JOBS

British telecoms carrier BT cut its dividend and announced 15,000 further job losses on Thursday after a 1.58 billion pound ($2.4 billion) writedown tipped it into a quarterly loss and its pension costs almost doubled.

Britain's BT Group cut its dividend and said a further 15,000 jobs would go after a 1.58 billion pound ($2.4 billion) write down and restructuring at its Global Services unit drove it to a fourth quarter loss.

Apple on Wednesday said Steve Jobs would host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) but instead, the keynote will be hosted by senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, Philip Schiller.

The Obama administration's fiscal stimulus plan will meet previous estimates to save 3.5 million U.S. jobs by the end of 2010, but the unemployment rate at that time may be higher due to further deterioration in the economy, a senior administration official said on Monday.

Software giant Microsoft will lay off about 55 employees in India, which is one per cent of its Indian staff, the chairman of Microsoft India said on Monday.

The U.S. unemployment rate rose from 8.5 to 8.9 percent in April with 539,000 jobs lost, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, and the Nasdaq capped its longest stretch of weekly gains in a decade as stress test results and reassuring jobs data fueled hopes the worst is over for banks and the economy.

U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs last month, the fewest since October, according to government data on Friday that signaled the economy's steep decline might be easing and gave the stock market a boost.

Stocks rose on Friday after the government's bank stress tests fueled hopes that the worst is over for the financial sector, while news of fewer-than-expected April job cuts suggested the economic slump was easing.

U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs last month, the fewest since October, according to government data on Friday that signaled the economy's steep decline might be easing and gave the stock market a boost.

Stocks rose on Friday after the government's stress test results on big banks increased optimism about financial stocks, and data showed employers cut fewer-than-expected jobs in April.

U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs last month, the fewest since October, according to government data on Friday that signaled the economy's steep decline may be easing.

A recent surge in Asian shares lost steam ahead of U.S. monthly jobs data later on Friday that may signal whether the global economy has indeed hit bottom, after stress tests on U.S. banks offered no real surprises.

U.S. shares are set to rise on Friday, after stress tests for U.S. banks sparked optimism about the sector's future, and ahead of April's non-farm payroll data.

Asian shares edged lower ahead of U.S. monthly employment data due on Friday that will provide another step in determining whether the recent signs of an improving global economy are real or just wishful thinking.

After semi-retiring in 2003, Chris D'Avignon took a year off and rode his motorcycle around the West where he

Chemicals maker DuPont Co said it would eliminate another 2,000 jobs as part of its cost-cutting plan as it tries to conserve cash and operate through the worst recession in decades.

President Barack Obama's Defense Department plans to create 20,000 new government jobs to help revise how it buys more than $100 billion of weapons each year, the Pentagon's No. 2 official told Congress.

Oil prices rose to five month highs above $56 a barrel on Wednesday as a surprise drop in U.S. gasoline inventories and a slowdown in private sector job losses in April boosted hopes for a turnaround in the economy.

Wells Fargo & Co on Wednesday said it is freezing its cash-balance pension plan for all employees, and has issued layoff notices to 548 workers in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, the former home of Wachovia Corp.

The pace of private-sector U.S. job losses slowed dramatically last month, while future planned layoffs also declined, and the hard-hit housing sector showed signs of improvement last week.