Business Digest, March 9, 2013
A burst of hiring last month added 236,000 jobs in the United States and reduced the unemployment rate to 7.7 per cent, its lowest level in four years, from 7.9 per cent in January. More than half the decline occurred because 170,000 of the unemployed found jobs, but 130,000 gave up looking for a job. AP
Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins told some shareholders the bank may shed 28 per cent of its workforce to about 100,000 over the next decade as automation and online banking cut the need for staff. Bloomberg
Google's Motorola Mobility unit will slash 1,200 jobs, or 10 per cent of its workforce, in the US, China and India as the smartphone maker tries to return to profitability, the reported, citing a company e-mail. Google eliminated 4,000 jobs at the unit in August. Reuters
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has appointed Mao Zhirong as its senior vice-president, head of mainland development, from May 1. Mao was director of strategy and international affairs, director of financial innovation lab and head of the derivative product task force at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Toh Han Shih
Net profit at Jardine Strategic fell 53 per cent to US$1.84 billion last year, while revenue grew 5 per cent to US$60.45 billion. Earnings were hurt by difficult market conditions for Jardine Matheson's car operation in China, a one-off charge in Dairy Farm, and rupiah weakness reducing the contribution from Astra International, the Indonesian automotive unit. Toh Han Shih
