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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (56619)	11/30/2001 1:50:32 AM
From: StanX Long	Respond to of 70976

;0( Japan Jobless Rate Highest in 50 Years as Falling Prices Hurt Companies 11/30 01:11 Japan Unemployment Rises to Record 5.4%, Prices Fall (Update3) By Yoshiko Matsushita and Daisuke Takato, with reporting by Ann Saphir and Naoko Fujumiura quote.bloomberg.com Tokyo, Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's jobless rate rose to the highest in almost half a century and may top 6 percent next year as companies fire workers to cope with falling demand and prices. The yen rounded out its third losing month as the government said the jobless rate rose to 5.4 percent last month. That capped a week of bad economic news, in which Japan's credit rating was cut a notch and a report showed factory production at a 13-year low last month. Companies such as Isuzu Motors Corp. and West Japan Railway Co. are dumping thousands of workers. Manufacturers, including Sony Corp., are reducing prices and need to cut costs to underpin earnings. That has led seven economists surveyed by Bloomberg News to forecast the jobless rate will reach 6 percent by the middle of next year, double the rate of six years ago. ``Companies can't sustain growth without firing staff,'' said Sadaharu Nagumo, who helps manage $161 million in assets for Japan Investment Trust Management Co. ``The jobless rate is going to keep rising.''