The
Limited is shutting down its 250 stores and cutting 4,000 jobs - (www.fortune.com) And
another bites the dust. Women's apparel chain The Limited on Sunday began
closing all 250 of its stores across the United States and is slashing 4,000
jobs, the latest casualty of shopping's move online and the growth of fast
fashion chains. And just like Chico's, Ann Taylor and other women's apparel
stores struggling with big drops in sales, The Limited has been struggling with
shifts in consumer behavior and interest, a greater number of rivals and longer
store leases.
Commodities
Bust Crushes Incomes, House Prices, & Rents in Western Australia - (www.wolfstreet.com) Perth,
the capital of the state of Western Australia (WA), “hitched itself to the
largest mining investment boom since the mid-19th century gold rushes, and in
the excitement, forgot or refused to diversify its economy. Believing the
mining boom could end as suddenly as it did was considered outlandish. It
delivered immense wealth and income to the government, business, and household
sectors,” so a new report published by LF Economics’ co-founders
Lindsay David and Philip Soos. But now the reverse is taking place, and
more recent property investors “are losing wealth and income by the day.” Real
and quality-adjusted housing prices peaked in 2007Q1, having risen rapidly from
2001. While rental price growth tracked consumer price inflation, gross and net
yields compressed sharply. Despite the steep rises in rents, incomes, and
population since, housing prices have declined moderately, registering small
rises and falls along the way.
Out
of work for six months or more? Here's why you can't find a job (DESPITE
"LOW UNEMPLOYMENT") - (www.usatoday.com)
It used to be jobs found me," says Brown, 46, who lives in Wheaton, Ill.
"The world has definitely changed." He has learned, for example, that
his diverse work history, which includes overseeing marketing, strategy, and
mergers and acquisitions, is viewed as a negative by the many firms that seek
in-depth experience in specific areas... Many businesses remain locked in a post-recession
mindset ingrained by the downturn's severity and that's adding up to long-term
frustration for workers on the sidelines for at least six months.
China
Reserves Slumped $320 Billion Last Year as Yuan Tumbled - (www.bloomberg.com) China’s
foreign currency holdings fell for a sixth month in December, bringing
last year’s drop to $320 billion as the yuan posted its steepest annual slide
in more than two decades. Reserves decreased $41.1 billion to a fresh five-year
low of $3.01 trillion, the People’s Bank of China said Saturday. That was in
line with estimates in Bloomberg’s survey of economists. The central bank’s
effort to stabilize the yuan was the main reason for the drop last year, the
State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a statement. The world’s
largest stockpile has fallen for 10 straight quarters from a record $4 trillion
in June 2014, while eroding confidence in the yuan has pushed the currency to
the lowest levels in eight years.
Germany's
Gabriel says EU break-up no longer unthinkable - (www.reuters.com) Germany's
insistence on austerity in the euro zone has left Europe more divided than ever
and a break-up of the European Union is no longer inconceivable, German Vice
Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told Der Spiegel magazine. Gabriel, whose Social
Democrats (SPD) are junior partner to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives
in her ruling grand coalition, said strenuous efforts by countries like France
and Italy to reduce their fiscal deficits came with political risks. "I
once asked the chancellor, what would be more costly for Germany: for France to
be allowed to have half a percentage point more deficit, or for Marine Le Pen
to become president?" he said, referring to the leader of the far-right
National Front.
Older
Americans Are Retiring in Droves – (www.bloomberg.com) More
and more baby boomers begin the new year with nothing on their schedule but
plans to golf, travel, and spend more time with the grandkids. The number of
Americans aged 65 or older without a disability that aren't in the labor force
rose by 800,000 in the fourth quarter of 2016, marking the resumption of a
long-standing trend: the exodus of their generation from the work force
and into retirement. For more than five years, the six-month trend for this
figure — a significant demographic source of downward pressure on the headline
labor force participation rate — had been heading higher, before plateauing for
most of 2016. The labor force participation rate for this cohort tanked by a
full percentage point, to 23.6 percent, in the final quarter of the year.
Asia
Stocks Set to Follow U.S. Gains, Pound Slips: Markets Wrap - (www.bloomberg.com)
Potential Fed Chairs Suggest They Would Pursue Tighter Policy - (www.bloomberg.com)
China Is Planning a New, Relaxed Approach to Growth - (www.bloomberg.com)
North Korea's missile testing 'serious threat' to U.S.: defense secretary - (www.reuters.com)
With Speech, Theresa May Prepares to Walk ‘Brexit’ Tightrope - (www.nytimes.com)
China battles to control growing online nationalism - (www.ft.com)
Potential Fed Chairs Suggest They Would Pursue Tighter Policy - (www.bloomberg.com)
China Is Planning a New, Relaxed Approach to Growth - (www.bloomberg.com)
North Korea's missile testing 'serious threat' to U.S.: defense secretary - (www.reuters.com)
With Speech, Theresa May Prepares to Walk ‘Brexit’ Tightrope - (www.nytimes.com)
China battles to control growing online nationalism - (www.ft.com)
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