Dynamic Business brings you a daily rundown of the most recent business news and developments from Australia and around the world. Here’s the roundup for September 9:
Biggest drop in job ads in 16 months
In August 2021, preliminary skilled job vacancies declined by 5.6 per cent (12,828 job advertising) to 216,031 available positions. While it was the third monthly fall following a 12-year high in May (240,039 advertising), recruitment activity is still up 55.6 per cent (or 77,177 ads) year on year.
In February 2020, vacancies were still up 35.7 per cent (or 56,820 positions) from pre-Covid-19 levels. Vacancies in NSW declined by 9.2%, followed by the ACT (down 9.0%), Victoria, and Queensland (down 5.9 per cent).
Canberra’s residential construction industry to resume
According to ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, the residential construction industry will resume on Friday as anticipated. Mr Barr stated that COVID-19 safety rules will be strictly implemented in order to minimise the risk to workers.
“There is to be no interaction between workers and residents within a construction site, a renovation site, any premises,” Mr Barr said.
Coal price surge gives Australia fresh hope against China
In May, China warned Australia of “economic pain” by reducing its iron ore purchases, predicting a $32 billion hit to GDP. And it appears to have been effective. Earlier this week, the price of iron ore fell by 9% in a single day, the second-largest drop on record.
However, a new export, coal, has replaced iron ore as the dominant commodity. When markets closed on Monday, metallurgical or coking coal was selling for $274 per tonne, which was very close to the all-time high of $299.33 per tonne set in November 2016.
Microsoft acquires Aussie video startup Clipchamp
Microsoft has completed its first acquisition in Australia in over a decade, acquiring Brisbane-based video editing business Clipchamp for an undisclosed sum.
Clipchamp, a company that creates easy to use video software, was founded in 2013 by a group of former SAP employees. Its team will now join Microsoft under the terms of a deal regarded as “a very good outcome” by local investors Steve Baxter and Brisbane-based investment syndicate TEN13.
Bitcoin crash sends cryptocurrency tumbling
Many of the world’s largest cryptocurrencies dropped overnight as a result of a Bitcoin flash crash. The sell-off comes with El Salvador’s official adoption of Bitcoin as legal money, making it the world’s first country to do so.
Many of the largest cryptocurrencies lost more than 10% of their value, wiping out an estimated $400 billion ($A541 billion) from the global crypto market.
PayPal snaps up Japanese BNPL unicorn for $2.7b
PayPal is buying Japanese startup Paidy, marking the latest major tie-up in the fast-growing space of buy now, pay later companies. The US giant announced a cash deal, which is worth 300 billion Japanese yen (about $2.7 billion).
In a statement, PayPal said that the acquisition was to extend its “capabilities, distribution and relevance in the domestic payments market in Japan, the third-largest e-commerce market in the world.”
India’s Vodafone-Idea turns to government for support
Vodafone Idea, India’s troubled telecom provider, is expecting that the government will take action to resolve the telecom sector’s problems.
In his annual report to shareholders, Chairman Himanshu Kapania said, “As the industry continues to remain under unsustainable financial duress, your company is hopeful that the government will provide the necessary support to address all structural issues faced by the sector.”
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