Toyota edges past 9.1 million vehicle output goal, warns chip shortage lingering

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp set a global annual output record in the business year ended in March, just edging past its target of 9.1 million vehicles as factory disruption from global chip supply woes and pandemic lockdowns eased. But the world’s biggest automaker by sales warned it continued to see impacts from…

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China Jan-Mar industrial profit slump underlines patchy economic recovery

BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s industrial firms’ profits shrank at a slightly slower pace in January-March but the decline remained in the double-digits as the economy struggled to fully recover despite the country’s exit from its zero-COVID policy. Profits at these firms fell 21.4% in the first three months from a year earlier, cumulative data released by…

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China’s job market tough, especially for college graduates, vice minister says

BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s job market remains tough, and it is becoming especially hard for college graduates to find jobs, vice Human Resources minister Yu Jiadong said on Thursday. China’s cabinet on Wednesday unveiled plans to boost employment, including supporting financial institutions to offer loans to small firms and issuing subsidies to firms that hire college…

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New Zealand committed to cutting spending, PM Hipkins says

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The New Zealand government is committed to reducing spending even though severe weather events earlier this year caused asset damage of roughly NZ$9 billion ($5.51 billion) to NZ$14.5 billion, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Thursday. Flash floods hit Auckland, the country’s largest city, in January and Cyclone Gabrielle…

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