With inventories piling up, Korean automakers are using barely 40% of their 4.5 million unit annual capacity, half the level of two years ago.

FORBES: Why Korea needs a Margaret Thatcher

With inventories piling up, Korean automakers are using just 40% of their 4.5 million unit annual capacity, half the level of two years ago.

FORBES: Why Korea needs a Margaret Thatcher

One clear concern in America is the sharp jump in the rate of increase in unit labour costs, to an annual figure of 6.3% in the first quarter, compared with a fall of 1.9% in the same period of 2000.

ECONOMIST: As growth slumps, inflation jumps

Unit labour costs fell by an annual average of 1.4% in 2000-08 in Germany, compared with a decline of 0.7% in America and rises of 0.8% and 0.9% in France and Britain respectively.

ECONOMIST: Germany

The iPhone unit sales have been growing at an average annual rate of about 90% every year.

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In the U.S. decades of market dominance have made Coke a low-growth staple: The ten-year compound annual unit-case growth in the U.S. is only 4%.

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The National Association of Realtors also announced on Thursday that the pace of existing home sales in the United States rose in May to a 4.99 million-unit annual rate, slightly beating Wall Street's expectations.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Instead, the company is making a number of moves to boost shareholder value, among other things declaring an annual dividend of 50 cents a share, and opting to spin off its stake in its Covisint unit to holders following a pending IPO of that business.

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