SPAIN
Unemployment hits record
The number of registered job seekers in Spain rose for the eighth-straight month last month to a new record high, government figures showed yesterday. The number of workers officially registered as unemployed climbed by 0.82 percent from the previous month to 4.75 million, the highest figure since the current statistical series began in 1996, the labor ministry said. The Spanish economy, the eurozone’s fourth largest, is expected to contract 1.7 percent this year, after posting a modest expansion of 0.7 percent last year, according to official estimates.
INTEREST RATES
Australia maintains rate
Australia’s central bank yesterday kept interest rates steady at 4.25 percent, saying growth was close to trend and inflation near target even as it hinted a rate cut may be in the offing next month. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said the board decided at its monthly monetary policy meeting that the current setting was correct, after easing rates late last year. Inflation came in at about 2.5 percent last year and was expected to remain within the bank’s target range of 2 to 3 percent over the coming one to two years, he added.
INTERNET
Groupon hit by profit change
Online discount deals firm Groupon saw its fledgling stock price sink on Monday as word spread that it overstated its quarterly earnings. Groupon’s stock price sank nearly 17 percent throughout the day, gaining back a little ground to US$15.35 in after-hours trading. The loss of investor faith in Groupon came after the Chicago-based firm on late Friday revealed that it had overstated earnings in its first quarterly financial report, blaming accounting mistakes. Groupon lowered its revenue for the final three months of last year by US$14.3 million and its net income by US$22.6 million. The adjustment pushed Groupon’s loss for the quarter to about US$65 million.
ENERGY
Solar Trust seeks protection
A California solar energy company that was unable to meet a deadline for a US Energy Department loan guarantee last year has sought bankruptcy protection in Delaware. Solar Trust of America’s filing on Monday listed assets between US$1 million and US$10 million, and liabilities between US$50 million and US$100 million.
INTERNET
Google loses Australia case
An Australian court has found Google Inc guilty of breaching trade law by posting misleading or deceptive advertisements, in a ruling that holds search engines responsible for their advertisers’ content. The Federal Court yesterday overturned a judge’s ruling from September last year that Google was not responsible for advertisers’ breaches of Australia’s Trade Practices Act. Google said it was disappointed by the decision and was considering its options, which include a High Court appeal.
TRANSPORT
Hyundai, Magna team up
Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, yesterday said it would set up a joint venture with a Canadian firm to develop battery technology for electric and hybrid vehicles. A deal was signed on Monday in Seoul between Hyundai Heavy and Magna E-Cara, a supplier of components and systems for hybrid and electric vehicles, to develop lithium-ion battery technologies, the shipbuilder said in a statement. The joint venture will be owned 60 percent by Magna E-Car and 40 percent by Hyundai Heavy.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last