Unemployment tipped to hit four year high

Unemployment has hit a four year high and could get up to six per cent. Source: AAP

THE unemployment rate is expected to have hit a four year high in August as businesses held off on hiring until after the federal election.

Official labour force figures are to be released on Thursday morning, and the median forecast from an AAP survey of 11 economists is for the unemployment rate to rise to 5.8 per cent, from 5.7 per cent in July.

Unemployment hasn't been that high since August 2009.

The number of people with jobs is expected to have risen by 10,000 in August, compared to a fall of 10,200 in July.

But JP Morgan Australia chief economist Stephen Walters said jobs growth of 10,000 a month is not enough to absorb the increase in population and keep the unemployment rate from rising.

"It is possible that firms held back hiring decisions close to the federal election, which would depress the August numbers," he said.

"It is difficult to disentangle the impact of an election from the prevailing macro backdrop of the time, but there is circumstantial evidence of a pre-election hiring stall in one recent case."

Mr Walters there was a similar pattern ahead of the November 2007 election, when Labor's Kevin Rudd defeated the then prime minister John Howard.

The participation rate - the percentage of the working-age population either in work or looking for a job - is expected to rise to 65.2 per cent in August, from 65.1 per cent in July.

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Prince William quits armed forces

Prince William is quitting the armed forces and will focus on charity duties for 12 months. Source: AAP

PRINCE William is quitting the armed forces and will spend the next 12 months focusing on royal and charitable duties while he decides what work to do in the future.

The transitional year is expected to include a trip to Australia with his wife Kate and little Prince George.

It was always expected the Duke of Cambridge would increasingly focus on royal engagements as the Queen slowed down, but it's understood he is not yet ready to become a "full time royal".

William has worked as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot in Wales for the past three years.

During that time he was involved in 156 operations resulting in 149 people being rescued.

But Kensington Palace on Thursday announced "the Duke is to leave operational service in the armed forces".

"He completes his tour with the RAF search and rescue force ... after more than seven-and-a-half years of full-time military service," the palace said in a statement.

In total the Duke has completed 1300 flying hours with the RAF.

Prince William plans to support the Queen and the royal family through a program of official engagements with Kate over the next 12 months.

He'll work with his charity in the field of conservation, particularly in respect of endangered species, as well as helping children, young people and veterans.

As to his long-term future, the palace stated: "The Duke is currently considering a number of options for public service, a further announcement on which will follow in due course."

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said William was always going to take on more official royal duties as the Queen and her husband Philip aged.

"The next 12 months will be heavily focused on royal duties and charitable work," he told AAP.

"But the prince has also made it very clear he wants to be a modern father so there's no doubt he'll be spending a great deal of time with his son and Kate. It's a modern approach."

Mr Fitzwilliams said the Duke had done extraordinarily well during his military career.

"He would have wished to have been on the front line if he could have been but, being a future heir to the throne, that simply wasn't possible."

William, Kate and baby George are expected to move into their official residence at Kensington Palace within the next few weeks.

The Duke revealed at the Anglesey Show in mid-August that the family plans to visit Australia in 2014.

The royal tour will be reminiscent of the 1983 trip undertaken by Prince Charles and Princess Diana with a then nine-month-old William.

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Labor facing weeks long leadership vacancy

Outgoing federal attorney-general Mark Dreyfus (pic) will back Bill Shorten to lead the Labor party. Source: AAP

LABOR faces the prospect of its own new internal processes leaving the party without a federal leader for weeks, while Anthony Albanese remains quiet on his ambitions.

Bill Shorten on Thursday became the sole candidate for the leadership, pressuring likely contender and incumbent deputy Mr Albanese to put up or shut up.

A contest between the two would trigger a ballot of rank-and-file Labor members as well as caucus to decide who takes the party's parliamentary leadership.

But as the ALP tries to scratch out a future following Saturday's election loss, the party remains racked by disharmony, as it faces a possible leadership vacuum.

Senior Labor Senator Stephen Conroy slammed the new guidelines which require 60 per cent support in a ballot of branch members to endorse a leadership candidate.

