Many business owners in Japan are struggling to find enough workers to stay afloat, NHK World reported. The number declaring bankruptcy as a result was at a record high in the first half of this year. Private research firm Teikoku Databank says Japan's labor shortage drove 182 companies to the wall between January and June. The number was up by 72 from a year earlier. It's the highest figure since the firm started keeping track. Fifty-three of the businesses were in the construction industry, and 27 were in logistics.

A severe labor shortage and rising prices are weighing heavily on Japan's nursing care providers, with 81 nursing homes going bankrupt over the past six months, a Tokyo-based research center has said, the Japan Times reported. This is the highest number recorded for the first half of the year since the nursing care insurance system started in 2000. It also marked a 50% increase from the same period of last year, Tokyo Shoko Research said. Previously, the highest number of bankruptcies recorded was 58 in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new study has revealed that almost two-thirds of football clubs in the top two divisions of Japan's Professional Football League, also known as the J-League, could be at risk of bankruptcy, Phys.org reported. The work is published in the Journal of Applied Accounting Research. The research, conducted by sports finance and economics experts from the University of Portsmouth and Sheffield Hallam University, found widespread financial issues across both the J1 and J2 leagues, with approximately 50 to 75% of the clubs at risk.

Four months ago, China’s leaders announced what seemed like a straightforward and proven plan to recharge the economy: Subsidize consumers who want to replace old cars and household appliances, the New York Times reported. The early results are not promising. Only 113,000 cars qualified for trade-in subsidies through June 25 — a blip in a country where monthly sales exceed 2 million cars. And buyers of new appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators are being offered discounts of only about 10 percent, depending on what city they live in.

Japan's finance minister said on Tuesday authorities were vigilant to sharp currency market moves, as the yen continued its slump to fresh 38-year lows against the dollar, but stopped short of giving a clear intervention warning, Reuters reported. The change in official daily commentary to reporters, in which an intervention warning has become almost customary, comes as analysts question the effectiveness of such jawboning in stopping sharp yen declines.

China’s central bank’s plan to borrow bonds may slow but won’t quash their rally, as the fundamental reasons driving demand for debt are unlikely to reverse, according to analysts, Bloomberg reported. The impact of the People’s Bank of China move may instead be to put a floor on yields and send them into a range, they said. Benchmark yields rebounded from a record low Monday after the PBOC said it would borrow government bonds from primary dealers, a sign it may be contemplating selling securities to cool down a hot bond market.

Australian home prices rose in June for a seventeenth straight month, as tight supply outweighed demand-side pressures of high interest rates, a cost of living squeeze and tight lending conditions, property consultant CoreLogic said on Monday, Reuters reported. Data from CoreLogic showed national home prices climbed 0.7% in June from May when it gained 0.8%. Prices are up 8.0% on a year earlier.

The latest financial reports from Bandai Namco Studios and Bandai Namco Online turned out to be a complete disaster, Softonic reported. During the last fiscal year, which ended in March 2024, Bandai Namco Studios recorded a loss of 3,983 million yen, which is about 23 million euros. However, the worst part was taken by Bandai Namco Online, which has declared bankruptcy. Bandai Namco Studios is one of the branches of Bandai Namco Entertainment, which is responsible for developing video games for PC, consoles, mobile devices, and more.

Global policymakers aren’t about to let the Federal Reserve’s delay in cutting interest rates distract them too much from their own easing efforts, Bloomberg reported. Among the 23 of the world’s top central banks featured in Bloomberg’s quarterly guide, only the Bank of Japan won’t end up lowering borrowing costs within the next 18 months. Most are already set to do so this year. In total, 155 basis points will be removed from an aggregate benchmark global rate compiled by Bloomberg Economics by the end of 2025.