Money Daily Brief: Unemployment falls in Japan
鈥�Japan unemployment down: The jobless rate in August from a postwar record. Household spending also grew despite a 2.2 percent drop in income from a year ago. But analysts cautioned that the gains may be temporary. Separately, Toyota's president said Friday the would be complicated by the rising value of the yen. He also said the company was looking into claims that a , which is suspected in the fatal crash of a California family in August and could trigger Toyota's biggest recall ever.
鈥�US targets North Korea: Borrowing from President Bush's playbook, the Obama administration is by squeezing it financially. US officials are making it difficult for the regime to conduct business abroad by warning Asian banks of dire consequences if any of their North Korean transactions involve counterfeit money or other illicit funds.
鈥sian stocks plunge: Markets plummeted in response to Thursday. Taiwan's stock exchange logged after reaching a 15-month high.
鈥�EU hits airlines: European regulators said American Airlines, British Airways, and Iberia with a route-sharing alliance that shut out rival carriers. The European Union is their oneworld alliance.
鈥�In my backyard: Beijing streets were quiet after Thursday's of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The regime showcased its military rather than its economic prowess, as the largest population in the world tuned in to watch a dazzling display of sophisticated weaponry, including new intercontinental ballistic missiles. But the real draw seemed to be neither the armaments nor President Hu Jintao's speech at Tiananmen gate, but .
-- Sarah Burton is a Monitor contributor based in Beijing. For a look at US car sales after "cash for clunkers," click on Car sales down, but Ford is catching its Japanese rivals.
