The Nation Newspaper

Tag: jobs

  • U.S economy adds 215,000 jobs in July

    The US economy added 215,000 jobs in July, while the unemployment rate held at a seven-year-low of 5.3%.

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics said job gains came in retail trade, health care, professional and technical services, and financial activities.

    The jobs figures are a seen as a significant gauge of the health of the economy.

    Analysts said the figures meant a US interest rate rise in September remained a possibility.

    Last month, the Federal Reserve upgraded its assessment of the labour market, saying it was continuing to “improve, with solid job gains and declining unemployment.”

    Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: “With the Fed’s decision on the timing of the first rate rise ‘data dependent’, today’s report does nothing to discourage the belief that a September hike is very much on the table, albeit by no means a done deal.”

    He said that the new hiring figures “just missed” expectations of a 225,000 rise.

    “Private sector payrolls grew by a solid 210,000, just shy of an expected 215,000 rise, led by service sector hiring alongside gains in the manufacturing and construction sectors,” he added.

    The Bureau of Labour Statistics said that “over the year, the unemployment rate and number of unemployed people were down by 0.9 percentage point and 1.4 million”.

    Payroll figures from May and June were revised upwards to show 14,000 more jobs created than previously reported. Also, the average working week lengthened to 34.6 hours, the highest since February.

    Average hourly earnings increased by five cents, or 0.2%, after being flat in June.

    The statistics office also said that the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 2.2 million.

    These account for 26.9% of the unemployed. The civilian labour force participation rate was unchanged at 62.6% in July.

  • Wall Street falls as jobs data supports Sept rate hike

    UNITED States stocks were lower at the weekend, with the major indexes poised to close in the red for the week, after solid job growth in July pointed to an improving economy, opening the door wider for an interest rate hike in September.

    Wall Street took a dim view of the report as a stop to easy money will increase borrowing costs. The market has touched record highs, benefiting from near-zero interest rates for almost a decade.

    Nonfarm payrolls increased 215,000 last month, fewer than the 223,000 forecast by economists, but the unemployment rate held at a seven-year low of 5.3 percent.

    “The jobs report confirms that the market is progressing at a rate that will allow the Fed to raise rates in September,” said James Abate, chief investment officer of Centre Funds.

    The Fed has said it will raise rates only when it sees a sustained recovery in the economy. An improving labour market is key to the Fed’s decision to raise rates.

    “I think if we have a disastrous employment report next month, that could give them pause,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial in Waltham, Massachusetts.

    At 11:01 a.m. EDT (1501 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 87.39 points, or 0.50 percent, at 17,332.36, the S&P 500 .SPX was down 8.75 points, or 0.42 percent, at 2,074.81 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 26.67 points, or 0.53 percent, at 5,029.77.

    Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower with the health index’s .SPXHC 0.81 percent fall leading the decliners as biotechnology stocks slumped. The Nasdaq biotechnology index .NBI fell to a one-month low.

    Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday as weak earnings reports from media companies stirred fears that more viewers are ditching cable TV, dragging the sector to its worst two-day loss since the financial crisis.

    Earnings continue to remain in focus. With about three-quarters of the S&P 500 companies having reported, second-quarter earnings are estimated to have increased 1.6 percent while revenues are projected to have fallen 3.4 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

    Nvidia’s (NVDA.O) shares rose as much as 11.2 percent to a four-month high of $22.74, a day after the chipmaker reported a surprise rise in second-quarter revenue.

    Groupon (GRPN.O) fell 3.7 percent to $4.51, while Hershey (HSY.N) was down 4.1 percent at $88.41 after the companies reported results.

    Noodles (NDLS.O) slumped as much as 25 percent to a life low of $11.37 after the pasta and sandwich restaurant chain forecast full-year adjusted profit and revenue below analysts’ estimates.

    Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,562 to 1,265. On the Nasdaq, 1,572 issues fell and 999 advanced.

    The S&P 500 index showed two new 52-week highs and eight new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 15 new highs and 101 new lows.

  • Official: 6,000 applicants jostle for garment factory jobs in Cross River

    The Chief Press Secretary to Cross River Governor, Mr Christian Ita,  said over 6,000 applicants applied for positions in Calabar Garment Factory and the state’s Green Police.

    Ita disclosed this in a statement issued in Calabar on Wednesday.

    According to him, most of the applicants are youths and widows of the state origin.

    He said it was in line with Governor Ben Ayade’s promise to create employment opportunities for the people.

