UNITED KINGDOM
Unemployment rises further
Unemployment rose further in the three months to the end of March, official data showed yesterday, as elevated inflation weighs on the jobs market. The rate increased to 3.9 percent from 3.8 percent in the three months to the end of February, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. Meanwhile, wage growth accelerated in the first quarter, suggesting that there are no convincing signs of an easing in the inflation pressures worrying the Bank of England. Average earnings excluding bonuses rose 6.7 percent in the first three months compared with a year earlier, the statistics office said.
ARGENTINA
Central bank raises rates
The central bank on Monday hiked its base interest rate six points to 97 percent as the government prepares to announce a spate of measures to tackle soaring inflation ahead of October’s general election. It is the second time in less than a month that the bank has ramped up interest rates as year-on-year inflation reached almost 109 percent last month. Inflation hit its highest level in three decades last year, finishing the year at 94.8 percent. However, it has kept on climbing. The cost of living has risen by 31 percent since Jan. 1.
TECHNOLOGY
X Corp buys Laskie
Elon Musk’s X Corp, the parent company of Twitter Inc, has made its first acquisition: a tech talent recruiting service called Laskie, a person familiar with the matter said. The deal, which was part-equity and part-cash, recently closed, the person said. The company matches tech talent with potential employers, saying on its Web site that its tool can “confirm mutual interest, set clear expectations and give visibility into the hiring process.” The acquisition marks one of the billionaire’s first major initiatives since he bought the social media service for US$44 billion in October last year. It is unclear how Musk plans to integrate Laskie into his holding company. As of Monday, its Web site displayed a message that “the Laskie platform is no longer available.”
METALS
India gold imports plunge
India’s gold imports last month plunged 45 percent from a year earlier to a three-month low as a rally in local prices to a record high curtailed demand during a key festival, a government source said yesterday. The country imported 16 tonnes of gold last month, compared with 29 tonnes a year earlier, the source said on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorized to speak to the media. The average monthly imports last month in the past decade were about 71 tonnes.
CONGLOMERATES
Philips tests recalled devices
Royal Philips NV said new tests on its recalled sleep apnea products showed the vast majority of the devices are unlikely to cause considerable health damage to patients. Tests show being exposed to degraded foam in 95 percent of the breathing apparatuses is “unlikely to result in an appreciable harm to health in patients,” the Netherlands-based health company said yesterday. Philips initiated its first recall of potentially faulty sleep apnea products in June 2021, with the US Food and Drug Administration also labeling those as a Class 1 issue, or the most serious type. The company has set aside about 1 billion euros (US$1.11 billion) for the recall of about 5.5 million devices globally and booked additional provisions of 575 million euros as part of a planned settlement in the US to compensate users.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the