Skip to content

Category Archives: Economy

Jobless rate may hit 4.5pc by year-end

Jobless rate may hit 4.5pc by year-end
PETALING JAYA, Aug 13 — Domestic unemployment rate may rise to 4.5 per cent by year-end from 3.7 per cent last year, International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said today.
“To us, the figure is high and we have never reached this high a figure before. At [...]

Retiring without tears

The Singapore Straits Times, 7 August 2009
Retiring without tears
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
More Singaporeans are facing the grim reality of retiring later or having to lower their lifestyle expectations when they do retire. This is partly because they fail to plan early for their retirement, if at all.
Recent surveys on retirement have indicated that the [...]

More bad news - exports plunge 30% in May

Malaysiakini, 3 July 2009
More bad news - exports plunge 30% in May
Malaysia’s exports slumped 29.7 percent in May from a year earlier, hitting their lowest level since 2001 with demand evaporating, according to official data released today.
 
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement that exports plunged to RM42.95 billion year-on-year while imports [...]

Nation’s economic indicators worsen

Malaysiakini, 18 June 2009
Nation’s economic indicators worsen
Malaysia’s manufacturing sales, which are a key driver of the economy, sank 26.2 percent in April from a year earlier, according to official data released today.
The government’s statistics department attributed the sharp fall to the poor performance of the iron and steel sector and the computer industry amid lower [...]

RM24.4B credit card debts

The Malay Mail: Monday. June 15, 2009
CREDIT CARD DEBT & YOU: Under-30s under siege
Some 50 per cent declared bankrupt for credit card debt are in this age group
Ng Suzhen
THOSE under-30 are the leading age group for people declared bankrupt due to credit card debt. This startling finding reveals the other dimension to the general problem [...]

Economy and security still main concern of Malaysians

The Malaysian Insider
Economy and security still main concern of Malaysians
By Debbie Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 – Bread and butter plus security issues are at the top of Malaysian minds, the first public opinion poll conducted since Datuk Seri Najib Razak took over as prime minister two months ago revealed.
Independent pollster Merdeka Centre carried out [...]

Economy contracts 6.2pc in Q1, recession inevitable

Economy contracts 6.2pc in Q1, recession inevitable
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 - The Malaysian economy is worse than expected, contracting 6.2 per cent in the first quarter from a year ago, its worst fall since the fourth quarter of 1998 at the height of the Asian financial crisis.
It is the first time in eight years that [...]

Money worries multiply relationship woes

They say money can’t buy happiness. But financial strain can certainly help undo a relationship.

70% of Americans said they had so much debt it contributed to distress in their home lives.
Money is the No. 1 source of disagreement in the early years of marriage.
In a survey of 1,001 people, more than half considered money a [...]

CIMB Group offers 36,000 staff extended unpaid leave

PETALING JAYA, 30 March 2009: CIMB Group is offering its 36,000 staff extended unpaid leave under the “Staff Rejuvenation Programme” from next month.
Group chief executive, Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, emphasised that the programme was not to lay off workers but to give them an option to take extended unpaid leave of between one and six [...]

Stress takes a toll on heart

Anxiety, depression and stress caused by work and the economy are unhealthful in their own right; they’re also hard on the ticker. Some of the evidence:

Depression, anxiety, chronic life stress and high blood pressure all raise the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Stress, high blood pressure and smoking are major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Job pressure [...]