China reported surprisingly weaker growth in retail sales and industrial output for April on Wednesday, adding pressure on Beijing to roll out more stimulus as the trade war with the United States escalates.

​If you are one of the 575,000 employers that have received a “no-match letter” from the Social Security Administration, alerting you to discrepancies between a worker’s Social Security number and government records, you may not be sure what to do next. Here are some guidelines.

The wife of a county sheriff, who worked as a jailer and dispatcher at the sheriff’s office, did not have a valid legal claim when the county fired her after her husband resigned during a sexual harassment investigation, a federal appeals court held.

Uber drivers are independent contractors, not employees, the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel said in a memorandum, making unionization harder for drivers.

The National Labor Relations Board, handing an important victory to Uber, has concluded that the company’s drivers are contractors, not employees.

Drivers for ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc are independent contractors and not employees, the general counsel of a U.S. labor agency has concluded, in an advisory memo that is likely to carry significant weight in a pending case against the company and could prevent drivers from joining a union.

Japanese staffing firm Recruit Holdings (6098: JP) reported revenue today for the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2019. Revenue stood at JPY 580.3 billion (USD 5.2 billion). EBITDA grew by 24.2% to JPY 53.1 billion (USD 484.1 million) and the EBITDA margin was 9.2%.

Revenue growth during the fourth quarter was primarily driven by the HR Technology segment which saw an increase of 45.4% when compared to the same period last year.

(JPY billions)
Q4 2018
Q4 2017
Change
Q4 2018 (USD billions)
Revenue
580.3
556.4
4.3%
5.2
EBITDA
53.1
42.7
24.2%
0.4
EBITDA Margin
9.2%
7.7%
1.5
–

Revenue by segment was broken down as follows.

(JPY billions)
Q4 2018
Q4 2017
Change
Q4 2018 (USD billions)
HR Technology
90.0
61.9
45.4%
0.8
Media & Solutions
193.7
181.2
6.9%
1.7
Staffing
304.1
319.9
-4.9%
2.7

The company said its revenue increase in the HR Technology segment was mainly due to increased sponsored job advertising revenue from new and existing enterprise clients at Indeed and the contribution from Glassdoor, which was acquired during Q1 2018.

Within the Media & Solutions segment, the Housing and Real Estate and Beauty sub-segments saw growth. Revenue from Recruiting in Japan increased in Q4. The group said the extremely tight labour market continued in Japan, and the sub-segment focused on enhancing brand value, strengthening user attractiveness, and reinforcing its sales structure.

Within the Staffing segment, Japan operations revenue for Q4 increased as demand for agency workers continued to be strong, and placement revenue continued to increase as a result of revisions to Japanese laws, effective 1 October 2018, which encouraged enterprise clients to hire agency workers directly. However, overseas operations revenue for Q4 decreased mainly due to an uncertain outlook for the European economy, while it continued to focus on profitability improvement and simplifying the operational governance model in Europe.

The group also reported full year revenue as follows:

(JPY billions)
FY 2018
FY 2017
Change
FY 2018 (USD billions)
Revenue
2,310.7
2,173.3
6.3%
21.0
Gross profit
1,169.1
1,014.2
15.2%
10.6
Gross margin
50.6%
46.6%
N/A
N/A
Operating Income
223.0
191.7
16.3%
2.0
Profit attributable to owners of the parent
174.2
151.6
14.9%
1.5

Looking ahead, Recruit said revenue and adjusted EBITDA for all three of its segments is expected to increase.

In trading today Recruit Holdings shares closed at JPY 3,222.00 (USD 29.37), down 1.65% on the day and 16.20% below its 52-week high of JPY 3,845.00 (USD 35.05), set on 1 October 2018. Based on its current share price the company has a market value of JPY 5.56 trillion (USD 50.69 trillion).

​A federal judge temporarily blocked a 2018 policy penalizing foreign national students for overstaying or violating the terms of their visas.

A recreation specialist for individuals with disabilities who was fired after she left a camping trip for adolescents she was supervising when she became anxious about staffing issues can take her Americans with Disabilities Act claims to trial.