Bloomberg Euro-area unemployment retreated in February to the lowest since 2011, continuing its slow decline as the economy grows at a modest pace. The rate fell to 10.3 percent from 10.4 percent in January, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat in Luxembourg said on Monday. That matched the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey, though the January number ...
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Airbus sees Brexit hurting its UK arm, backs pro-EU
Bloomberg Airbus Group SE, which relies on British facilities to design and build the wings for its commercial aircraft, told its 15,000 workers there that it “strongly†supports the U.K. remaining in the European Union and that an exit wouldn’t be helpful to its operations. “Our business model is entirely based on our ability to move products, people and ideas ...
Read More »Wages are imperfect window into health of US labour market
Bloomberg The true strength of the American labour market may be disguised. Wage growth — described as slow and unconvincing by Federal Reserve officials plotting their path to higher interest rates — is more robust by some measures than commonly acknowledged due to changes in the composition of the workforce. With unemployment close to the lowest in eight years, accelerating ...
Read More »Brazilian analysts forecast rate cut for 1st time since Nov
Bloomberg Brazil economists lowered their forecast for the benchmark Selic rate for the first time in four months as the currency appreciated further amid speculation President Dilma Rousseff will be ousted. Economists lowered their Selic forecast to 13.75 percent at year-end 2016, from 14.25 percent previously, and also its current level, according to the weekly Focus survey conducted April 1. ...
Read More »Blackstone to buy HPE’s stake in Mphasis for $825 million
Bloomberg Hewlett Packard Enterprise will sell its majority stake in IT services firm Mphasis Ltd. for about $825 million to Blackstone Group LP, as the U.S. private equity firm expands in India while the computer maker exits tangential businesses. The investment firm will buy at least 84 percent of HPE’s stake for 430 rupees per share, the U.S. company said ...
Read More »IMF says LatAm bank retreat raises integration need
Bloomberg Global banks’ withdrawal from Latin America since the global financial crisis could undermine domestic banking systems just as the region requires substantial funding to ignite economic growth, according to a report from the International Monetary Fund. Brazil’s Banco Bradesco SA in July announced the $5.2 billion purchase of HSBC Holdings Plc’s local retail unit, raising concern in the local ...
Read More »Ailing e-com site Groupon gets $250mn investment
AFP Groupon, the daily deals ecommerce operator which has been struggling since a hot public share offering, said it received a $250 million investment from a private investment fund. Groupon said it would use the cash infusion from Atairos to boost share repurchases and to revive growth. “Our partnership with Atairos will help accelerate our transformation while better positioning us ...
Read More »USA stocks dip as Virgin America surges on takeover
AFP Wall Street stocks opened modestly lower on Monday as Virgin America surged more than 40 percent on news it agreed to be acquired by Alaska Airlines in a $4 billion deal. Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17.771.20, down 21.55 points (0.12 percent). The broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.76 (0.13 percent) to 2,070.02, while ...
Read More »Mexico’s Alfa said to bid for Pacific in surprise comeback
Bloomberg Mexican conglomerate Alfa SAB is back in talks to take over Pacific Exploration & Production Corp. with a sweetened bid for the beleaguered Colombian oil producer, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Shares of Pacific jumped. A strong offer by Alfa could win support from Pacific’s biggest investor, O’Hara Administration Co., and the producer’s management, the people ...
Read More »ADFD’s projects in Bangladesh valued at AED500mn
ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), financed seven development projects in Bangladesh with a total project outlay of nearly half a billion dirhams over the past four decades, with the majority of these projects serving strategically important sectors including industry, energy and infrastructure. Energy and irrigation projects account for about 65% of the total development assistance ...
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