    “Since the job vacancies for the two projects were advertised a few days ago, over 6,000 applicants have so far submitted their resume to the office of Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Forestry Commission.”

    He said: “This is in line with Gov. Ayade’s promise during his inaugural speech on May 29th 2015, to rekindle hope by breaking the vicious cycle of employment.”

    The CPS stated that the garment factory and the Green Police were two of several projects designed to create over a thousand jobs for the teeming unemployed population to mark the governor’s first 100 days in office.

    “Ahead of its commissioning in a couple of weeks, the garment factory is expected to absorb hundreds of women, mostly widows while the Green Police will employ about a thousand youths, ‘’ he said.

    He said the Green Police was a non-arm bearing organisation established to protect the state’s vast forest reserve and the environment in general.

    Ita said the governor, while conceiving the two projects, saw them as a more institutionalised way of empowering the people, rather than giving them handouts as empowerment which was basically unsustainable.

  • I did menial jobs to survive, says Edo lawmaker

    I did menial jobs to survive, says Edo lawmaker

    Chris Okaeben represents Oredo West constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly. For eight years, he  battled to contest election to the House of Assembly. During the past struggles, he was pressured to step down for former Speaker Uyi Igbe. A stout member of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Okaeben spoke with OSAGIE OTABOR

    How was it when growing up?

    I feel embarrassed when I see young girls hanging out as call girls and selling their bodies in the name of survival. There was nothing I did not do to survive. I know this is not the desire of these innocent girls but if we can connect back to the society, we can do something to make them busy. I have once done any work just to ensure I got money to buy books to take to school. I have washed clothes for people to be paid. I worked in people’s garden just to eat. I would go to UNIBEN to do any work for students just because I wanted to remain in secondary school.

    This is because I was convinced that I can make something out of my life. This is why I want to give our people hope. We want to lay a foundation and encourage the people. I want to be part of them. I don’t want them to believe that they have laboured in vain. What has not worked well is that elected persons come once in three years to distribute rice. We want to remain in the system where we grow up from.

    What should your constituency expect from you?

    We want to introduce soft loans for women. I will have a well functional campaign office and employ 12 persons from the six wards to serve as a means of link to the people. I want people to talk about what I did in my time and in defining what  I did in my time, it is about how many people’s lives I affected. How many people I was able to bring to governance. It is only a foolish man who will not want any person to rise to his standard.  We are tired of hearing share the money. What we need are those who will feel the pain that the common man is facing. This nation under Buhari will take us to our destination.

    There is so much to do in Oredo. The people don’t want to be in the dark. They want to be connected to what is happening in government. In my campaigns, I said our people will enjoy the benefits of governance.  What they expect is to reconnect them to government. I want my people to believe in themselves. I am convinced that good things are beginning to happen in my time. I will criticise, suggest and advise. The most important thing is to add value and in adding value, there must be a connection between you and your people. The era of sinking boreholes without bothering whether the people need it or not is over. There is so much to do. I have visited some skill acquisitions shops and I felt that we must identify people in various wards and give them a sense of belonging. Everybody cannot be elected but we can make them learn a trade. We are looking at a way of engaging young girls, who may not be lucky to go to tertiary institutions, to become entrepreneurs. We can prepare a future for our young girls.

  • Amosun to investors: create wealth, jobs

    Amosun to investors: create wealth, jobs

    OGUN State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has urged investors to create wealth and job opportunities to better people’s lives.

    He spoke when he received the management of Procter and Gamble Nigeria Limited in his office in Abeokuta yesterday.

    The governor said while government would continue to foster peaceful co-existence between investors and their host communities, they should facilitate harmonious relationship with the communities through impacting social corporate responsibility.

    Amosun said: “I must commend you for what you have been doing. But there are still a lot to be done and this is why we still need assistance from investors like you to create wealth and job opportunities that would better the lives of our people. And on our part, we will continue to render services that would make your operations and relationship with us and the people seamless and mutually beneficial,” he stated.

    He solicited collaboration in the area of infrastructural development, particularly the construction of roads within the industrial areas of the state.

    Amosun promised government’s readiness to give the necessary support that would further ease the operations of industries in the state.

    The governor submitted that his administration would continue to give priority to developing and consolidating of roads in the industrial areas of the state, notwithstanding the dwindling federal revenue allocation.

    The company’s managing director, George Nassar, pledged his organisation’s continued partnership with the government on the state’s development, “particularly provision of basic amenities in critical segments of the society”.

