Erik Pineda

Japan’s economic woes continues piling up as reports released on Friday spoke of rising unemployment in three straight month leading to April, plunging consumer prices index and declining household spending.

A report by the Melbourne Institute has indicated that economic trends for May pointed to less optimistic economic outlook for the Australian economy as creeping wariness on the effects of the European debt crisis started shrouding economic growth expectations.

A survey by the Australian Associated Press showed that most economist are holding on the belief that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will give borrowers a breathing room this June and opt for a pause in raising the cash rate as the eurozone debt crisis continues and China’s searing economy raises a lot of questions.

Apple contractor Foxconn has started instituting precautionary and even bizarre measures to protect its workers and business in the aftermath of reported nine suicides this year at the company’s giant facility in southern China.

Beijing has suddenly become hesitant in buying more Euro reserves and is reportedly set to re-evaluate its holdings of eurozone debt amidst the worsening sovereign debt crisis in Europe as representatives of China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) met with foreign bankers based in the Chinese capital to shed light on the issue.

It may not be something to celebrate about but thanks to the financial crisis, Australia’s greenhouse emissions has dropped by 2.4 percent last year though conservationists weren’t too happy at all at the prospect of a rebounding economy, which should mean that those unwanted gasses should spew out again and only the sky is the limit.

A new United Nations (UN) report published on Wednesday said that the world economy is poised to recover from last year’s crunch with up to three percent growth this year and 3.2 percent improvement by next year, while warning at the same time that only a solid recovery could recoup job losses and fill the production backlog created by the deep recession.

The US climate change representative said Wednesday that all countries must adopt transparency and accept external reviews of their greenhouse emissions, leaving note that global cooperation is very important to ensure that the worldwide campaign for carbon intensity reduction is heading to the right direction.

Citing changes in federal government policies and uncertain economic conditions, figures furnished by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday showed that net overseas migration (NOM) to the country reached 305,900 in the past 12 months leading to end of March 2009, and should slide down by end of the year.

Domestic carrier Regional Express Holdings Ltd (Rex) has announced on Wednesday that company net profit for 2009/10 would only either match or might even fall a little below than the net profit of $23 million it reported on 2008/09.

Travel agency specialist Flight Centre Ltd has announced Tuesday that it is upgrading its earnings guidance from a low of $180 million to a maximum of $200 million for fiscal 2010 as it cited that encouraging overseas trade conditions are poised to deliver record profit to the company by the end of the year.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today that the country’s overall sales of new motor vehicles jumped by 8.4 percent in April with four-wheel drive units posting a record 28.7 percent increase in sales in the year leading to April.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said last Tuesday that the country’s overall sales of new motor vehicles jumped by 8.4 percent in April with four-wheel drive units posting a record 28.7 percent increase in sales in the year leading to April.

Moody’s Investors Service has reported on Monday that Australia’s building societies are standing on solid ground with anticipated growths in their deposit base as the country’s economy is on its way to further recovery.

The US Senate, voting by 59-39, has approved on Thursday a comprehensive reform bill poised to overhaul financial industry regulations amidst calls from many legislators and economic analysts to check the excesses of Wall Street, which are blamed by many as the biggest contributing factor in the 2008 global financial crisis.

The annually published World Competitiveness Yearbook study has listed Australia as the fifth most competitive economy in the world along with Singapore, Hong Kong, the USA and Switzerland topping the list respectively.

Budget carrier Virgin Blue is once gain cited as the top low cost airline in the Australia/Asia Pacific region at the Skytrax world airline awards held in Hamburg, garnering the honour for four consecutive times and edging out Tiger Airways and Qantas subsidiary, Jetstar.

Japan’s finance ministry has expressed concern on Friday that the rise of Yen was beyond the country’s expectations as Finance Minister Naoto Kan admitted that the currency’s seemingly uncontrollable upward spirals are causing worries over the global economy.

Rio Tinto Ltd confirmed reports that it has reached iron ore price agreement with big Asian steel mills for April to June as a company representative clarified that China was not part of the closed deal, with price appreciations that could reach up to 90 percent according to industry experts.

Airport operator MAp Airports Ltd has reported Thursday that Sydney Airport saw a spike in domestic travellers which lifted the terminal’s overall passenger numbers by 6.4 percent in April, with the local passengers’ traffic jumping by 8.6 percent while international travellers contributed a bit with 1.5 percent increase.

Household utility costs are expected to soar by $368 each year as the Western Australia government is set to impose the pricing structure changes recommended by the Economic Regulation Authority in order to closely reconcile the utility fees to the actual cost of delivering water and electricity to every home across the state.

China maintained its hard-line stand against revaluing the Yuan amidst longstanding pressures from the US and Europe and instead pointed fingers on the soaring American debt levels, which Beijing described as possible source of more and graver economic concerns.

Quit smoking and you’ll get to slash at least six years of mortgage repayment, that according to online research group RateCity, whose study showed that a cigarette smoker consuming a pack of 30 sticks a day usually spends $300 a month or $4,000 a year that could eventually amassed to a total of $300,000 for 25 years of burning that stick.

Construction materials supplier Adelaide Brighton Ltd has admitted Wednesday that it is facing numerous challenges on multiple fronts which include the volatile foreign exchange issues, high cost pressures and brewing stiff competition from imported limes.

The latest Westpac – Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index showed declines by up to seven percent to 108 points in May, coming from 116.1 index points in the previous month and apparently reeling from the effects of interest rates increases and drops on global share markets.

Origin Energy and BG Group have jointly informed the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration conference held in Brisbane today that they will reveal by the end of the year if the planned multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Queensland would push through.

A fund analyst said on Tuesday that gold will most likely see a temporary correction soon as its spot prices saw a record high of $US1,249.70 last week, which experts attributed to the economic uncertainties spawned by the Greek sovereign debt crisis.

Bradken Ltd kicked up on Tuesday its annual earnings guidance from the previous financial year of $169.1 million and revealed that it will raise $65 million to buy Canada’s Almac Machine Works as it hopes that better turnovers from its rail division would help propel the company beyond the profits it had amassed last year.

A new survey released by the Australian Institute of Management (AIM) said that employers are hard pressed to hunt and keep their brightest staff while struggling at the same time to give out handsome pays without costing huge capital outlays while cruising through economic recovery.