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By Nora Eckert DETROIT (Reuters) -Ford Motor is walking back a program that would have allowed dealers to offer a $7,500 tax credit on EV leases after the federal subsidy expired September 30, the company said on Thursday. "Ford will not claim the EV tax credit but will maintain the competitive lease payments we have in the market today," a spokesperson said.  The decision follows a similar move from General Motors on Wednesday. While automakers including Hyundai and Stellantis have offered cash off incentives to bridge the gap for buyers, Ford and GM took a different approach.  The in-house lending arms at these two automakers planned to initiate the purchase of EVs in dealers’ inventory, and the companies would apply for the $7,500 credit on those cars and then roll that money into EV lease terms for customers. For customers who want to purchase an electric vehicle, Ford Credit continues to offer 0 percent financing for 72 months and other incentives, a spokesperson said. GM opted to kill the program after concerns were raised about it by Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio, a former car dealer who is active in auto policy, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters. It is unclear why Ford canceled its program.  Ford and GM developed their strategies after discussions with officials at the Internal Revenue Service, Reuters previously reported. Some auto executives, including Ford CEO Jim Farley, have warned that EV sales will drop significantly in the absence of the credit. Other automotive leaders, such as the CEO of Hyundai Motor North America, have affirmed that the electric vehicle market is more resilient than that.   (Reporting by Nora Eckert; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )

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(Reuters) -Oil prices were little changed in early Asian trade on Friday after falling more than 1% in the previous session, as the market's war risk premium faded after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a plan to end the war in Gaza. Brent crude futures were up 9 cents, or 0.1%, at $65.31 a barrel by 0044 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $61.63. Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement on Thursday in the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war in Gaza. Under the deal, which Israel's government ratified on Friday, fighting will cease, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza, and Hamas will free all remaining hostages it captured in the attack that precipitated the war, in exchange for hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. Prices had reached a one-week high following gains of around 1% on Wednesday due to the stalled progress on a Ukraine peace deal, a sign that sanctions against the world's second-largest oil exporter Russia could continue. On a weekly basis, both benchmarks were still up around 1.2% after falling steeply last week. The Gaza ceasefire deal was a major step towards ending the two-year war that has raised the risk of oil supply disruptions, Daniel Hynes, an analyst at ANZ, said in a note on Friday. "This (deal) saw the focus move back to the impending oil surplus, as OPEC proceeds with the unwinding of production cuts," Hynes said. A smaller-than-expected November hike in output agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) on Sunday eased some of those oversupply concerns. Investors are also worried that a prolonged U.S. government shutdown could dampen the American economy and hurt oil demand. (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Tom Hogue)

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By Sneha S K (Reuters) -The U.S. government announced quality ratings for 2026 Medicare health and prescription drug plans on Thursday, which help determine bonus payments from the government to health insurers. CVS Health's Aetna unit has more than 81% of members in top-rated programs. UnitedHealth has 78%, Elevance 55% and Humana about 20%, figures from the regulator and companies showed. Overall, 64% of people currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans that cover prescription drugs are covered by plans rated four or five stars, according to a research note from Oppenheimer. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is part of the HHS, issues star ratings for the plans from one to five — with five being the highest performing — to help beneficiaries choose among them. The agency evaluates different factors to rate the plans, including customer satisfaction, access to care and performance on cancer screenings and management of chronic conditions, among others. Plans with higher star ratings mean bigger payments from the government to the insurer, and the bonus payments can be worth hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. The ratings will impact insurers' revenues in 2027. "Overall, the results were not very surprising given the various company pre-announcements over recent weeks," said Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn. CVS