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 ...