Wed, Aug 18, 2021 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  UNITED KINGDOM

  Employee numbers increase

  The number of employees on company payrolls last month rose by 182,000 from June, moving closer to the level prior to the COVID-19 pandemic as the economy recovers from lockdowns, tax data showed yesterday. The Office for National Statistics said that 28.9 million people were now on company payrolls, 201,000 shy of their level before the pandemic in March last year. The headline unemployment rate for the three months to June fell to 4.7 percent. Economists polled by Reuters had mostly expected the unemployment rate to hold at 4.8 percent. Vacancies in the three months to last month hit a record of 953,000, up by 168,000 from their pre-pandemic level, the office said.

  EUROPE

  Economic pessimism rises

  Fewer than half of respondents in a monthly fund manager survey expected the economy to further improve over the next 12 months, marking the lowest proportion since June last year, Bank of America Corp’s survey edition for this month said yesterday. Cooling growth expectations are mainly due to COVID-19 concerns, with 19 percent of investors citing the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 as the biggest tail risk to the economy, closely behind inflation risks and worries about a taper tantrum, the European edition of the monthly survey said. As a result, a net 23 percent of investors were overweight cash, the highest share in a year, Bank of America said.

  REAL ESTATE

  ViacomCBS to sell building

  ViacomCBS Inc has reached a deal to sell the Manhattan skyscraper that houses CBS for US$760 million, one of the biggest New York office sales since the COVID-19 pandemic started. The granite tower, known as Black Rock, was purchased by Harbor Group International, a commercial real-estate firm based in Norfolk, Virginia, a statement on Monday said. The building, at 51 W 52nd Street, was the headquarters for CBS, which merged with Viacom in 2019. It was designed by architect Eero Saarinen. The deal includes an agreement for CBS to lease back the space on a short-term basis.

  SOFTWARE

  SenseTime plans debut

  SenseTime Group Ltd (商湯科技), China’s largest artificial intelligence company, is working with HSBC Holdings PLC to arrange its planned Hong Kong initial public offering, which could raise at least US$2 billion, people familiar with the matter said. China International Capital Corp (中國國際金融) is also arranging the share sale for the Softbank Group Corp-backed company, the people said. SenseTime is not tapping any US banks for the offering because it is on the US Bureau of Industry and Security’s entity list, strictly limiting its ability to do business with US firms, the people said.

  SOLAR ENERGY

  More tariffs sought

  Attorneys advising a group of US solar manufacturers said it filed petitions requesting federal investigations into Chinese firms circumventing tariffs by manufacturing in other countries, including Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. The American Solar Manufacturers Against Chinese Circumvention filed the petitions with the US Department of Commerce, according to Wiley Rein LLP, a Washington law firm advising the companies. The industry group is asking for the extension of US tariffs to cover products from factories built by Chinese companies in Southeast Asia.
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