1 US industrial output falls for second month (Gulf
News) US industrial production fell for a second straight month in September on
renewed weakness in oil and gas drilling, the latest indication that the
economy lost momentum in the third quarter. Industrial output slipped 0.2 per
cent after a revised 0.1 per cent dip in August, the Federal Reserve said.
Industrial production rose at an annual rate of 1.8
per cent in the third quarter. The industrial sector has been undermined by a
slowing global economy and resurgent dollar, which have eroded demand for US
manufactured goods. It is also being weighed down by lower energy oil prices
that have undercut capital investment in the energy sector, as well as a
so-called inventory correction.
The weak industrial production report added to soft trade,
retail sales and employment data that have suggested a significant slowdown in
growth after the economy expanded at a 3.9 per cent annual pace in the second
quarter. Third-quarter growth estimates are currently below a 1.5 per cent
rate. Slower growth and low inflation have diminished expectations of an
interest rate hike from the Fed this year.
2 Tata Steel UK to axe 1,200 jobs (Karl West &
Terry Macalister in The Guardian) Britain’s biggest steelmaker is set to deal a
new blow to the industry by axing up to 1,200 jobs at a plant in Scunthorpe and
at two sites in Scotland.
A widening of the crisis in the industry came as Sajid
Javid, the business secretary, promised to try to help competitiveness when he
oversaw an emergency national steel summit in Rotherham, West Yorkshire.
Tata Steel UK, which owns the rump of the former
British Steel group, is expected to announce the Scunthorpe job losses next
week. These redundancies will add to Tata’s own earlier cuts and to the recent
collapse of the Redcar steelworks on Teesside. SSI UK, owned by Thailand’s
Sahaviriya Steel Industries, went into liquidation earlier this month with the
loss of 2,200 jobs after its owner said it could no longer sustain mounting
losses.
An industry source said the latest jobs cull at
Tata, which includes the Dalzell and Clydebridge sites in Scotland – would be
followed by further cuts across the company’s long products division, which
makes steel for the rail and construction industries.
It is thought Tata, the Indian conglomerate that
also owns Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley Tea, is also preparing to cut several
hundred roles in operations that serve the Scunthorpe plant, mainly at its
Rotherham site. However, sources suggested that if current market conditions
prevail, Tata executives may opt to wind down the Scunthorpe operation over the
next few years.
The 151-year-old Scunthorpe plant has been on the
endangered list ever since August, when Gary Klesch, the billionaire
industrialist who owns the Klesch group of global industrial commodities,
walked away from a deal to buy the lossmaking mill. Britain’s steel industry
has been battered by a toxic cocktail of cheap Chinese competition, high energy
costs, a strong pound and slowing demand.
3 Redefining communication for your career (Kim Thompson
in San Francisco Chronicle) To keep with the pace of sharing information you
are more likely to use one-way communication rather than face to face which
impacts your career. There are many ways to communicate with your coworkers,
such as emailing, texting, face to face conversations and instant messaging, to
name a few. Some ways are more effective than others, especially with
relationships that could have a direct influence on your future career goals.
The way you communicate reveals more about you than
you might have imagined. For example you might have wonderful intentions of
updating your boss. However, your thoughts could be running faster than your
typing skills and you leave out a couple of words or misspell them creating
confusion. Either way, it sends a message that you pay less attention to details.
The point is: You might not be as careless if you
were talking with your boss in person. You wouldn’t finish a half of a sentence
and walk away or perhaps say things unfiltered, yet that’s the message you are
sending through emails.
It pays to look at what type of message you are
sending, and most importantly how you send it. One way communication will never
replace the power of observing non-verbal reactions and picking up on subtle
cues. The cardinal rule that gets broken more than most will admit is “never
send messages when you are upset or wouldn’t want the world to see”.
You need to use emails and other forms of
communication, however don’t make the habit of solely relying on them. Very
rarely will you be promoted without seeing or verbally talking with someone.
Emailing your boss who is three steps from you is not a good form of
communication; albeit could be faster, yet you aren’t building the rapport you
need to move in your career.
Communication styles differ with each generation at
work and everyone needs to be adaptable. From a career stand point, keep your
messages clear and timely. Be sensitive to what types of messages go out and
how they could be perceived. It’s a good idea to trade places with the
receiver, and if the message you are conveying isn’t clear, make sure it is
before you hit send.
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