Health added that its Aetna business also has over 63% of Aetna Medicare Advantage members in a 4.5-star plan for next year. Humana and UnitedHealth's star ratings were in line with the companies' earlier announcements, analysts said. UnitedHealth said that it has 78% of its members in 4-star plans or higher and 40% are in 4.5-star plans for 2026. Humana said last week that it has about 20%, or 1.2 million, of its members in high-rated plans. Elevance said it now has 55% of membership in plans rated 4 stars and higher, up from 40% a year ago. Elevance was among the largest gainers in quality ratings, analysts said. (Reporting by Sneha S K and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased again last week, JPMorgan estimated on Thursday, hinting at some early layoffs related to the U.S. government shutdown. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 235,000 for the week ending October 4 from 224,000 the prior week, JPMorgan calculated. Official economic data collection and publication has been suspended because of the government shutdown, now in its second week.  States have continued to collect unemployment claims data and submit it to Labor Department's database, which remains accessible. The shutdown following a lapse in funding has delayed the release of the closely watched employment report for September, crucial for decision-making by the Federal Reserve, businesses and households. "This is the first week that includes the government shutdown, and while these headline figures don't include federal workers, they have tended to spike in past shutdowns since the economic impact can spill over to non-federal employees," said Abiel Reinhart, an economist at JPMorgan. "Claims could increase a bit more next week if the shutdown continues, given the shutdown was only in effect for part of last week." Excluding the shutdown noise, claims remained "reasonably low," Reinhart said. The labor market has been stuck in a "no firing" and "no hiring mode," with economists saying U.S. trade and immigration policies, and the growing popularity of artificial intelligence have reduced demand and labor supply. The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased to a seasonally adjusted 1.927 million during the week ending September 27, from 1.919 million in the prior week, JPMorgan estimated. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Richard Chang)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased again last week, JPMorgan estimated on Thursday, hinting at some early layoffs related to the U.S. government shutdown. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 235,000 for the week ending October 4 from 224,000 the prior week, JPMorgan calculated. Official economic data collection and publication has been suspended because of the government shutdown, now in its second week.  States have continued to collect unemployment claims data and submit it to Labor Department's database, which remains accessible. The shutdown following a lapse in funding has delayed the release of the closely watched employment report for September, crucial for decision-making by the Federal Reserve, businesses and households. "This is the first week that includes the government shutdown, and while these headline figures don't include federal workers, they have tended to spike in past shutdowns since the economic impact can spill over to non-federal employees," said Abiel Reinhart, an economist at JPMorgan. "Claims could increase a bit more next week if the shutdown continues, given the shutdown was only in effect for part of last week." Excluding the shutdown noise, claims remained "reasonably low," Reinhart said. The labor market has been stuck in a "no firing" and "no hiring mode," with economists saying U.S. trade and immigration policies, and the growing popularity of artificial intelligence have reduced demand and labor supply. The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased to a seasonally adjusted 1.927 million during the week ending September 27, from 1.919 million in the prior week, JPMorgan estimated. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Richard Chang)

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By Chris Kirkham, Rachael Levy and Abhirup Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -When Tesla's board of directors offered Elon Musk the biggest executive pay package in corporate history in September, it reassured investors that he would have to achieve the equivalent of “Mars-shot milestones” to earn $878 billion in Tesla stock over 10 years.  The board’s proposal said Musk would have to “completely transform Tesla and society as we know it” in robotics and autonomous driving as well as stock value and profits. Conversely, Musk would get “zero” unless he meets those “incredibly ambitious” goals. Yet Musk could reap tens of billions of dollars without meeting most of those targets, according to a Reuters analysis of his performance goals and more than a dozen experts in executive pay, company valuations, robotics and automotive trends including autonomous driving. He could collect more than $50 billion by hitting a handful of the board’s easier goals that won’t necessarily revolutionize Tesla’s products or business, the Reuters review found. Even hitting just two of the easiest targets, along with modest stock growth, would net Musk $26 billion, more than the lifetime pay of the next eight best-paid CEOs combined, a group that includes Meta Platforms' Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Apple's Tim Cook, and Nvidia's Jensen Huang, according to an analysis for Reuters by research firm Equilar.  