"These rules that have been put in place will make us an absolute laughing stock," Senator Conroy said.

"We have this ludicrous circumstances where we might not have a leader for four, six, eight weeks."

In his pitch for the top job, which included plans to win the next national poll, Mr Shorten addressed a wide audience.

"I shall submit myself to caucus colleagues and to thousands of Labor Party members across Australia and I welcome this ballot and the opportunity to start the momentum so that Labor can win the next election," he said.

The Victorian Labor right heavyweight was not fazed by a possible challenge from Mr Albanese, who hails from the party's left and is yet to officially stand.

"If Anthony nominates, he will be an excellent, outstanding candidate," Mr Shorten said.

"If he was successful, I would certainly work with him and accept the verdict of the members."

But the outgoing education minister also took the opportunity to champion his own qualities.

"I believe I bring energy, I bring optimism, I'm hungry for victory," Mr Shorten said.

The leadership will be discussed at the Labor caucus meeting in Canberra on Friday during which Kevin Rudd is set to stand aside.

Western Sydney MP Laurie Ferguson wants Mr Shorten for leader and outgoing health minister Tanya Plibersek as deputy.

"I think Plibersek's probably the only one that's kept her nose clean," he told AAP, adding that neither Mr Shorten or Mr Albanese "are pure".

The ninth-term MP also took a swipe at Labor's leadership transition rules saying they put the party in a difficult position.

The man responsible for the new process, Mr Rudd, offered no opinion of who should replace him as leader with a spokeswoman from his office declining to comment.

Labor frontbencher Mark Dreyfus said Mr Shorten would make a better party leader than Mr Albanese and distanced himself from Senator Conroy's criticism of what he considers an "open and democratic process".

"I don't think there's anything wrong with it taking a bit of time," he said.

"That's what democracy sometimes requires."

Mr Shorten had a clear message for those engaged in Labor's internal bickering.

"Please go into an empty room and say it to no one."

Labor Senator Doug Cameron, who supports the leadership ballot model, denied the incoming party leader would have problems operating with Mr Rudd on the backbench.

"We should get over that and just get on with the fact that (Mr Rudd) is the elected member and he is entitled to sit in the caucus, he is entitled to contribute," Senator Cameron told ABC TV, adding that he believed Mr Rudd's prime ministerial aspirations had come to an end.

He bluntly ruled out the need for any more departures from the party.

"My view is that we are almost anaemic, there should be no more bloodletting," Senator Cameron said.

"We should cauterise the wounds, we should get on with looking after the issues that the membership of the party want, that the community who voted for Labor in their millions want."

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China vows air pollution cuts

China has announced plans to reduce levels of pollutants in the air by up to 25 per cent in Beijing. Source: AAP

CHINA has vowed to reduce levels of atmospheric pollutants in Beijing and other major cities by as much as 25 per cent to try to improve their dire air quality.

China's State Council, or cabinet, said on Thursday that "concentrations of fine particles" in the capital's air will fall by "approximately 25 per cent" from 2012 levels by 2017.

Other major Chinese cities on China's affluent east coast, including Shanghai and Guangzhou, will see reductions of between 10 and 20 per cent from 2012 levels over the same period, said a plan posted on the central government's website.

Cities across China have been hit by intense air pollution in recent years, much of it caused by emissions from coal-burning power stations, with levels of small particles known as PM2.5 reaching as high as 40 times World Health Organisation (WHO) limits this year.

The pollution has been linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths, and has tarnished the image of Chinese cities including Beijing, which saw an almost 15 per cent drop in tourist visits during the first half of this year.

The plan said pollution levels would be cut by slowing the growth of coal consumption, so that its share of China's total energy consumption falls to 65 per cent by 2017.

China relied on coal for 67 per cent of its energy needs last year, environmental group the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a statement.

"We call on the Chinese government to set a more positive target, to more strictly limit coal consumption," WWF China's climate and energy project manager Lu Lunyan said in the statement.

