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TOKYO — Nissan reported a $60 million loss for the latest fiscal quarter on Nov. 7 as its vehicle sales sank while costs and inventory ballooned, prompting the Japanese automaker to slash 9,000 jobs. CEO Makoto Uchida said he was taking a 50 percent pay cut to take responsibility for the dismal results, while promising that a turnaround was coming.
Nissan Motor Corp.'s global workforce reduction was equal to about 6 percent of its payroll of 133,000 employees. The company also plans to slash global production capacity by 20%.
Uchida declined to say which regions will be affected by the cuts or give specifics. For the latest quarter through September, quarterly sales fell 6 percent to $19 billion. Uchida acknowledged Nissan didn't respond quickly or flexibly enough to global changes, including market tastes and soaring raw material costs.
"I take this situation very seriously," he said. "Nissan will restructure its business to become leaner and more resilient." Nissan models did not sell well in the U.
S., one of the most lucrative auto markets in the world that's recently been dominated by Ford, Toyota and Tesla. WASHINGTON — The Small Business Administration said it backed $56 billion in financing to small businesses and disaster-affected areas during the fiscal year ending Sept.
30, up 7 percent from the prior 12 months. The growth was driven by smaller loans, the agency said in its annual Capital Impact report. For the first time since 2008, the SBA distributed more than 100,000 financings to small businesses, up 22 percent from fiscal 2023 and 50 percent over 2020.
The SBA doesn't give out direct loans, except when they're related to disasters, but it works with lenders to distribute loans to small businesses. The loans typically have better rates than traditional loans. Many loans were small dollar, a priority for the SBA.
The SBA said it backed over 38,000 7(a) loans under $150,000, for a total of $2.7 billion. That's double from the amount of small dollar loans received in 2020 and one-third higher than 2023.
DETROIT — About 1,100 workers at a Stellantis a factory in Toledo, Ohio, are facing layoffs early next year as the company takes further steps to cut high inventory at dealerships. Stellantis said Nov. 7 that the Toledo South plant, which makes the Jeep Gladiator midsize pickup truck, will go from two daily shifts to one as early as Jan.
5. Sales of the Gladiator, the pickup truck version of the Jeep Wrangler SUV, are down nearly 21 percent this year to 36,519 units, according to Motorintelligence.com .
A message was left Thursday seeking comment from the United Auto Workers union, which represents employees at the Toledo plant. The move is the latest action by the company as it struggles with high inventory on U.S.
dealer lots. WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for jobless aid ticked up last week but layoffs remain at historically low levels. The Labor Department reported Nov.
7 that jobless claim applications rose by 3,000 to 221,000 for the week of Nov. 2, fewer than the 227,000 that analysts forecast. The four-week average of weekly claims, which softens some of the week-to-week fluctuations, fell by 9,750 to 227,250.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs in a given week.
Recurring claims, the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits, rose by 39,000 to 1.89 million for the week of Oct. 26.
That's the most since late 2021. HONG KONG — China's exports rose 12.7 percent in October from a year earlier, the fastest monthly growth since mid-2022, according to customs data released Nov.
7. The report came a day after former President Donald Trump won Tuesday's election, gaining a second term as president. Trump has pledged to increase tariffs on imports from China to 60 percent, adding to uncertainty over the outlook for exports to the U.
S. The analysis showed imports fell 2.3 percent last month, while China's trade surplus rose to $95.
7 billion, up from $81.7 billion in September. Exports far surpassed estimates of about 5.
5 percent growth and outpaced September's 2.4 percent rate. It was the fastest expansion since July 2022.
The growth in October's exports signaled sustained demand for Chinese goods abroad, while demand in the domestic market remains subdued. China's exports to Russia rose almost 27 percent from the same time last year, customs data showed, the fastest pace in 11 months. Exports to the U.
S. increased by 8 percent year-on-year, while shipment to the European Union climbed nearly 13 percent. LONDON — The Bank of England has cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point after inflation across the U.
K. fell below its target rate of 2 percent. The central bank said Nov.
7 that its policymakers lowered the benchmark rate to 4.75 percent, for their second cut in three months. But bank governor Andrew Bailey cautioned that interest rates would not be falling too fast over coming months, partly because of the modest inflationary impact of last week's budget, the first by the new Labour government.
Bailey also said it was “not useful or wise to enter into speculation” about what policies might be introduced by Donald Trump;s incoming U.S. administration NEW YORK — A former top executive in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fallen FTX cryptocurrency empire has begun her two-year prison sentence.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said Caroline Ellison reported Nov. 7 to its prison in Danbury, Conn. She had pleaded guilty for her role in a massive fraud that cost investors, lenders and customers billions of dollars.
She also testified extensively against former boyfriend Bankman-Fried. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Both the judge and prosecutors said Ellison deserved credit for her cooperation.
She tearfully apologized at her sentencing hearing in New York in September and said she was “deeply ashamed.” MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Amazon workers in Alabama will decide for the third time in three years whether to unionize after a judge ruled that the retail giant improperly influenced the most recent vote.
The move affects a warehouse in Bessemer, about 20 miles south of Birmingham. The judge this week determined that Amazon committed six violations leading up to the second election in March 2022, when the employees declined to unionize. Amazon plans to appeal.
The National Labor Relations Board also found improper interference in the first election in 2021, leading to the 2022 vote..