Musk’s vehicle sales goals are exceptionally easy to achieve, according to four automotive experts. If Musk sells 1.2 million cars a year over the next decade, on average, he earns $8.2 billion in stock if Tesla’s market value grows from $1.4 trillion today to $2 trillion in 2035, well under long-term market-average growth. That’s a half-million fewer cars per year than Tesla sold in 2024. On Tuesday, Tesla unveiled lower-cost versions of its best-selling Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan to reverse falling sales. Three other product-development goals are written in vague language that could provide Musk hefty payouts without significantly boosting profit, according to six robotics or autonomous-driving industry experts who reviewed Musk’s goals for Reuters. Tesla and Musk did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Tesla board said: "The proposed pay package is actually worth zero to our CEO unless and until the shareholders see the value of the company nearly double and an operational milestone is met." The board’s pay proposal requires Musk to remain a Tesla executive for at least seven-and-a-half years to collect any stock compensation. Musk, however, would get the voting rights associated with the share awards as soon as he earns them. Musk said last month on his social media platform X that the package is “not about ‘compensation,’ but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots.” In its proposal, the board said Musk is “motivated by more than just conventional forms of compensation.” SELF DRIVING CARS, ROBOTAXIS AND ROBOTICS Each goal grants Musk 1% of Tesla stock if he also reaches valuation milestones between $2 trillion and $8.5 trillion. One goal requires 10 million subscriptions to Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) software, which can’t currently drive itself without human intervention.  The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday it is opening an investigation into 2.88 million FSD-equipped Tesla vehicles over more than 50 reports of traffic-safety violations and a series of crashes. Musk's performance goal contains no requirement that Tesla make FSD fully autonomous, instead requiring only an “advanced driving system.” That’s a “made-up term” with no industry-standard definition, said William Widen, a University of Miami law professor specializing in autonomous driving. Autonomous-driving experts say the subscription target might be easily met by dropping the price, currently $8,000 upfront or $99 a month. Tesla’s leading electric-vehicle rival, China’s BYD, already offers a similar system for free. “If I were Musk’s personal employment lawyer, I would like these definitions,” said Matthew Wansley, a professor at New York’s Cardozo School of Law who focuses on autonomous driving. Another goal requires one million robotaxis in commercial operation and specifies cars “without a human driver in the vehicle.” That’s a potentially more restrictive definition but four autonomous-vehicle experts said it could be interpreted to allow for humans controlling vehicles remotely or from the passenger seat – as Tesla does now in its first small-scale robotaxi test in Austin, Texas.  Musk’s employment deal also sets a target of one million robots, an apparent reference to the Optimus humanoid robots Musk has long promised. But the goal doesn’t specify "humanoid" and could be interpreted broadly, two robotics-industry experts said. It defines "bot" as "any robot or other physical product with mobility using artificial intelligence."  “It’s a totally vague formulation,” said Christian Rokseth, an analyst with market research firm Humanoid.guide specializing in robotics and artificial intelligence. Investors, he said, are expecting a humanoid robot.  MODEST TARGETS WORTH BILLIONS Hitting any two product goals in a decade, along with a $2.5 trillion valuation, pays Musk $26.4 billion in stock. Hitting three targets and a $3 trillion valuation pays him $54.6 billion.  