    “This has been clearly demonstrated by the intention of the company to construct a three-room building block for Agbara Police Station and the donation of patrol/response vehicle to Agbara Police Command, also to aid policing in the state,” he added.

    Nassar added that the firm planned to procure a 350 KVA sound proof generator to the state Ministry of Health, assuring that the donations would be completed by next month.

     

  • ‘Textile industry can create 400,000 jobs’

    The National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTW) has said the revival of textile industries  will lead to the employment of over 400,000 workers.

    Its General Secretary, Comrade Issa Aremu, said the revival of the industries would also create several millions of indirect jobs.

    Stating that industrialisation is strategic to reducing the high unemployment rate in the country, he praised President Muhammadu Buhari for commencing plans to revive the textile and garment industry.

    Aremu said it was commendable that Buhari had directed the inauguration of a special committee to look into the revival of the cotton and textile industry.

    He said: “Labour demands that the revival committee be inclusive of all the stakeholders, including the sector’s labour unions and employers’ association.

    “President Buhari will make history like the late Premier of the Northern Region, Ahmadu Bello, if he brings back the industry, which had hitherto employed over 400,000 people. Labour will partner with the government to realise the goal of re-industrialisation of the country.”

    The labour leader said incessant delays and non-payment of salaries of workers had worsened the poverty level in the country.

    He noted that because of the situation, the poor workers had been turned into working beggars.

    Aremu urged all tiers of government and private sector organisations to ensure timely and consistent payment of workers’ salaries.

    According to him, this will improve productivity and national development as well as reduce youth restiveness and other threats to industrial harmony and investment safety.

    He also urged Buhari not to relent in his resolve to address corruption in the country, stating that corruption had inhibited the growth of many companies, emaciated the workers and retarded industrialisation, national productivity and growth.

    Aremu said: “With already frustrated millions of the unemployed and insurgency fuelled by suicidal desperately poor, Nigeria risks mass national revolt of the poor if nothing is done to urgently alleviate the worsening misery of the majority in the face of the opulence of the ruling class.

    “Nigeria certainly has enough for all Nigerians’ needs, but not enough for the greed of the ruling class.

    “Certainly, Nigerian leaders need more than 67 minutes to reflect on how to replace existing corruption agenda with development agenda, mass poverty with mass prosperity, importation and smuggling with domestic industrialisation; dependency with self-reliance and subservience to foreign interest with patriotism and nationalism.”

    He said there could be no development if workers were deprived of their salaries.

     

  • Barclays cuts 150 investment bank jobs

    Barclays Plc (BARC.L) is cutting about 150 staff from its investment bank as part of the British bank’s attempt to cut costs and improve profitability in the business, a person familiar with the matter said.

    Affected staff, which included managing directors, were said  this last  week, the source said.

    Barclays last year said it would cut about 7,000 investment banking staff by the end of 2016. It cut about 2,500 in 2014 and expects to cut a similar amount this year and next, and this week’s redundancies are part of that.

    It was not clear in what areas most of the cuts would be.

    New chairman John McFarlane  said the investment bank remained a core part of the bank and he was pleased with an improvement in its return on equity this year, but he said it would continue to scale back in areas where it is not strong.

    Analysts expect more cuts in trading activities to allow capital to be diverted to higher-returning advisory and underwriting activities.

  • Delta targets 50,000 jobs in four years

    Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has set a 50,000 direct jobs milestone for his administration in the next four years.

    Okowa, according to a statement by his media team, said he aims to achieve the lofty targets through its  empowerment programmes, tagged ‘Prosperity for all Deltans’.

    The governor spoke on Tuesday when the National Working Committee of the PDP in the Southsouth led by its Chairman, Dr Cairo Ojougboh paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Asaba.

  • 6,000 South Africa jobs at risk in proposed restructuring, says Lonmin

    Platinum producer Lonmin (LMI.L) is planning to close  several mine shafts in a bid to survive plunging prices, putting 6,000 South African jobs at risk and sending its shares to a historic low.

    The platinum sector has been under huge stress, with the spot price XPT= at 6-1/2 year lows below $1,000 an ounce, while power and labour costs in South Africa have risen sharply.

    Lonmin has taken a worse beating than its peers amid concerns about its viability, after an independent probe slammed its handling of a violent strike at its Marikana mine three years ago where 44 people were killed by police.

    Last week, its market value according to Thomson Reuters data, was 8.6 billion rand (445 million pounds), less than half of rival Northam Platinum , which produces roughly half of Lonmin’s output.

