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Taipei / DPA Workforce demand for the second quarter is expected to rise by 19,334 – a drastic 57-per-cent decline from last year’s 45,063, according to the Labour Ministry’s survey on domestic firms. It was the lowest growth in seven years for the April-June period. Stagnant global growth and lackluster export performance have contributed to companies’ lower willingness to hire, ...

Tokyo / Bloomberg As stocks go, so does the performance of Japan’s giant pension fund. The $1.2 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) provided some respite for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a $41 billion gain in the three months ended December, rebounding from the worst quarterly loss in data going back to April 2008. It will probably prove fleeting, ...

LONDON / Bloomberg Alternative trading arrangements with the European Union in the event of a British departure from the bloc would pose “serious risks” to the prosperity of Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron’s government said. The option providing for the most definitive break with the 28-nation bloc — a reversion to World Trade Organization rules —would mean greater costs for ...

Bloomberg A British vote to exit the European Union stands to cloud the future of carmakers in the U.K., as auto executives warned of higher prices and potential trade disruptions. “I’d find it very regrettable,” said Harald Krueger, chief executive officer of BMW AG, the parent company of the Mini and Rolls-Royce car brands, said in a briefing at the ...

ZURICH / Bloomberg The Swiss economy returned to growth at the end of last year as it fought off the impact of a currency shock that had threatened to push the country into a recession. Gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent in the three months through December, after contracting 0.1 percent in the prior quarter, the State Secretariat for Economic ...

PARIS / Bloomberg The consequences of a “leave” vote in the U.K.’s June 23 referendum on its European Union membership may spread beyond Britain’s shores, according to Societe Generale SA. While the U.K.’s assets will depreciate should the nation vote to sever a more-than-40-year-alliance with the continent, its close links to the rest of the bloc’s financial entities also leave ...

WARSAW / Bloomberg Poland’s new rulers have outraged their biggest benefactors, stifled opponents and threatened foreign investors — all while keeping their supporters happy with promises of unprecedented largesse. Welcome to the country’s latest post-communist incarnation: The right-wing Law & Justice party is moving at breakneck speed to upend the status quo with the European Union and impose a new ...

NEW YORK / Bloomberg Ford Motor Co., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Honda Motor Co. led automakers as the U.S. posted the best February sales since 2000, with buyers taking advantage of cheap gasoline, low interest rates and Presidents Day deals. The results bolstered prospects that the U.S. could see another record year for vehicle sales, a bright spot in ...

Bloomberg Bank of Nova Scotia would consider acquisitions to further expand operations in Latin America, Chief Executive Officer Brian Porter said. Just don’t expect anything in Brazil or Argentina. “We’ve got a small business in Brazil and we’re fine with that, thank you,” Porter said on Tuesday in an interview on Bloomberg TV Canada. “And Argentina, we have no desire ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc.’s international expansion has been challenged by application shutdowns, regulatory blocks and protests. On Tuesday, the Brazilian government tried another tactic: detaining an executive. Brazil’s federal police took an executive into custody for failing to cooperate with judicial orders related to information on the company’s website in an investigation of drug trafficking. A judge in Sergipe ordered the ...