from July through September, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed this month by Bloomberg News.