    Lonmin shares in London fell last Friday more than 7 per cent to an all-time low. In Johannesburg they were down more than 8 per cent, bringing their losses on the year to 57 per cent.

    “You have to wonder whether the cuts are going to be enough and if more, drastic action is inevitable,” said analyst Marc Elliott at Investec Securities.

    Lonmin Chief Executive, Ben Magara, said the 6,000 jobs would include over 1,300 voluntary redundancies and early retirements already in the pipeline plus an additional 4,500 jobs.

    “Lonmin is highly geared to platinum group metal prices. At current metal price levels, the company is EBITDA negative (loss making) and our cost minimisation plans are designed to improve this position as much as possible,” the company said in a letter to unions.

    “No dividends have been declared by Lonmin since 2011. Lonmin shareholders have paid out significantly more into the business in the last five years than has been received by them through dividend payments,” the letter added.

    The biggest operation earmarked for closure is the Hossy shaft, which accounts for about 8 per cent of annual production of over 700,000 ounces. Lonmin said it was not profitable at current metal prices.

    On a conference call, Magara said the proposed restructuring would take about 100,000 ounces out of production and would bring in savings of 15 to 20 per cent.

    Lonmin employs more than 28,000 staff and has around 10,000 contractors, so the redundancies would be about 15 per cent of its workforce.

    That may be a hard sell in South Africa’s political and labour environment, where the jobless rate is over 25 per cent and union militancy has been on the boil.

    Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which lead a five-month strike on the platinum belt last year, told Reuters he had not been notified yet of any job cut plans by Lonmin.

    AMCU in the past has reacted to proposed lay-offs with wildcat strikes. It was at the forefront of the deadly stoppage in August 2012, after which a probe found Lonmin had “created an environment conducive to the creation of tension” by failing in its legal requirements to build housing for migrant workers.

    Specifically, it found the company had built only three of the 5,500 houses it was required to erect, leading to speculation could lose its mining licence.

    Magara said on Friday that he did “not foresee any risk to our mining licence.”

  • Young business leaders target 1.2m jobs

    Young business leaders have vowed to generate millions of jobs for the unemployed before the end of next year.

    They made the pledge when they gathered yesterday for the launch of Young Business Leaders of Nigeria (YBLN) – a network of young professionals aimed at assisting budding entrepreneurs to hone and develop their business acumen.

    The focus of discussion at the forum at Muson Centre in Onike, Lagos, was centred on how potential and innovative minds of young people could be harnessed to generate the promised jobs and ease the nation’s employment burden.

    Ms Temitayo Etomi, YBLN founder, said the initiative was aimed at creating platform for entrepreneurs to rally resources together for the financing of practicable business ideas.

    They ideas, she said, would generate decent employment for the youth before the end of December 2016.

    Temitayo, who is a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow, said several feasible strategies had been mapped out to create opportunities for unemployed and under-employed people, who are willing to change their conditions.

    To achieve the aim, she said the group would engage unemployed youths in batches of mentorship programmes that would run for eight weeks, after which the trainees would be given soft loans to start businesses in their preferred areas of interest.

    If continued, Temitayo, who is the group managing partner of Redwire Marketing Group, said the group, by the end of 2016, would have achieved its projection to engage more than one million jobless youths in lucrative ventures that would have positive impact on the economy, adding that the group would also train unskilled people to create employability values for their self-sustenance.

    She said: “The YBLN has objectives to bring about new idea that will help solve unemployment crisis. It is basically exploring the effort and ideas of a minority in business to help confront the challenges of the majority who don’t have job. We are creating a network of young professionals and business leaders to create platform for solving unemployment crisis we are facing.”

    She said the initiative would be funded from regular contributions by successful businessmen, adding that the money would be used to train jobless youths in employability skills and finance entrepreneurship ideas that are found business-worthy.

    Noting that the rising unemployment was taking its toll on the country, Temitayo said two of every three youths are either unemployed or under-employed. She said government alone could not be responsible for provision of lucrative jobs, saying it was time for young people to think about how they could use their potential to create opportunities for themselves.

    The event featured a discussion on unemployment, which had top business managers, including Mr George Etomi, Managing Partner of Etomi and Partners, Ms Doyin Odunfa, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Jewel and Mr. Uyi Akpata, Country Partner, PricewatersCoopers, as discussants. The Editor of Sunday Punch, Ms Toyosi Ogunseye, moderated the session.