That means Musk could earn these amounts without delivering driverless Teslas, the signature product he’s promised for a decade. Gene Munster, managing partner at Tesla investor Deepwater Asset Management, said that despite the loose language in his performance agreement, investors would ultimately hold him accountable for delivering transformational products. “If people start smelling there’s something goofy here, he's in trouble,” Munster said. In its pay proposal, Tesla’s board declared Musk the only person capable of transforming Tesla into an artificial-intelligence juggernaut. The board added that Musk, during negotiations, raised the prospect of “prioritizing other ventures” if he and the board couldn’t agree on compensation. Corporate governance experts said the board is taking a huge risk by so explicitly staking its future on one leader. Wei Jiang, vice dean at Emory University’s business school, said Tesla’s board has granted Musk a “monopoly” on Tesla’s top job. Good corporate governance, she said, requires embracing a “competitive and fluid market for CEOs.” THE HARD PART: PROFITS Musk’s hardest performance targets are likely those involving profit, a measure with no room for interpretation. The directors set eight profit goals between $50 billion and $400 billion in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, compared to Tesla’s 2024 earnings of $16.6 billion. Tesla’s EV business, which accounts for almost all its revenue, is deteriorating with aging models facing fierce competition. Its only newer model, the Cybertruck, has flopped. The way Musk’s compensation is structured, however, allows for massive payouts without hitting any profit target. Every goal combined with a market-value increase offers the same 1% stock payout. So Musk gets the same pay for meeting the relatively easy vehicle sales and FSD-subscription goals, for instance, as he would for boosting earnings five-fold to $80 billion.  The board’s valuation goals may prove far easier than its profit targets. Tesla’s value could hit $2 trillion, for instance, if shares grow a modest 6.4% annually over the decade following the board’s Sept. 3 pay-package approval. That’s slower growth than the S&P 500’s 8.5% annual average over the past 30 years and less than half the Nasdaq’s 13.2% average. Seth Goldstein, a Morningstar analyst who tracks Tesla, said its…

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Chris Kirkham, Rachael Levy and Abhirup Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -When Tesla's board of directors offered Elon Musk the biggest executive pay package in corporate history in September, it reassured investors that he would have to achieve the equivalent of “Mars-shot milestones” to earn $878 billion in Tesla stock over 10 years.  The board’s proposal said Musk would have to “completely transform Tesla and society as we know it” in robotics and autonomous driving as well as stock value and profits. Conversely, Musk would get “zero” unless he meets those “incredibly ambitious” goals. Yet Musk could reap tens of billions of dollars without meeting most of those targets, according to a Reuters analysis of his performance goals and more than a dozen experts in executive pay, company valuations, robotics and automotive trends including autonomous driving. He could collect more than $50 billion by hitting a handful of the board’s easier goals that won’t necessarily revolutionize Tesla’s products or business, the Reuters review found. Even hitting just two of the easiest targets, along with modest stock growth, would net Musk $26 billion, more than the lifetime pay of the next eight best-paid CEOs combined, a group that includes Meta Platforms' Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Apple's Tim Cook, and Nvidia's Jensen Huang, according to an analysis for Reuters by research firm Equilar.  Musk’s vehicle sales goals are exceptionally easy to achieve, according to four automotive experts. If Musk sells 1.2 million cars a year over the next decade, on average, he earns $8.2 billion in stock if Tesla’s market value grows from $1.4 trillion today to $2 trillion in 2035, well under long-term market-average growth. That’s a half-million fewer cars per year than Tesla sold in 2024. On Tuesday, Tesla unveiled lower-cost versions of its best-selling Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan to reverse falling sales. Three other product-development goals are written in vague language that could provide Musk hefty payouts without significantly boosting profit, according to six robotics or autonomous-driving industry experts who reviewed Musk’s goals for Reuters. Tesla and Musk did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Tesla board said: "The proposed pay package is actually worth zero to our CEO unless and until the shareholders see the value of the company nearly double and an operational milestone is met." The board’s pay proposal requires Musk to remain a Tesla executive for at least seven-and-a-half years to collect any stock compensation. Musk, however, would get the voting rights associated with the share awards as soon as he earns them. Musk said last month on his social media platform X that the package is “not about ‘compensation,’ but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots.” In its proposal, the board said Musk is “motivated by more than just conventional forms of compensation.” SELF DRIVING CARS, ROBOTAXIS AND ROBOTICS Each goal grants Musk 1% of Tesla stock if he also reaches valuation milestones between $2 trillion and $8.5 trillion. One goal requires 10 million subscriptions to Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) software, which can’t currently drive itself without human intervention.  