What We Read Today 12 September 2014

Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries (and sometimes longer ones) of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.

‘Bizarre’ surge in Australia jobs numbers (Jamie Smyth, Financial Times) Official data yesterday showed seasonally adjusted unemployment fell from 6.4% in July in August to 6.1% in August. The number of people employed jumped by 121,000 to 11.7m. The employment numbers were boosted by a large increase in part-time employment.

The size of the employment jump in proportion to population is the equivalent of 1.5 million increase in employment in the U.S.. That is why it is being called a sampling error by some. Note: Australia’s unemployment rate is subject to frequent sharp ups and downs. The July increase and August decline a little larger than the others in recent years.

U.S. threatened massive fine to force Yahoo to release data (Craig Timberg, The Washington Post) Court records have been unsealed which show how Yahoo! was eventually forced by court order to provide company data on users to the U.S. government as part of NSA (National Security Administration) activities. Before the final rulings the government threatened to impose extra-judicial administrative fines on the company of $250,000 a day in an effort to get them (Yahoo!) to “voluntarily turn over what the court ordered them to in the end. Yahoo! resisted, stating they believed the request was unconstitutional. As part of the final court decision Yahoo! was forbidden to make any public statements about the entire proceedings.

Scottish support for independence slips behind unionists a week before vote: poll (Allistair Smout and Angus MacSwan, Reuters) The YouGov survey for The Times and Sun newspapers put Scottish support for the union at 52 percent versus support for independence at 48 percent, excluding those who said they did not know how they would vote. YouGov’s last poll showed support for independence at 51 percent. The margin of error is 2-3% so the recent results are not significantly different from a tie.

RBS, Lloyds to Lead Financial Exodus on Scottish Yes Vote (Stephen Morris, Bloomberg) The two big boys in Scotland’s financial services industry sya they will leave for London if the country votes for independence.

Alibaba’s Post-IPO Wish List May Start Here: Real M&A (Tara Lachapelle, Bloomberg) Alibaba may go on a U.S. acquisition spree after the IPO. Some big names are prospective targets. Watch the short video.