JAPAN
Wages drop for fifth month
The nation’s wages dropped for a fifth month, adding to concerns over the resilience of consumer spending as a sales tax increase approaches in October. Labor cash earnings fell 0.2 percent in May to extend the longest monthly falling streak since 2013, according to a report by the Ministry of Labor yesterday. Real wages, adjusted for inflation, dropped 1 percent, compared with analysts’ estimate of a 1.5 percent decline. Scheduled working hours dropped 4.6 percent, the most on record for data going back to 1991, the ministry said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Brexit to hit migrant workers
More than half of businesses with non-British staff have said they would be harmed by post-Brexit immigration plans, according to the Chambers of Commerce and the global job site Indeed. The immigration system proposed in December last year for after Brexit would limit lower-skilled migrants to working in the country for a year. These workers would then have to leave the country for at least 12 months once their visa had ended. The healthcare and construction sectors would be hit particularly hard by the proposals, the BCC said yesterday.
MEXICO
US reimposes steel tariffs
The US Department of Commerce on Monday announced that it has decided to once again apply tariffs on fabricated steel imports from the Latin American country. In a statement, the agency said the decision came after an investigation into government subsidies assisting companies that export fabricated structural steel from the country, as well as China and Canada. It determined that Canadian exports do not warrant the tariff, the agency said. The determination is preliminary, but the tariff goes into effect immediately, it said.
MALAYSIA
Benchmark rate unchanged
The central bank yesterday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged following a reduction in May, taking a cautious approach to policy easing amid an uncertain global economy. The central bank held its overnight rate at 3 percent, as predicted by 25 of the 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The rest had expected a 25 basis-point cut. At the current policy rate, “the stance of monetary policy remains accommodative and supportive of economic activity,” the central bank said.
MALAYSIA
Airline proposals reviewed
The government is studying proposals it received for Malaysia Airlines Bhd, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday. The four proposals were mostly from local companies, who offered to either buy a stake in the flag carrier or to manage it, he told reporters near Kuala Lumpur. He did not name the companies that sent in the proposals. “We must find somebody with experience,” Mahathir said.
WEST AFRICA
Inequality rampant: report
The region suffers the most inequalities in Africa, but many governments prefer to ignore problems, despite economic growth, a report by Oxfam and Development Finance International said yesterday. The report said six of the 10 fastest-growing economies in Africa were in the region, with Ivory Coast, Ghana and Senegal among the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies. The report said the vast majority of West Africans were “denied the most essential elements of a dignified life, such as quality education, healthcare and decent jobs.”
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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