UNITED KINGDOM
Jobless rate tops forecast
The unemployment rate rose by more than expected to 4.5 percent in the three months to August, the highest in more than three years, even before the end of the government’s broad COVID-19 pandemic job protection plan. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the unemployment rate to rise more slowly, to 4.3 percent from 4.1 percent in the three months to July. The number of people in employment fell by 153,000, much higher than a median forecast for a fall of 30,000 in the poll, and the Office for National Statistics revised up sharply its estimate for employment losses in previous months. “Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a sharp increase in those out of work and job hunting, but more people telling us they are not actively looking for work,” Deputy National Statistician Jonathan Athow said.
LOGISTICS
Maersk lifts earnings outlook
The world’s biggest container shipping line, Maersk A/S, yesterday said that demand was recovering faster than expected and lifted its earnings outlook, while also announcing plans to cut 2,000 jobs as it streamlines to reduce costs. Maersk, which handles about one in five containers shipped worldwide, said that although cargo volumes were still down from last year, they had picked up more than forecast after falling sharply at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic a few months ago. “A.P. Moller — Maersk is on track to deliver a strong Q3 with solid earnings growth across all our businesses, in particular in Ocean and Logistics & Services,” chief executive Soren Skou said in a statement. “Volumes have rebounded faster than expected, our costs have remained well under control, freight rates have increased due to strong demand,” Skou said.
PORTUGAL
Economy to shrink 8.5%
The country expects its economy to shrink a record 8.5 percent this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, worse than its previous estimate of 6.9 percent, according to the government’s latest spending plans. “Gross domestic product will see its biggest fall since the war,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement late on Monday. However, the economy should bounce back strongly next year with growth of 5.4 percent, up from the previous estimate of 4.3 percent. The country also expects to do better on the public finances, with a budget deficit — the shortfall between spending and revenue — equal to 4.3 percent of GDP next year, compared with 7.3 percent this year. Unemployment should fall from 8.7 percent this year to 8.2 percent next year, according to the government’s plans.
COMPUTERS
PC shipments surge
Personal computer shipments rose in the third quarter of this year, with the US market having its best performance in a decade, on demand from consumers working and studying remotely. PC makers shipped 3.6 percent more devices in the three-month period compared with a year earlier, for a total of 71.4 million units, preliminary data released on Monday by researcher Gartner Inc showed. Shipments of Chromebooks, cheaper Web-based laptops that run Google’s Chrome operating system, soared about 90 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier. That lifted overall market growth to 9 percent, Gartner said. The firm usually excludes these machines from its reports, but Chromebooks now represent about 11 percent of the overall market.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure