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Australian job-vacancy advertisements declined by the most in almost two years in June, adding to signs employers will pare hiring as economic growth slows.

Jobs advertised in newspapers and on the Internet fell 3 percent from May to an average of 262,075 a week, the biggest drop since November 2006, according to an Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. report released in Melbourne today.

The central bank raised interest rates to a 12-year high in March to engineer a slowdown in the economy and cool inflation that is running at the fastest pace in almost two decades. Governor Glenn Stevens left borrowing costs unchanged for a fourth month last week, saying there are “tentative signs'' the jobs market is easing and domestic demand is moderating.

“This report is consistent with a softening in the labor market,'' said Sally Auld, co-head of economics at ANZ Bank in Melbourne. “Employment growth should ease modestly over the next six months.''

The Australian dollar traded at 96.17 U.S. cents at 11:35 a.m. in Sydney from 96.20 cents before the report was released free credit report .com. The two-year government bond yield fell to 6.74 percent from 6.82 percent on July 4.

Employers cut 19,700 workers in May, ending a record 18 months of job gains, the government reported on June 12.

Economy Slows

Other figures suggest the economy's expansion is losing momentum after the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 7.25 percent in March.

The construction industry contracted for a fourth month in June as rising borrowing costs reduced demand for houses and factories, the Australian Industry Group said today.

Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's largest carrier, said in June that it will slash services to Japan, shift other Asian routes to low-cost unit Jetstar and cut jobs in response to surging fuel costs.

The number of jobs advertised in newspapers fell 3.5 percent in June, today's report showed. Vacancies on the Internet declined 2.9 percent.

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US Airways Group Inc (LCC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday it will reduce its work force by 1,700, or about 5 percent, and will cut more capacity than planned and introduce new fees as the airline industry battles record fuel prices and a weakening economy.

The airline will reduce its fourth-quarter domestic mainline capacity by 6 to 8 percent, having previously planned a 2 to 4 percent cut.

For 2009, US Airways plans to cut domestic mainline capacity 7 to 9 percent from 2008 levels.

The airline will also return 10 aircraft to leasing companies and cancel deliveries of two aircraft.

US Airways said its new fees will include the introduction of a $15 service fee for a first checked bag for many customers from July 9.

“Our industry is profoundly challenged by the dramatic increase in fuel prices, and we must write a new playbook for running a profitable airline in this new and challenging environment,” said US Airways chief executive Doug Parker in a statement.

US Airways said its fuel expense will be about $1.9 billion more in 2008 than it was last year internet payday loans.

VEGAS FLIGHTS CUT 

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Rising food and energy costs are still trickling through the economy, complicating the outlook for inflation, Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren said on Tuesday.

The central bank still expects prices to trend down as the economy softens, but it is less confident in this outlook because of simmering commodity costs, Rosengren said in a speech in Cape Cod.

“The effects of significant increases in food and energy prices are still feeding through the economy, as are the impacts of appropriately aggressive monetary and fiscal policy responses to the recent financial turmoil,” he said.

The United States has been struggling with twin crises in the housing and financial sectors, developments that have forced the Fed to cut interest rates sharply since September.

Investors now believe the central bank will leave benchmark rates on hold at their current 2 percent level quick payday loan. Tough talk on inflation from a string of Fed officials have also prompted the markets to begin pricing in an eventual rate hike, as early as October.

The economy has barely sputtered forward in the last two quarters. Last week, the government reported a jump in the unemployment rate from 5.1 percent to 5.5 percent, the biggest one-month rise in 22 years.

At the same time, oil prices have reached a record high near $139 a barrel and the average cost of gasoline nationally has surpassed $4 a gallon for the first time. These trends should slow growth, but also put upward pressure on prices.

DON’T BLAME THE BUCK 

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LAURIE NICKLE

Age: 37

Job: Laid-off assembly line worker at truck plant

How long at GM? 4.5 years

Why are you at the blockade? Because GM wants to shut the truck plant after they agreed to give us a new model.

Are you angry, and if so, at whom? Yes. At GM and at the government because they’re taking away our paycheques and, up until now, the government hasn’t done anything to help us.

What’s next for you? I guess I’m going to have to start searching for a job soon. Either looking for a job or going back to school.

STEVE HIENSTRA

Age: 30

Job: Assembly line worker at GM Oshawa truck plant

How long at GM? Almost four years

Why are you at the blockade? I’m losing my job and I’m trying to fight for it and save it.

Are you angry, and if so, at whom? Yeah, I’m angry. Two weeks ago, we agreed to a contract and, two weeks later, they (GM) backed out on us.

What’s next for you? It all depends if they’re able to keep the truck plant. If not: retraining.

JIM BEDFORD

Age: 69

Job: Retired assembly line worker

How long at GM? 25 years before retirement

Why are you at the blockade? I have to support the guys I used to work with and I’m afraid they might try to take away my pension.

What’s next for you? All I can do is see what the union does and take it day by day.

KATHIE FOWLIE

Age: 55

Job: Assembly line worker at car plant

How long at GM? 25 years

Why are you at the blockade? I want to make a statement to our government because they need to step up to the plate and lower the taxes on gas so people can drive whatever vehicle they want.

What’s next for you? What’s next for me is to be here to support this union in any action and any struggle and try to find jobs for our people.

TED LAWRENCE

Age: 42

Job: Assembly line worker at car plant

How long at GM? 23 years

Why are you at the blockade? Because GM lied to us with the bargaining.

Are you angry, and if so, at whom? I’m angry for the community because GM let us down because they lied http://savingpaydayloans.com. We don’t teach our kids to lie, so how can we respect our employer if they lie to us.

What’s next for you? We just keep plugging on.

M. VANDEN HEUVEL

Age: 35

Job: Assembly line worker in car plant

How long at GM? Six years

Why are you at the blockade? I need my job. I’m a single person with a car and a mortgage and I need to keep my job.

Are you angry, and if so, at whom? I’m mad at the company and the government.

What’s next for you? The unemployment line.

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Tyson Foods Inc. said Monday it would "voluntarily withdraw" advertising and labels claiming that its poultry products don’t contain antibiotics, after a federal court issued an injunction stopping the practice.

The world’s largest meat producer said it notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture it would stop using the "raised without antibiotics" chicken label.

Tyson (TSN, Fortune 500) said it asked the USDA, which previously had approved the slogan, to start "a public process to bring more clarity and consistency to labeling and advertising rules" on antibiotic claims.

Tyson had claimed it based the slogan on the absence of any antibiotic believed to affect humans.

"We still support the idea of marketing chicken raised without antibiotics because we know it’s what most consumers want," Tyson senior vice president Dave Hogberg said. "However, in order to preserve the integrity of our label and our reputation as a premier company in the food industry, we believe there needs to be more specific labeling and advertising protocols."

U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett in Baltimore had set a May 15 deadline to stop Tyson from running any of the advertisements. The injunction came after competitors Perdue Farms Inc. and Sanderson Farms Inc. sued, claiming Tyson’s advertising was misleading.

Tyson had appealed Bennett’s ruling, but the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., denied a motion by Tyson to stay the order in May.

Sanderson, based in Laurel, Miss., has argued it lost a $4 million account to Tyson because of the advertising campaign, and Salisbury-based Perdue claims it has lost about $10 million in revenue since last year.

Charles Hansen of the Truthful Labeling Coalition, whose members are Perdue, Sanderson and Livingston, Calif.,-based Foster Farms, had asked the USDA to rescind its approval for Tyson’s labeling http://us-fast-cash-now.com. Hansen did not immediately return a call for comment left at his office Monday night.

After approving the advertising, the USDA later told Tyson that, when it approved the no-antibiotics label, it had mistakenly overlooked additives called ionophores that are used in feed for Tyson’s chicken. Regulators said the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has a long-standing policy of classifying ionophores as antibiotics. Tyson disagreed, saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not consider them antibiotics.

Tyson’s Hogberg later testified in court that the company spent about $16 million on the original publicity campaign, including about $4 million in promotional materials. Tyson said Monday it has begun designing and ordering new labeling and packaging for its poultry products.

Tyson (TSN, Fortune 500) stressed its decision would not cause any changes in how the Springdale-based company "protects the health of its birds."

"The company does not use antibiotics for the purpose of growth promotion," the Tyson statement read. "On those rare occasions when antibiotics are used to treat an illness, it is on a prescription-basis only to protect birth health."

Tyson is the country’s second-largest chicken producer after Pilgrim’s Pride Corp (PPC, Fortune 500). 

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Toyota is preparing to rev up production of hybrids, announcing Tuesday its third plant in Japan for producing batteries that are key components for the "green" cars.

Just last week, it announced that it was building a second such battery plant.

Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) has emerged the world leader in hybrids with its hit Prius, which has sold more than a cumulative 1 million vehicles over the last decade. Sometime after 2010, it hopes to sell 1 million hybrids a year.

For that, it needs to boost battery production as Honda Motor Co. (HMC) and other automakers aim to catch up with their new gas-and-electric hybrids - a technology that is growing in appeal for the world’s drivers as gas prices soar.

The $291 million plant in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan, will be operated by Panasonic EV Energy Co., Toyota’s joint venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.

