BEIJING (AFP) ― Chinese manufacturing activity contracted in February at its worst rate in seven months, British banking giant HSBC said Monday, the latest data indicating trouble in the world’s number two economy.HSBC said its final purchasing managers’ index for China, which tracks manufacturing activity in factories and workshops, fell to 48.5 last month.It was a slight increase on the flash PMI of 48.3 the bank released 11 days ago, but it remained the weakest reading since July when the fig

TOKYO (AFP) ― Sony will sell properties at a prestigious Tokyo site where it had its headquarters for six decades, as the once-world beating firm struggles to improve its bottom line, reports said on Friday.The company is looking for a buyer for buildings that once served as the control tower for its sprawling operations, the Nikkei daily said, in a move that stands as neat signifier for the diminished fortunes of the consumer electronic giant.The properties are in the Gotenyama area near Shinag

A Chinese manufacturing gauge fell to an eight-month low in February, adding to challenges for growth as Premier Li Keqiang prepares to map out the government’s economic strategy to the nation’s legislature. The Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 50.2, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Saturday in Beijing. That compared with January’s 50.5 reading and the 50.1 median analyst estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. A number above 50 signals expans

Wifi in aircraft, hobbled in the past by slow speeds, could soon take off as new technology enables passengers to surf the web as if they were in a coffee shop, Internet executives say.More airlines are rolling out new and improved services thanks to satellite technology, industry leaders said at the recent Singapore Airshow, with the public increasingly demanding wifi on planes.US-based Honeywell Aerospace and Gogo, which supply inflight connectivity systems to airlines, are collaborating with

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said the Fed should be patient in removing accommodation because of persistent damage to the U.S. labor market. “There remains significant slack in labor markets, above and beyond the slack usually represented by the standard unemployment rate,” which fell to 6.6 percent last month, Rosengren said Wednesay in remarks prepared for a speech in Boston. “Such conditions call for a very patient approach to removing monetary policy accommodation,

JPMorgan Chase plans to eliminate 8,000 jobs this year as its mortgage business shrinks and the giant bank aims to control costs at its branches.About half of those job cuts had already been announced. JPMorgan Chase now plans to cut more jobs ― about 3 percent of its workforce of 251,000 ― as it tries to reduce $2 billion in consumer banking expenses by the end of 2016. But the bank said it would add about 3,000 jobs in other areas this year.The new job cuts announced Tuesday are in its mortgag