SAN JOSE, CA – Worldwide sales of semiconductors declined 2.4% in October to $22.5 billion compared to the same month last year, says the Semiconductor Industry Association. October sales were down 2.1% sequentially. 
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TOKYO – AOI OEM Saki Corp. has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Schmidt Electronics Group to acquire a certain percentage stake in MacroScience Technology. No financial terms were disclosed.
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BUDAPEST – Foxconn plans to lay off 1,500 workers in Hungary, more than half its workforce there, as a result of slipping orders, according to published reports.
 
After layoffs in Komarom and Debrecen, the firm will employ about 1,150 people near Budapest, Reuters said.
 
The economy in Hungary is expected to hit a recession in 2009 on dropping export demand and domestic consumption; the government predicts contraction for up to a year-and-a-half, according to reports.
 
Analysts say the country's 7.7% unemployment rate from August to October could reach more than 10% by the middle of 2009.
 

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- The enforcement division of the Securities and Exchange Commission has notified Jabil Circuit it recommends no action on Jabil's historical stock option grant practices.

Following a roughly six-month investigation, the SEC Division of Enforcement issued a letter to Jabil advising the SEC not to take any enforcement action.