The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday it is opening an investigation into 2.88 million FSD-equipped Tesla vehicles over more than 50 reports of traffic-safety violations and a series of crashes. Musk's performance goal contains no requirement that Tesla make FSD fully autonomous, instead requiring only an “advanced driving system.” That’s a “made-up term” with no industry-standard definition, said William Widen, a University of Miami law professor specializing in autonomous driving. Autonomous-driving experts say the subscription target might be easily met by dropping the price, currently $8,000 upfront or $99 a month. Tesla’s leading electric-vehicle rival, China’s BYD, already offers a similar system for free. “If I were Musk’s personal employment lawyer, I would like these definitions,” said Matthew Wansley, a professor at New York’s Cardozo School of Law who focuses on autonomous driving. Another goal requires one million robotaxis in commercial operation and specifies cars “without a human driver in the vehicle.” That’s a potentially more restrictive definition but four autonomous-vehicle experts said it could be interpreted to allow for humans controlling vehicles remotely or from the passenger seat – as Tesla does now in its first small-scale robotaxi test in Austin, Texas.  Musk’s employment deal also sets a target of one million robots, an apparent reference to the Optimus humanoid robots Musk has long promised. But the goal doesn’t specify "humanoid" and could be interpreted broadly, two robotics-industry experts said. It defines "bot" as "any robot or other physical product with mobility using artificial intelligence."  “It’s a totally vague formulation,” said Christian Rokseth, an analyst with market research firm Humanoid.guide specializing in robotics and artificial intelligence. Investors, he said, are expecting a humanoid robot.  MODEST TARGETS WORTH BILLIONS Hitting any two product goals in a decade, along with a $2.5 trillion valuation, pays Musk $26.4 billion in stock. Hitting three targets and a $3 trillion valuation pays him $54.6 billion.  That means Musk could earn these amounts without delivering driverless Teslas, the signature product he’s promised for a decade. Gene Munster, managing partner at Tesla investor Deepwater Asset Management, said that despite the loose language in his performance agreement, investors would ultimately hold him accountable for delivering transformational products. “If people start smelling there’s something goofy here, he's in trouble,” Munster said. In its pay proposal, Tesla’s board declared Musk the only person capable of transforming Tesla into an artificial-intelligence juggernaut. The board added that Musk, during negotiations, raised the prospect of “prioritizing other ventures” if he and the board couldn’t agree on compensation. Corporate governance experts said the board is taking a huge risk by so explicitly staking its future on one leader. Wei Jiang, vice dean at Emory University’s business school, said Tesla’s board has granted Musk a “monopoly” on Tesla’s top job. Good corporate governance, she said, requires embracing a “competitive and fluid market for CEOs.” THE HARD PART: PROFITS Musk’s hardest performance targets are likely those involving profit, a measure with no room for interpretation. The directors set eight profit goals between $50 billion and $400 billion in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, compared to Tesla’s 2024 earnings of $16.6 billion. Tesla’s EV business, which accounts for almost all its revenue, is deteriorating with aging models facing fierce competition. Its only newer model, the Cybertruck, has flopped. The way Musk’s compensation is structured, however, allows for massive payouts without hitting any profit target. Every goal combined with a market-value increase offers the same 1% stock payout. So Musk gets the same pay for meeting the relatively easy vehicle sales and FSD-subscription goals, for instance, as he would for boosting earnings five-fold to $80 billion.  The board’s valuation goals may prove far easier than its profit targets. Tesla’s value could hit $2 trillion, for instance, if shares grow a modest 6.4% annually over the decade following the board’s Sept. 3 pay-package approval. That’s slower growth than the S&P 500’s 8.5% annual average over the past 30 years and less than half the Nasdaq’s 13.2% average. Seth Goldstein, a Morningstar analyst who tracks Tesla, said its…

