LONDON, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Regular swearing at work can help boost team spirit among staff, allowing them to express better their feelings as well as develop social relationships, according to a study by British researchers.

Yehuda Baruch, a professor of management at the University of East Anglia in eastern England, and graduate Stuart Jenkins studied the use of profanity in the workplace and assessed its implications for managers.

JERUSALEM, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - Israel's highest court ruled on Wednesday that the country's labour laws must apply to thousands of Palestinians who work for Israeli bosses but who were previously subject to discrimination.

Nine supreme court judges accepted a petition from Palestinian workers in the West Bank who linked up with Israel's main Histadrut trade union, after their complaint of discrimination was rejected by the national labour court.

ODENSE, Denmark, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - While many countries grapple with unemployment, Denmark's labour shortage is so severe that a criminal record is no obstacle for young people seeking jobs, and a new project is helping young ex-cons into the labour market.

Adnan Chini, a 22-year-old Dane of Palestinian origin with a long rap sheet, is among those who have recently been given a new start in life.

Standing at his work station at Micro Matic, a factory that makes draught beer dispensers, Chini says he is 'grateful to have been given a helping hand in time.'

DUBLIN, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - Ireland's unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent in September, official figures showed on Friday.

The number of people signing on for benefits on the state's Live Register in September dropped by 13,554 compared with the level in August, the Central Statistics Office said.

This brought the total number to 160,652.

The number signing on rose by 8,345 in September compared to the same month in 2006.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number signing on rose by 2,200 during the month.

OSLO, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Norway will implement a two-year programme that favours recruiting immigrants in government departments in an effort to lower the unemployment rate to that of Norwegians, the government announced Thursday.

'When unemployment is three times higher among the immigrant population than in the rest of the population, this signifies that it is necessary to do more to put more immigrants in jobs,' Modernisation and Administration Minister Heidi Grande Roeys said in a statement.

OSLO, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Norway will implement a two-year programme that favours recruiting immigrants in government departments in an effort to lower the unemployment rate to that of Norwegians, the government announced Thursday.

'When unemployment is three times higher among the immigrant population than in the rest of the population, this signifies that it is necessary to do more to put more immigrants in jobs,' Modernisation and Administration Minister Heidi Grande Roeys said in a statement.

NEW YORK, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - The US National Basketball Association is launching a new subsidiary in China, in a sign of the sport's increasing popularity there, the league announced Wednesday.

Microsoft's top man in China, Tim Chen, will leave the software giant effective October 15 to head the newly-formed NBA China.

BEIJING, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Microsoft China announced Wednesday that its chief executive officer Chen Yongzheng had quit the company for 'a new leadership position outside the IT field.'

Chen, who was president of Motorola China from 2001 to 2003, will join the National Basketball Association and become NBA China's chief executive officer from October 15, Chinese Internet portal Netease.com reported.

BEIRUT, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - The crowd outside the Canadian embassy in the Lebanese capital is mainly young -- men and women seeing the foreign flag, and those flying at other diplomatic missions, as a gateway to a future.

'I have two degrees and no job, so I decided to leave even though it saddens me,' said Rania Helu, as she stood in the long queue at the embassy.

Like Helu, thousands of young men and women have either already packed and left, or are trying to do so.

DUBLIN, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Ireland's unemployment rate was stable at 4.7 percent in August, revised official figures showed Friday.

The number of people signing up for benefits on the state's Live Register in August dropped by 387 compared with the level in July, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said.

This brought the total number to 174,206 people.

The number signing on rose by 4,592 in August compared to the same month in 2006.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number signing on dropped by 1,000 during the month.

GENEVA, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Rising productivity levels in Asia are a boon and not a threat to the world economy, as growing prosperity spurs a demand for products made elsewhere in the world, the International Labour Organisation said on Monday.

The United States remained the most productive economy in 2006 in terms of labour productivity per person, far outstripping its nearest rivals among other developed economies, the ILO said in its 'Key Indicators of the Labour Market' report.

BANGALORE, India, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - IT professionals are choosing multinationals over local firms, a survey shows, in a blow to the multi-billion dollar Indian industry already battling to recruit fresh talent.

Almost 3,000 IT professionals in India were asked to rank their top 20 employers for the survey which is closely scrutinised by the industry, recruitment centres and job seekers.

CHICAGO, Aug 27, 2007 (AFP) - Nearly 90 percent of the US workforce loves their jobs -- especially those who still work after the age of 65, a study published Monday by the University of Chicago showed.

'Job satisfaction is especially high among those 65 and over because most people working at that age are not forced to still work, due to financial reasons, but choose to do so because they like their jobs,' Tom Smith, who led the study, said in a statement.

NAIROBI, Aug 16, 2007 (AFP) - Kenya's government vowed Thursday to increase checks on expatriates and cut down on discrimination as part of a push to create more jobs for local workers.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said work permits would be scrutinised to ensure they conform with labour laws 'that require an expatriate to be hired only if there is no qualified Kenyan to fill that position.'

TOKYO, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - The Japanese government said Tuesday that the economy is set to continue its longest post-war recovery, supported by brighter prospects for employment and exports.

'The economy is recovering, despite weakness in industrial production in some sectors,' the cabinet office said in its monthly report.

The outlook looks better for the labour market, which 'is improving steadily, though some severe aspects remain,' and exports, which are 'increasing moderately,' the report said.

SHANGHAI, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - McDonald's is raising wages in China by up to 56 percent, a company spokesman said Tuesday, following allegations earlier this year that the US fastfood giant was underpaying local part-time workers.

George Gu, Shanghai-based spokesman of McDonald's China, confirmed reports Tuesday that McDonald's will raise salaries for 95 percent of its more than 50,000 staff in China by 12 to 56 percent as of September 1.

'The average salary increase will be around 30 percent,' he told AFP.

DUBLIN, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - Ireland's unemployment rate held steady at 4.6 percent in July, official figures showed Friday.

The number of people signing up for benefits on the state's Live Register in July increased by 8,230 compared with the level in June, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said.

This brought the total number to 174,593.

The Live Register is not designed to be a fully accurate measure of unemployment, however, because it includes part-time workers and casual staff entitled to benefits.

LONDON, July 24, 2007 (AFP) - More than 320,000 people from new EU members Cyprus, Malta and eight eastern European countries arrived in Britain in the last year, up 16 percent on the previous year, official figures showed Tuesday.

Some 321,000 migrants from the 10 countries admitted to the European Union in 2004 were registered with national insurance numbers in 2006/2007, up 44,000 over the previous year. Poland accounted for 223,000 of the total.