Xorte Asian economic news

82% of Public Believe Wall Street Should Be Regulated More Toughly

2010-03-14

American attitudes towards Wall Street are ambivalent. Most people believe that Wall Street benefits the country and that what it does is “absolutely essential.” However, attitudes towards the people who work on Wall Street are overwhelmingly negative and are far lower than they were before 2008 and the bail-out of large banks and other financial institutions, with little or no improvement over the last year. The net result? Fully 82% of all adults believe that Wall Street should be regulated more toughly.

Merchant Confidence Index Reveals Local Business Owners See Economy Improving

2010-03-14

MerchantCircle, the nation’s largest social network of local business owners, issued the results of its second quarterly “Merchant Confidence Index,” a survey that gauges confidence levels of local business owners in the current U.S. economy. Seven out of 10 merchants indicated that today’s economy was the same or better than it has been over the last 12 months.

China: Operation of the National Real Estate Market in the First Two Months

2010-03-13

In the first two months, the total investment in real estate development amounted to 314.4 billion yuan, up by 31.1 percent year-on-year, and went up by 30.1 percentage points over same period of previous year. Of which, investment in commercial residential buildings reached 223.3 billion yuan, 32.8 percent of increase year-on-year, picking up 32.0 percentage points over same period of previous year, which occupied 71.0 percent of the investment in real estate development.

Renewable Energy: Forecasts Show EU on Track to Meet 20% Target

2010-03-13

The EU will surpass its target to consume 20 per cent of its energy from renewable energy by 2020, according to national forecasts submitted to the European Commission. In its summary, the Commission finds that the EU will reach an overall share of 20,3 per cent renewables.

U.S. Regional and State Employment and Unemployment in January 2010

2010-03-12

Thirty states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, 9 states registered rate decreases, and
11 states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Over the year, jobless rates increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The national unemployment rate fell from 10.0 percent in December to 9.7 percent in January, but was up from 7.7 percent a year earlier.

MEPs Back Fresh EU Money to Develop Low-Carbon Technologies

2010-03-12

Plans to step up EU funding to develop innovative low-carbon technologies to help cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 were welcomed in a resolution approved on Thursday. MEPs want the EU funding to develop applications for these technologies over the next 10 years, but also acknowledge that additional private, public and EU resources will be needed to hit the target.

U.S. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation: December 2009

2010-03-12

Private industry employers spent an average of $27.42 per hour worked for total employee compensation in December 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Wages and salaries averaged $19.41 per hour worked and accounted for 70.8 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $8.00 and accounted for the remaining 29.2 percent. Total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $39.60 per hour worked in December 2009. Total employer compensation costs for civilian workers, which
include private industry and state and local government workers, averaged $29.37 per hour worked in December 2009.

China's Major Economic Indicators in the First Two Months

2010-03-12

In the first two months of this year, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up 20.7 percent year-on-year, it was 16.9 percentage points higher than that a year ago, or 2.2 percentage point higher than that in December 2009.

U.S. Job Openings and Labor Turnover in January 2010

2010-03-11

There were 2.7 million job openings on the last business day of January 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The job openings rate rose over the month to 2.1 percent, the highest the rate has been since February 2009. The hires rate (3.1 percent) and the separations rate (3.2 percent) were unchanged in January.

Americans Focused on Rebuilding, Improving their Financial Future

2010-03-11

Americans are no longer dwelling on concerns about the economy and instead are focused on rebuilding their finances for the future, according to new research from the Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM.

Action on Jobs, Competition and Taxes Must Replace Crisis Management, says OECD report

2010-03-11

Strengthening our economies for the future in key areas such as jobs, competition and taxation must now replace crisis management, says the OECD’s latest Going for Growth report.

comScore Reports January 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

2010-03-11

comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month period between October 2009 and January 2010. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers age 13 and older, as well as popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber’s primary mobile phone. The January report found Motorola to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 22.9 percent market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 43.0 percent market share.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Japan Increased 1.8 Percent in January 2010

2010-03-11

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Japan increased 1.8 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) increased 1.1 percent in January.

Nearly All Consumers Now Use Online Media to Shop Locally

2010-03-11

Nearly all consumers (97 percent) now use online media when researching products or services in their local area, according to BIA/Kelsey's User View Wave VII, an ongoing consumer tracking study conducted with research partner ConStat. Among consumers surveyed, 90 percent use search engines, 48 percent use Internet Yellow Pages, 24 percent use vertical sites, and 42 percent use comparison shopping sites.

Global Fixed Broadband Service Revenue to Exceed $210 Billion in 2014, says ABI Research

2010-03-11

Despite the economic downturn, the global broadband market remained healthy in 2009. Since more people are buying laptops, notebooks and PCs, home networking is becoming essential. At the same time, the demand for high speed broadband is increasing with the popularity of services such as IPTV and online gaming. New market data from ABI Research shows that global broadband service revenue has continued increasing over the past few years regardless of the recessionary pressures.