| Japan jobless rate steady, household spending up
However, overall household spending and retail sales rose modestly in December from a year earlier, although this did not alter views that slack consumption and fears of a US recession might force the Bank of Japan to cut rates this year.
"These labour figures point to a slowdown in the Japanese economy. Companies are curbing hiring amid growing uncertainties for the economic outlook," said Mamoru Yamazaki, chief economist at RBS Securities. "With costs rising, it getting harder for companies, especially small- and mid-sized ones, to raise wages."
The unemployment rate was 3.8 per cent in December, slightly less than the 3.9 per cent expected by economists. Japan's jobless rate has crept up from a nine-year low of 3.6 per cent seen last July, suggesting the job market is stalling as small firms, which employ seven out of 10 workers, lack pricing power and have held back on hiring.
Attention NHL GMs: Lock up your young defencemen
As much as it's been a slow year for trades building buzz for the NHL, you can't say the same for contracts. As the CBA and the salary cap have made swapping players challenging if not impossible at times Edmonton general manager Kevin Lowe's offer-sheet summer made all 29 other GMs in the league snap to attention and make sure their young talent is locked up long term. This has changed the league from one that rewards players with large contracts towards the tail end of their careers into one where GMs are more about predicting the future and securing prospects. Mike Richards gets the 12-year deal from the Flyers, Alex Ovechkin gets the Burger King Whopper combo of 13 years at $124 million US and there are still more to come as well and the most interesting ones are defencemen.
Merrill Lynch ousts CEO O'Neal
UBS AG, the biggest Swiss bank, dismissed CEO Peter Wuffli in July and said earlier this month that finance chief Clive Standish and investment-banking head Huw Jenkins were stepping down. Others who have been ousted include Bear Stearns Co-President Warren Spector and Citigroup Inc. trading head Thomas Maheras. O'Neal, who earned his way through college by working at a General Motors Corp. assembly plant in Georgia, may receive about $160 million to $200 million from Merrill, said James Reda, managing director of James F. Reda & Associates, a New York-based compensation consultant that has analyzed O'Neal's pay package. He has received stock bonuses of almost $80 million during the past three years.
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