Unemployment remains at 5%: Midday Roundup

The unemployment rate remained at 5% during February, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figures show the number of people employed dropped by more than 10,000 to 11.41 million in February, despite the market expecting a 20,000 rise.

The number of people in part-time employment fell by 57,000 people to 3.34 million, although this was offset by a 47,600 rise in full-time workers to 8.07 million.

The participation rate dropped 0.1 points to 65.7%.

BlueScope to merge businesses

BlueScope steel has said it will merge its three units into one Australian and New Zealand business, with Noel Cornish to step down as chief executive of the steel manufacturing division.

Chief executive Paul O’Malley said in a statement the restructure is necessary in order for the company to continue competing.

“This is a direct response to our customers’ needs and the macro-economic forces at play in the steel sector,” O’Malley said in a statement.

“Externally, the priority focus is to compete against imported steel and fast-track the growth of our business in key sectors such as building and construction.

Mark Vassella, president of BlueScope North America, is chief executive of the new division.

Government to negotiate with miners

According to a report in the Australian Financial Review, the Federal Government will consider working with mining companies in order to address skills shortages.

The report claims such a deal would help fund 1,000 new apprenticeships per month in order to overcome severe problems in the labour market – particularly in Western Australia.

Shares lower off weak US lead

The Australian sharemarket has opened lower this morning after a weak night on Wall Street, where a disappointing result from Texas Instruments caused investors to become nervous about the performance of chip manufacturers.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 42 points or 0.88% to 4725.7 at 12.10 AEST, while the Australian dollar actually gained ground to $US1.01.

AMP shares gained 0.55% to $5.47, while ANZ shares lost 0.76% to $23.59. NAB shares gained 0.12% to $25.11 as Commonwealth Bank lost 0.04% to $51.48.

Woodside looks to Japan for Browse project

Oil and gas giant Woodside Petroleum has approached some Japanese companies including Mitsubishi and Mitsui about purchasing stakes in the Browse LNG project, an AFR report has claimed.

“Mitsui and Mitsubishi are looking at further investment in natural gas projects and that might include the Browse,” West Australian premier Colin Barnett told the publication.

“That could be via buying out the stake of one of the current partners, or one of those partners diluting their ownership – there was some discussion about that.”

New Zealand cuts interest rates

New Zealand has cut its official interest rate to 2.5%, as the market expected, in order to build confidence following the country’s devastating earthquake that occurred last month.

“Future monetary policy adjustments will be guided by emerging economic data,” Governor Alan Bollard said in a statement.

Wall Street stocks fall flat

Weaker results from Texas Instruments brought down Wall Street stocks overnight as fears grew over the growth expectations for chip makers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.29 points or 0.01% to 12,213.09.