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By Curtis Williams HOUSTON (Reuters) -BP has won its arbitration case against Venture Global over the U.S. supplier's failure to deliver liquefied natural gas under a long-term contract that was due to start in late 2022, Venture Global said on Thursday. The International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration found that Venture Global breached its obligations to declare commercial operations had begun at the Calcasieu Pass plant in a timely manner and act as a "reasonable and prudent operator," Venture Global said in a regulatory filing. The BP ruling contrasts with a decision in August that saw Venture Global prevail in a similar complaint from Shell. It was not immediately clear why the two cases resulted in different results. BP is seeking damages of more than $1 billion plus interest, costs and attorneys' fees. "The company is disappointed by the arbitration tribunal’s decision in the proceeding with BP, which it believes contradicts the decisive findings in the prior arbitration involving Shell," Venture Global said in its filing. Shares of Venture Global were down more than 10% in after-hours trade, shaving off nearly $3.3 billion from the company's market capitalization.  HEARING TO DETERMINE DAMAGES NEXT YEAR A separate hearing is expected in 2026 to determine the extent of the damages the U.S. operator will have to pay BP, and the amount may exceed a cap on how much BP and other customers could claim that is contained in the original sales agreement, Venture Global said. BP said it was pleased with the outcome of this phase of the arbitration and looked forward to the determination of how much it would be paid as a result of Venture Global's breach of contract.  Venture Global said it was evaluating all available options in response to the tribunal's ruling and it would continue to vigorously defend its position. The company also reported on Thursday that it reached a resolution with another Calcasieu Pass customer that had taken it to arbitration, without naming the company. That settlement has no material impact on Venture Global, it said in the filing. Other companies, including Edison and Galp, have also filed claims against Venture Global, accusing it of profiting from the sale of LNG on the spot market after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, rather than shipping previously contracted LNG cargoes to them from the Calcasieu Pass export facility in Louisiana at much lower prices. Throughout the dispute, Venture Global has argued it was allowed to conduct the spot sales after the start of official commercial operations was delayed by a faulty power island.  The company officially started commercial operations at Calcasieu Pass in April 2025 and has since earned significantly lower prices from selling LNG to BP and other customers at contracted prices. Venture Global's average fees collected fell around 70% from the first quarter of the year to the second, after it started honoring the longer-term contracts and stopped the contested spot sales. Over that period, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility that determines gas prices in Europe, where Venture Global sells most of its cargoes, dropped 24%. (Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston, Stephanie Kelly in London and Sumit Saha in Bengaluru; Editing by Nathan Crooks, Rod Nickel, Jamie Freed and Tom Hogue)

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By Helen Reid LONDON (Reuters) -Online fast-fashion retailer Shein is strengthening its controls after a string of fines over data privacy breaches, fake discounts and greenwashing, according to a letter to investors, internal memos and two sources with direct knowledge of the plan. Shein, which ships cheap clothes and accessories direct from factories in China to more than 150 countries, has grown to become the world's biggest fast fashion retailer by sales. But its rapid expansion has been accompanied by regulatory breaches in multiple markets. In a letter to investors reviewed by Reuters, executive chairman Donald Tang said the company has created a "Business Integrity Group" that connects compliance, governance and external affairs teams, and has also expanded its internal audit capabilities to strengthen "discipline". In the past three months Shein has faced mounting penalties: a 150 million euro ($174.53 million) fine from France over website cookies collecting consumer data without consent, a 40 million euro penalty from France's antitrust agency for misleading discounts, and a 1 million euro fine from Italy over greenwashing. Shein is contesting the 150 million euro fine. Further fines could follow if a European consumer protection probe finds that products sold on its website fail to meet EU safety standards. Founded in China and headquartered in Singapore, Shein has filed for a stock market listing in Hong Kong, after failed attempts to list in New York and London. According to the letter, Shein has piloted enhanced internal controls in the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. The company declined to comment on the letter's contents. It is currently hiring for two governance, risk and compliance policy analysts and one internal audit manager in Los Angeles, according to its career website and LinkedIn. It was not clear if the jobs being advertised are additional roles. The internal overhaul focuses on areas where Shein faces legal risk, like breaches of copyright and product safety laws, a separate source with direct knowledge of the matter said. As Shein's global profile has grown, so too have its risks, prompting senior management to allocate more resources to address persistent compliance problems, the source said. MOUNTING FINES AND SLOWING GROWTH Tang acknowledged "heightened challenges" in the second quarter, citing U.S. tariffs and "intensifying political and regulatory headwinds" in Europe. The letter, which has not been previously reported, was sent on August 25, according to a second source. "In Q2 we grew firmly in line with both our global expansion plan and our financial projections," Tang wrote. The end of duty-free treatment for low-value online orders has hit Shein's U.S. sales – the company's largest market – forcing it to raise prices to offset higher costs.  