Jobs

This morning I company Deane, good friend of mine, former Sarawak No.1 badminton player went Permata Complex to buy badminton shoe. And I got my birthday gifts from her. Thank you Deane..

my birthday present

Deane new shoe

Jobs: More March Sadness

The U.S. economy lost 663,000 jobs on the month and the unemployment rate hit a 25-year high of 8.5%

The rapid pace of U.S. job losses continued in March, according to a Labor Dept. report released Apr. 3, though the monthly decline was not as bad as many on Wall Street had feared. Nonfarm payrolls declined 663,000 in March, slightly higher than economists' median forecast of a 650,000 decline. The unemployment rate rose to to a 25-year high of 8.5% from 8.1% the month before, about as expected. "While the data indicates the job weakness continues, the report failed to realize the worst fears of a greater than 700,000 drop in jobs," said Standard & Poor's senior economist Beth Ann Bovino. While February's 651,000 decline was not revised, January was revised down to -741,000 (from -655,000 previously), the second largest slide on record. Job losses averaged 685,000 in the first quarter. Looking more closely at the March report, average hourly earnings rose 0.2%. Average weekly hours worked dipped to 33.2 from 33.3. The goods-producing sector lost a total of 305,000 jobs, with a 161,000 decline in manufacturing, and a 126,000 drop in construction. Business services lost 133,000 jobs.

Thousands of UK jobs lost at Aviva and Bombardier

 More than 2,500 British jobs were lost on Thursday at just two companies as insurance giant Norwich Union and aircraft manufacturer Bombardier unveiled huge redundancy programmes.

 

The number of UK jobs cut could be even higher after the world's second-largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, also said it would cut 10pc of its 11,560 global workforce over the next 12 months. It did not specify where the cuts would come, but implied that some global offices would close as it "streamlined" its worldwide office network. Norwich Union, which is being rebranded after parent company Aviva in a multi-million pound advertising campaign, announced the biggest job cuts in the UK. It will slash 1,100 permanent roles in its life operations by the end of this year, largely in its business change and IT departments. An additional 590 contract positions will be ended over the next few months. The worst hit areas are York, Norwich, Sheffield and Eastleigh.

Over 26,000 jobs lost in Malaysia

Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan told Bernama he expected further job losses in the coming weeks. He said a 16.2 billion dollar stimulus package unveiled earlier this month had not provided immediate incentive for companies to retain their workers. The government has slashed its work permit approvals for foreign workers by almost 70 percent so far this year and cancelled work visas for 55,000 Bangladeshi workers after unions said the situation for Malaysians was bleak enough. In January, the government also banned the hiring of new foreigners in the manufacturing and services sectors after a report forecast 45,000 Malaysians would lose their jobs in the next few months. Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labour and has an estimated 2.2 million foreign workers, who are the mainstay of the plantation and manufacturing sectors. However, the government has become concerned about the ramifications of having such a large migrant workforce and periodically tries to reduce it.