-Caveat Lector- From: Reuters Friday December 25 1:51 AM ET Japan Hit With Record Unemployment On Christmas By Yoko Nishikawa TOKYO (Reuters) - There was no Christmas cheer in Japan Friday as the government delivered dismal economic data and the worst jobless numbers in 46 years. The government announced the nation's jobless rate hit 4.4 percent in November, matching that of the United States for the first time ever. The unemployment rate was the highest since Japan began collecting the data by present methods in 1953. The U.S. rate fell to 4.4 percent in November from 4.6 percent the previous month as the U.S. economy continued to create new jobs. ``Labor market conditions are becoming more severe,'' said Labor Minister Akira Amari, adding that an early economic recovery was an urgent task for the government in order to improve employment conditions. Some government officials admitted worse employment conditions would be unavoidable for a while. Asked about matching the U.S. jobless rate, Economic Planning Agency Minister Taichi Sakaiya said: ``We are not competing with the United States and that is not the issue. But the jobless rate of 4.4 percent is a level that we need to regard seriously.'' Though some economists have said the jobless rates in Japan and the United States cannot be compared due to data collection and cultural differences, Japanese government officials and some economists disagreed. ``There has been such views, but they are comparable, as the Japanese government says,'' said Yasushi Okada, chief economist at CS First Boston in Tokyo. ``The International Labor Organization has also studied the issue and concluded that the jobless rates (in the two countries, when accounting for the different methods) come out with only slight differences,'' he added. The rise in joblessness is seen by some as signaling the arrival of a new era for Japanese workers, many of whom work in large companies where they have traditionally taken comfort in a so-called ``lifetime employment'' system. ``I think it is likely that a meltdown in the lifetime employment system is going to start,'' the EPA's Sakaiya said. As fears over deflationary pressure linger, Tokyo's core consumer prices -- excluding fresh food prices that have surged in recent months -- fell for the fourth consecutive month in December, marking the longest string of declines for the index. Added to the weak statistics were a 2.0 percent fall in industrial output in November from the previous month and a 2.9 percent year-on-year decline in retail sales. The Trade Ministry said industrial production remained stagnant, adding that inventories were at high levels despite some progress in companies' efforts to reduce them. In the financial market, Japanese government bonds (JGBs) were supported by the weak data, with the yield of the key JGB off the week's high, easing worries that higher interest rates would hit the country's already wounded economy. Tokyo share prices and the yen advanced moderately due to calmer waters in the bond market. The benchmark Nikkei 225 average ended up 0.67 percent at 13,797.95 while the dollar hovered around 116 yen. But Friday's economic indicators, including a plunge in housing starts and construction orders in November, are likely to overshadow optimism expressed by some Japanese policymakers who have said they see the first signs of an economic recovery. November housing starts were down 16 percent year-on-year while construction orders dropped a whopping 21.3 percent. In a continued effort to pull the economy out of its recession, the government is due to approve its expansionary budget for the next business year starting next April later Friday. Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Friday the budget draft was compiled with the government's ``best effort'' to achieve the 0.5 percent economic growth it has forecast for fiscal 1999/2000. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ >From Associated Press Friday December 25 10:24 AM ET Singapore: Jobless To Exceed 30,000 SINGAPORE (AP) - More than 30,000 Singaporeans will be out of work by the end of the year, exceeding the government's projections, the head of the city-state's largest union was quoted Friday as saying. ``In the fourth quarter, retrenchment has gone up compared to'' the previous three months, Cyrille Tan, head of the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries, told The Business Times. ``We estimate that it will exceed 30,000 for the year, which means some 10,000 were laid off this quarter.'' The Ministry of Manpower had projected the year's total layoffs would not exceed 30,000 in the country of 3.1 million people. The unemployment rate for September was 4.5 percent, almost double June's 2.3 percent, according to government figures. Singapore is in the midst of one of the worst economic downturns in its 33-year history. During the last recession in 1985, the number of jobless totaled 19,529. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thursday December 24 2:58 AM ET Oil Price Holds In Asia, Eyes Weather For Rescue SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Crude futures prices in Asia were holding overnight gains Thursday, with markets checking if the weather can perform a rescue on beaten oil prices. Crude futures rose in London and New York Wednesday following a sudden cold snap in the key northeastern region of the United States -- one of the world's biggest consuming areas for heating oil. But traders said that a sustained period of below normal temperatures would be needed to offer oil prices any hope of escaping 12-year lows. As it was, the news of the cold snap prompted New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) February crude futures to rise 21 cents to $11.33 per barrel Wednesday. The same contract, trading in Asia on the after-hours ACCESS system, was last traded at 0740 GMT at $11.33, unchanged from New York. February Brent futures meanwhile rose a more modest 16 cents to $10.17 per barrel Wednesday. Brent on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX) Thursday was untraded and unquoted. The cold snap in the U.S. prompted the January NYMEX heating oil futures contract to rise 0.64 cent to 32.54 per gallon. On ACCESS it has added another 0.20 cent to last trade at 32.74. Weather Services Corp of the U.S. said in its latest report that temperatures in the northeast of the U.S. were averaging three to eight degrees Celsius (10-14 Fahrenheit) below normal during the past 24 hours. But the forecaster said it expected temperatures to settle back to normal, or even slightly above normal seasonal levels after three to five days. ``We have to have sustained cold weather to rescue prices and to draw down stocks of heating oil,'' Matt Sims, a broker with ED&F Man, said. ``If we have a cold spell into early next week it could spike the market. But it's not long term. A couple of days of cold weather does not mean that much,'' he said. Distillate or heating oil stocks in the U.S. stand 20 million barrels above year-earlier levels, offering some cushion to lower temperatures. The spike in prices will offer some relief to the battered oil market which is struggling to get away from 12-year lows. A glut in global stocks, weak compliance with pledges to temper production within OPEC and shattered demand from Asia are keeping buyers' optimism high that supplies are secure for months to come. NYMEX February is now around one dollar above its low and Brent barely 50 cents higher, despite the rumblings over Iraq which last week prompted the severest attack against that country since the 1991 Gulf War. On average, oil prices are at their lowest levels in more than 20 years. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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