Coresight Research estimates Shein's U.S. revenue will grow 20.1% in 2025, to $17.2 billion, down from estimated growth of 50% in 2024. Shein has shifted more of its marketing spending to Europe (including the UK), which is expected to surpass the U.S. in revenue for the first time this year, growing 30.7% to $17.9 billion.  GROWING CRITICISM OF SHEIN'S BUSINESS PRACTICES Europe, especially France, has become the epicentre of scrutiny of Shein's business practices. An investigation by a French agency of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) prompted by a complaint from two French lawmakers found last week that Shein does not comply with OECD guidelines on responsible business conduct, due diligence, working rights, environmental standards, and transparency. "Information about the activity of the group, its finances and its governance remains extremely rare, hindering a clear analysis of its business, its revenue and its structure in the European Union and globally," the final report, published on September 29, stated.      A Shein spokesperson said the investigation "at times did not reflect the neutral mediation intended by the OECD framework" and rejected claims that Shein is in breach of various EU legislation, "specifically those that are not yet applicable".   ($1 = 0.8595 euros) (Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

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By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased again last week, economists estimated on Thursday, hinting at some early layoffs of contractors related to the U.S. government shutdown. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 235,000 for the week ending October 4 from 224,000 the prior week, economists at JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs calculated. They made assumptions for Hawaii and Massachusetts, whose data was unavailable. Citigroup estimated 234,000 claims last week. Official economic data collection and publication has been suspended because of the government shutdown, now in its second week. States have continued to collect unemployment claims data and submit it to the Labor Department's database, which remains accessible. The shutdown following a lapse in funding has delayed the release of the closely watched employment report for September, crucial for decision-making by the Federal Reserve, businesses and households. "The increase could be due to government contractors filing for unemployment benefits while temporarily laid off as the government is shut down," said Gisela Young, an economist at Citigroup. "Initial claims also increased during October 2013, the last full government shutdown. We would expect claims to either increase further or stay elevated next week too." The shutdown has sent hundreds of thousands of U.S. federal workers home, with spillover effects to contractors, thousands of whom have been furloughed. Economists also expected a separate unemployment claims program for federal workers to show a rise in applications. Despite last week's increase, initial claims remained within their recent range. CLAIMS ARE STILL "REASONABLY" LOW "Excluding any shutdown noise, claims still look reasonably low," said Abiel Reinhart, an economist at JPMorgan. "Once the government re-opens, claims should quickly reverse any shutdown-related increase." The labor market has been stuck in a "no firing" and "no hiring" mode, with economists saying U.S. trade and immigration policies, and the growing popularity of artificial intelligence, have reduced demand and labor supply. Minutes of the U.S. central bank's September 16-17 policy meeting published on Wednesday showed Fed officials described their outlook for the labor market as "uncertain and viewed downside risks to employment as having increased over the intermeeting period." The Fed resumed cutting interest rates last month to support the labor market. Lackluster hiring has left many people who lose their jobs experiencing long bouts of unemployment and drawing unemployment checks for some time. The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased to a seasonally adjusted 1.927 million during the week ending September 27, from 1.919 million in the prior week, JPMorgan estimated. Goldman Sachs calculated the so-called continuing claims rose to 1.924 million in the last week of September. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Richard Chang and Chris Reese)

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