In Brief: Weekly applications for unemployment benefits rise to 315,000
WASHINGTON – More people sought U.S. unemployment benefits last week, though the trend in benefit applications in the past month remained low.
The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment aid rose 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 315,000, the most since late June. Still, the four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, rose just 750 to 304,000. The average is 7.1 percent lower than it was a year ago.
Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The four-week average fell to an eight-year low of 293,750 last month. Generally, fewer applications indicate employers are holding onto their staffs.
The data covers the week ended Sept. 6, which included the Labor Day holiday. Unemployment benefits data can be more volatile around holidays. As a result, the modest increase is unlikely to raise alarms about the health of the job market.
“This is nothing to worry about,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “The seasonal adjustment is tricky in the week of the Labor Day holiday. Next week should see a clear drop.”
Scottish banks warn of potential relocations
GLASGOW, Scotland – Scotland’s leading banks warned Thursday that they would move their headquarters to England if Scots vote to leave the United Kingdom, intensifying doubts about the territory’s economic future and dealing a blow to the Scottish independence campaign just days ahead of a historic referendum.
Although the banks say the contingency plans are legal procedures that would have a minimal effect on their operations and jobs in Scotland, the warnings renewed concerns about an independent Scotland’s ability to retain businesses – particularly during the long months of financial uncertainty that would follow a vote to break the 307-year union with England.
The Royal Bank of Scotland, which has been based there since 1727, said it drew up the plans because of uncertainties that could hurt its business and customers if Thursday’s vote leads to independence. Lloyds Banking Group, which owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland, said it also had plans to set up new “legal entities” in England if the independence campaign succeeds.
Despite months of debate, there are still no clear answers about what currency an independent Scotland would use, how much U.K. public debt it would take on and who would regulate Scottish banks. Those issues, among others, would have to be settled in protracted negotiations before Scotland achieves full independence.
HP pleads guilty to bribery charges, fined
SAN FRANCISCO – Hewlett-Packard has pleaded guilty to felony charges that former employees bribed Russian government officials for a contract, and the company has been fined $58.7 million.
The Securities and Exchange Commission says Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Russian subsidiary admitted violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a northern California court Thursday.
The SEC alleged the HP division paid $2 million to retain a technology contract with Russian prosecutors.
The plea and sentence are part of a larger agreement reached in April. HP agreed to pay a total of $108 million in criminal and civil penalties for bribing officials in Russia, Mexico and Poland.
Lawyers for the Palo Alto, California, company have said the misconduct was limited to a small number of people who no longer work there.