Sun, Mar 03, 2019 page14

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  UNITED STATES

  Manufacturing growth slows

  Manufacturers expanded at a slower rate last month as the pace of new orders, production and employment each slipped. The Institute for Supply Management on Friday said that its manufacturing index fell to 54.2 last month, down from 56.6 in January. Readings above 50 signal growth in manufacturing. The companies surveyed for the index suggested that the nation’s economy is healthy.

  EUROPE

  Ministers urge cooperation

  French Minister of Finance Bruno le Maire and Italian Minister of Finance Giovanni Tria are urging cooperation to make European businesses more competitive globally, seeking to mend ties after a damaging diplomatic standoff. Le Maire on Friday, said: “We need to rise above the disagreements we had in the past weeks to move forward.” He criticized nationalist politicians who claim European countries are better off on their own.

  EMPLOYMENT

  WeWork cuts staff

  Coworking giant WeWork Cos cut about 300 employees this week, or roughly 3 percent of its workforce, in what it described as performance-related dismissals. WeWork, which operates shared office spaces around the world, said that the staff reductions were a small culling ahead of a hiring spree. A spokesman said that the company has 10,000 employees and plans to add 6,000 this year. The company has said it is open to an initial public offering in the near future.

  LENDERS

  Dianrong shrinks workforce

  Dianrong (點融網), a Chinese peer-to-peer lender backed by Tiger Global Management and Standard Chartered PLC, is cutting thousands of staff and closing stores as it tries to reduce costs and comply with authorities’ efforts to shrink the industry, people familiar with the matter said. Shanghai-based Dianrong plans to lay off as many as 2,000 employees and is shutting about 60 of its 90 brick-and-mortar outlets, which helped verify borrowers’ identities and qualifications, one of the people said.

  AUTOMAKERS

  Sales miss expectations

  Sales dropped 5.9 percent for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s lucrative Jeep Wrangler last month, driving the firm to its first total sales retreat in a year. At Ford Motor Co, sales fell 4.4 percent, worse than analysts projected, a person familiar with the results said. Those companies joined Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co in trailing analysts’ estimates for last month in a survey. The annualized industry sales rate slowed to 16.6 million, the worst reading in 18 months, researcher Autodata Corp said.

  MEXICO

  Bank bill clears hurdle

  Senate majority leader Ricardo Monreal has reached an agreement with banks that allows him to move forward with his bill to regulate lenders’ fees, his aide said. The new version of the bill removes across-the-board prohibitions from the original legislation, but requires banks to offer zero-fee accounts to low-income clients, Monreal’s aide, Juan Garay, said. The proposal might be approved by the Senate as soon as March 21, Garay said in an interview.
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