JOBS

Stocks fell on Friday, extending a slide to 12-year lows, on a sell-off in shares of big-cap technology companies after a brokerage cut its price target and profit views for bellwether Apple Inc .

U.S. employers axed 651,000 jobs in February, pushing the unemployment rate to its highest in 25 years, as companies buckled under the strain of a recession that is showing no signs of ending, according to a government report.

Stock index futures dipped on Friday as investors feared government payrolls data for February may show the recession is deepening and extend Wall Street's recent fall to 12-year lows.

Two top contenders for senior posts at the U.S. Treasury have withdrawn, people familiar with the moves said on Thursday, dealing a blow to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's efforts to build his staff to fight the financial crisis.

The dollar rolled back sharply from three-year highs on Friday and demand for euro zone government debt rose as investors fretted that U.S. employment data would be worse than previously forecast.

U.S. private companies hemorrhaged nearly 700,000 jobs in February and the service sector slump deepened as the year-old recession showed little sign of abating, according to data released on Wednesday.

Microsoft Corp will favor neither American nor foreign workers as it cuts thousands of jobs, the company said on Tuesday in response to a senator's call that the jobs of U.S. employees be preserved.

General Motors Corp’s German automaker unit Opel might cut 3,500 jobs if the government does not lend a helping hand, a press report said on Wednesday.

U.S. private companies hemorrhaged nearly 700,000 jobs in February and the service sector slump deepened as the year-old recession showed little sign of abating, according to data released on Wednesday.

U.S. private sector job losses accelerated in February, according to a report by ADP Employer Services on Wednesday that came in worse than economists' expectations.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc reduced staffing last year in half of its nearly 80 operating units, and said more job cuts were coming in an economy unlikely to recover before 2010.

Microsoft may create up to 3,000 jobs as it raises investment in research and development by $1 billion this year, its chief operating officer said on Tuesday.

HSBC launched Britain's biggest rights issue on Monday, to raise 12.85 billion pounds ($18.3 billion) to help it overcome big losses in the United States and exploit the woes of weaker rivals.

HSBC launched a 12.5 billion pound ($17.7 billion) rights issue on Monday to shore up its balance sheet after annual profit more than halved and as bad debts soared in the United States.

HSBC launched a 12.5 billion pound ($17.7 billion) rights issue on Monday to shore up its balance sheet after annual profit more than halved and as bad debts soared in the United States.

Vice President Joe Biden, along with several Department Secretaries in the Obama Administration gave their firm support today to President Obama’s strategy for creating green jobs to bolster the U.S. economy as part of the recently passed economic stimulus package.

JPMorgan Chase & Co said it is cutting up to 14,000 jobs, more than previously disclosed, as it tries to reduce costs in the face of a slumping economy and higher credit losses.

JPMorgan Chase & Co said it expects to cut 12,000 jobs as it integrates the former Washington Mutual Inc , 2,800 more than its previous estimate. The second-largest U.S. bank also said on Thursday it expects about $2.75 billion of savings from Washington Mutual, offset by $750 million of new investments. Retail banking chief Charlie Scharf said the bank expects t...

On Wednesday at Apple Inc. annual shareholder meeting, an Apple director responded to an investor saying that co-founder and CEO, Steve Jobs is still expected to return from his medical leave at the end of June, the Associated Press reported.

although that part of the law is seen as something of a gray area. (Editing by Edwin Chan, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Bernard Orr)

although that part of the law is seen as something of a gray area. Still, the mood at Wednesday's annual meeting was casual. Shareholders joined in a Happy Birthday chorus for Jobs, who was absent but turned 54 on Tuesday. In 2004, Jobs was treated for a rare type of pancreatic cancer. He appeared gaunt at an Apple event in June 2008, touching off speculation that his cancer had returned. The...