Asia and Australia October 2007

• Japan’s July jobless rate edged downward 0.1 percent from the previous month to 3.6 percent, 0.5 percent lower than the rate in July 2006.
  
  
• India’s second-quarter GDP increased a robust 15 percent on a year-overyear basis.
  
  Preliminary data showed a 0.1-percent increase in Hong Kong’s June- August unemployment rate compared to the previous three-month period to 4.2 percent. The rate dropped 0.6 from the same period in 2006. “In tandem with sustained economic growth, total employment hit another record high of over 3.5 million in June to August 2007,” said a government spokesperson in a press release.
  
  
• Australia’s second-quarter economy grew 0.9 percent from the previous quarter and increased 4.3 percent year-over-year. The country’s unemployment rate for the second quarter was unchanged from the first quarter at 4.3 percent compared to Q1 2007, a drop of 0.4 percent from Q2 in 2006.