China is the world's biggest coal consumer and is forecast to account for more than half of global demand next year.

Three of China's most populated coastal regions - including the areas surrounding Shanghai, Beijing, and the manufacturing hub of the Pearl River delta - should "strive to achieve a reduction in total consumption of coal", the plan said.

But it did not state any precise targets for reductions, and activists gave the proposals a mixed assessment.

The plan "takes very important steps" towards controlling rapid growth in coal consumption, said Li Yan, climate and energy campaign manager at Greenpeace East Asia.

But to reduce air pollution significantly "it will be necessary to limit coal consumption in other areas as well", she said in a statement.

The plan did not call for cuts in coal consumption in China's vast inland provinces, which researchers earlier this year said are responsible for 80 per cent of China's carbon dioxide emissions, mostly as a result of coal-burning.

China's coastal areas are "outsourcing" pollution internally to meet emissions reduction targets, researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this June.

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Yahoo now has 800 million users: CEO

Yahoo boss Marissa Mayer says the internet company now has about 800 million worldwide users. Source: AAP

YAHOO boss Marissa Mayer says the internet company now has about 800 million worldwide users, a 20 per cent increase since she was lured away from Google 15 months ago to steer a turnaround.

The gain disclosed on Wednesday at a technology conference in San Francisco is the latest evidence of the progress that Yahoo is making under Mayer's leadership.

The Sunnyvale, California, company's stock has nearly doubled since Mayer came aboard, though she and analysts say that gain primarily stems from the value of Yahoo's holdings in China's rapidly growing Alibaba Group.

Mayer says the figure for the 800 million Yahoo users doesn't include the traffic that the company has picked up from its $US1.1 billion acquisition of internet blogging service Tumblr earlier this year.

Despite the increased traffic, Yahoo is still struggling to boost its online advertising revenue - the main way that the company makes money. In recent quarters, Yahoo's ad revenue has been barely rising while Google and another rival, Facebook, have been thriving.

Mayer says she believes it her strategy for accelerating Yahoo's revenue growth will require at least three years to unfold.

Yahoo's stock shed 29 US cents on Wednesday to close at $US29.19.

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Computer upgrades cut US jobless claims

THE number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits plummeted 31,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 292,000, but the drop was mostly due to technical issues in two states that delayed the processing of applications.

The Labor Department said on Thursday that the less volatile four-week average fell to 321,250, the lowest in six years.

A government spokesman said the steep drop occurred because two states upgraded their computer systems last week and did not process all their applications.

"This is not necessarily an indication of a change in labour market conditions," he said.

The spokesman would not identify the states, but said one was small and one large. Big states like California and Texas can swing the weekly data by 10,000 or more.

Applications will likely rebound in the coming weeks, he said.

The broader trend in unemployment benefit applications has been favourable. Prior to the glitch applications had dropped 7 per cent in the previous three months. However, the decline in jobless claims has not been followed by rapid hiring.

"It's hard to believe that claims can keep declining indefinitely without a commensurate pickup in job growth," said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG. "Then again, that's exactly what they have done."

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. Layoffs have been falling since 2009 and in July reached the lowest level on records dating back to 2000, according to a separate government report released this week.

But unemployment remains painfully high at 7.3 per cent more than four years after the Great Recession ended. And the economy grew at a modest 2.5 per cent annual rate in the April-June quarter.

That's made the unemployment applications data less reliable for predicting job growth than in past recoveries.

Historically, falling applications have pointed to a pickup in hiring and stronger economic growth.

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Violent dog shot by police in Canberra

A DOG has been shot and injured by a police officer after it violently attacked three people in a Canberra suburb.

Police were called to Dunlop on the city's outskirts on Tuesday to reports a tan-coloured dog had set upon a group of people.

One woman was "bailed up" by the attacking dog, police said, while a man who came to her rescue was left bleeding after the animal turned on him.

A 17-year-old male also had his clothing ripped as the dog tried to bite him.

A police officer at the scene opened fire on the dog, injuring it.