Set to be running by 2010, the factory will make nickel-metal hydride batteries, with production capacity at 200,000 a year, with start-up production at about half of that.

The latest move follows a similar announcement just last week about Toyota’s plans to build a $194 million plant in Shizuoka, in central Japan, also to produce nickel-metal hydride batteries for gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

Hybrids reduce pollution and emissions that are linked to global warming by switching between a gasoline engine and an electric motor to deliver better mileage than comparable standard cars.

Last week, Honda, Japan’s second-biggest automaker after Toyota, said it will boost hybrid sales to 500,000 a year by sometime after 2010 payday loans in 1 hour. Honda said it will introduce a new hybrid-only model next year for a lineup of four hybrids.

Nissan Motor Co., which still hasn’t developed its own hybrid for commercial sale, said it will have its original hybrid by 2010. Nissan says its joint venture with electronics maker NEC Corp. will start mass-producing lithium-ion batteries in 2009 at a plant in Japan.

Lithium-ion batteries, now common in laptops, produce more power and are smaller than nickel-metal hydride batteries. Toyota has said lithium-ion batteries may be used in plug-in hybrids, which can be recharged from a home electrical outlet, but it has not given details about a plant for such batteries. 

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Citigroup Inc said on Friday it plans to shed $400 billion of assets within three years and boost revenue by up to 10 percent annually, in a bid to restore profitability after huge losses tied to flagging mortgage and credit markets.

Vikram Pandit, who became chief executive of the largest U.S. bank in December, revealed the plans at a much-anticipated presentation to investors and analysts. He has faced growing demands to slash costs, shed poor-performing businesses, and reinvigorate a stock price down by more than half in the last year.

Citigroup shares were down 60 cents, or 2.5 percent, at $23.70 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

“It’s definitely going to be a show-me story,” said Thane Bublitz, a senior analyst at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Citigroup lost nearly $15 billion in the last two quarters, and has suffered more than $45 billion of write-downs and credit losses since last summer, as the housing slump deepened, subprime mortgages imploded and credit markets tightened cashadvance. More jobs will be cut, on top of 13,200 announced this year.

“It’s a net positive for Citi just to shrink,” said Henry Asher, president of Northstar Group Inc, a New York money manager.

Pandit said he plans to reduce $500 billion of non-core “legacy” assets, an amount he said was not “trivial,” to below $100 billion in two to three years, largely through sales.

Among the assets to be shed are real estate, leveraged loans, complex debt and structured investment vehicles. Citigroup ended March with $2.2 trillion of assets. 

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Enrollment in consumer-driven and high-deductible health plans increased in 2007, but they still make up a small segment of the overall insurance market, according a study released recently by the Commonwealth Fund and the EBRI, two think tanks with interests in health policy issues.

Enrollment in high-deductible plans stood at 11 percent of the privately-insured adult population in 2007, up from 7 percent the previous year.

Among those with a high-deductible plan, 42 percent reported that they were eligible for a tax-advantaged health savings account but did not have such an account easy payday loan.

As in 2005 and 2006, individuals in consumer-driven plans and high-deductible plans continued to be less satisfied with various aspects of their health plan than individuals in more comprehensive plans.
However, individuals in consumer-driven plans were somewhat more satisfied with their plans in 2007 than they were in 2006.

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3Com Corp. postponed its Friday shareholder vote on a $2.2 billion buyout that is being held up by a national security review.

The data network equipment maker said it was still talking with its potential private equity buyer, Bain Capital Partners LLC, about alternatives that could address security concerns over a Chinese company’s role in the deal.

Bain had partnered in the proposed acquisition with China’s Huawei Technologies Co., a company with strong ties to the Chinese government. Lawmakers and Bush administration officials have expressed concerns that sensitive military technology could be transferred to China.

3Com (COMS) said late Thursday that it would convene the meeting and immediately adjourn without a vote.

3Com has rescheduled the meeting for March 7, giving shareholders the chance to vote if a new deal is reached by then with Boston-based Bain.

Under the original proposal last September, China’s Huawei Technologies Co no fax payday loans. would have held a minority ownership stake in 3Com.

3Com and Bain said Feb. 20 that they had withdrawn their filing on the deal with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.

3Com’s shares jumped 62 cents, or 21%, to $3.53 in early trading. 

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Merck & Co. posted a $1.63 billion fourth-quarter loss Wednesday as a whopping charge for its Vioxx litigation settlement dragged down results.

The maker of allergy and asthma pill Singulair and osteoporosis treatment Fosamax said the net loss amounted to 75 cents per share, compared with a year-ago profit of 22 cents, or $473.9 million pay day loans.

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