The dog retreated to a nearby home where it was contained in the backyard until the owner returned home.

The dog has been taken to a vet for treatment.

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"Albo4Leader" campaign under way

A SOCIAL media campaign is underway backing Anthony Albanese as the next federal Labor leader, with supporters convinced he would defeat powerbroker Bill Shorten if the choice goes to party members.

A day after being launched, the "Anthony Albanese for Labor Leader" Facebook page had attracted more than 700 "likes" on Tuesday evening.

The "albo4leader" Twitter handle meanwhile was reporting a spike in "albomentum".

The group claims it isn't connected to the outgoing deputy prime minister, and understands the Sydney-based MP hasn't yet thrown his hat in the ring.

"But it's obvious he's the best candidate to unite and lead Labor!" states a message on the Facebook page, below an image depicting a young, long-haired Mr Albanese from his university days.

One of the group's co-convenors Luke Whitington, a NSW Labor Policy Forum member, said Mr Albanese was a strong parliamentary performer and the best person to return the party to federal government quickly.

Mr Albanese had always proven he'd put the party before himself and had the trust of its rank and files members, he added.

"I think that if given the chance, he'd win a vote amongst the party members overwhelmingly," Mr Whitington told AAP on Tuesday.

The group is appealing for Mr Albanese to contest the top job under new rules which give grassroots members a say.

If there are two or more candidates, the leadership for the first time will be decided in a ballot weighted 50 per cent to the caucus and 50 per cent to grassroots members of the ALP.

Party heavyweight Bill Shorten appears on track to take the federal Labor leadership at a caucus meeting in Canberra on Friday.

But the unendorsed group backing Mr Albanese has demanded there be no backroom deals, warning Labor's rank and file members will be palpable if Mr Shorten were installed without a ballot.

"I think there should be more elections, there should be more democracy, members should have more of a say," Mr Whitington said.

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Fake products may be dangerous: CHOICE

AUSTRALIAN customs last year seized more than 700,000 items of fake merchandise worth about $48.5 million, it has been revealed.

The haul was part of the $272 billion annual global trade in potentially dangerous bogus goods.

And it's not just products being ripped off.

Groups selling counterfeits "lure consumers to their sites with paid online advertising and images from a brand's most recent advertising campaign," Tom Godfrey from consumer advocacy group CHOICE says.

"Counterfeiters also fake tags, receipts and authenticity cards making it even more challenging for consumers to work out the real deal."

About two per cent of world trade is in fake goods and while imitation accessories, like shoes or handbags, aren't dangerous many others could harm people, Mr Godfrey says.

"Pharmaceuticals and cosmetics sold overseas online are unregulated with no requirement for them to be produced in sanitary conditions," he said.

"If you're lucky, counterfeit perfume will only stain your clothes, but it may cause skin allergies, burns and trigger respiratory problems."

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Conditions ease but NSW fires might flare

HIGH temperatures and warm winds across northwest Sydney where bushfires are burning have eased, but authorities are preparing for possible flare-ups on Wednesday.

Earlier on Tuesday a significant part of the city's northwest was under threat from bushfires that have claimed two houses and injured several firefighters.

But the temperature has since dropped from a high of 32 degrees celsius down to between 16 and 18 degrees, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman told AAP on Tuesday night.

And a gentle southerly wind change is blowing at 15 km/h, down from peak speeds of up to 80 km/h during the afternoon.

While conditions have eased, police are asking parents of the 900 children at Winmalee High School, in the Blue Mountains, to keep their kids at home on Wednesday in case the fires flare up.

The Department of Education has also been asked to close the nearby primary school.

Staff will be present at the schools to look after children whose parents can't make other arrangements, a Department of Education spokesman told AAP.

Earlier on Tuesday a house was destroyed at Winmalee and two firefighters battling the blaze there suffered minor burns, the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said.

Another home was lost at Marsden Park in Sydney's west, and a shed has been destroyed near Castlereagh, where a fire raged through about 60 hectares of dry bush.

About 300 students from St Paul's Grammar School at Castlereagh were evacuated to Penrith's Whitewater Park after an emergency warning was issued for nearby properties.

More than 2000 people were evacuated from a University of Western Sydney (UWS) campus after a power outage and the RAAF base at Richmond lost power due to a problem with an Endeavour Energy substation.

About 1000 firefighters with 350 trucks and 14 aircraft are fighting 63 bush and grass fires across the state, 31 of which are uncontained, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell told parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

Five firefighters have been treated for smoke inhalation, he added.

Emergency Services Minister Mike Gallacher said "a significant part of northwestern Sydney" where there are "large numbers of homes" was threatened by the fires.

"These are all heavily urbanised areas," he told AAP.

Earlier on Tuesday smoke billowed over Windsor Downs Nature Reserve as water bombing helicopters and crews battled grass fires.

An RFS spokesman told AAP "it's certainly been a monster effort".

Emergency warnings remain in place for three large uncontained fires in Sydney's northwest.

The warm winds, gusting at up to 80km/h and fanning the fires are likely to ease on Tuesday evening, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman told AAP.

And firefighters are hoping the southerly change lowers temperatures.

Crews will work thorough the night and probably the next few days to try and contain the fires, the RFS spokesman said.

"But that's still dependent on the weather and how strong the southerly change that comes through (is)," he told AAP.

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Housing key to retail recovery: Deloitte

THE performance of the Australian housing sector will play a key role in any recovery in consumer spending and retail sales growth, an independent economic forecaster says.

Deloitte Access Economics believes the election of a majority government should allow for more certainty around political policy and improve general confidence.

This should see retail spending pick up in the September quarter, with a more sustainable improvement kicking into 2014/15.

Deloitte Access' quarterly retail report on Wednesday showed there was a promising start to 2013 before sales turned "tragic" by mid year, with overall weak growth.

This was likely due to a drift higher in the jobless rate and the marking down of economic growth prospects by both Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Now a retail sales recovery may be on the way as house prices start to lift.

"When people are bidding up the price of housing they are also lifting their rate of retail spending," Deloitte Access partner David Rumbens said in the report.

"With housing affordability much improved from two years ago, this channel may form a powerful driver."

Home building is also lifting on the back of population growth and low interest rates.

The forecaster expects real, or inflation adjusted, retail sales to expand by 2.4 per cent in 2013/14, after 2.8 per cent growth in the previous financial year.

Then sales should grow by up to 3.6 per cent in 2014/15, helped again by low interest rates and a modest improvement in the jobs outlook.

Mr Rumbens expects low interest rates will especially benefit NSW, Victoria and the ACT in terms of spending lifts.

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Le Vell cleared in UK child sex case

ENGLISH soap star Michael Le Vell has been cleared of child sex abuse charges and walked from court a free man.

The 48-year-old actor, known as playing a mechanic on Coronation Street, maintained his innocence throughout and was acquitted on Tuesday of 12 serious child sex offences.

He heard the foreman of the jury deliver the not guilty verdicts to a hushed and packed courtroom at the end of an eight-day trial at Manchester Crown Court.

His victim, who can't be named for legal reasons, was not in court to hear the verdicts but the "bubbly, lovely, naive" youngster had earlier sobbed as she claimed Le Vell, known to millions of TV fans as the soap's Kevin Webster, raped her as she clutched a teddy bear.

Her claims were dismissed by the jury after being described in court as "inconsistent, incoherent and unbelievable".

Alisdair Williamson, defending said the case was "a prosecution by cliche" - decrying how much had been made of Le Vell's "demons" - his drinking and one-night stands.

He said the defendant in the witness box was clearly a "scared and frightened" innocent man accused of "the most unbelievable and terrible thing".

The actor, from Cheshire, who has been in the ITV soap for 30 years, faced 12 charges in all - five counts of rape, three of indecent assault, two counts of sexual activity with a child and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Le Vell, on trial under his real name of Michael Turner, had maintained his innocence throughout, telling police the girl's claims were "an absolute pack of lies" and the jury that he was "fighting for his life".

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