The 10 things to watch in business on September 7

Primark owner expects sales to rise ; UK manufacturers halve 2015 growth forecast ; Glencore commits to debt reduction

1. As thousands of refugees arrive every day in Germany, calls are growing louder from business leaders in Europe's biggest economy to offer them jobs. Europe's top economy, Germany, expects to receive 800,000 asylum seekers this year -- a record figure. "If we can integrate them quickly into the jobs market, we'll be helping the refugees, but also helping ourselves as well," the head of the powerful BDI industry federation, Ulrich Grillo, said this week

2. China lowered its GDP growth figure for last year by 0.1 per cent points to 7.3 per cent, according to official figures, as concerns mount over slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy.

3. Britain's main manufacturing lobby has halved its forecast for growth this year after overseas orders fell to their lowest since the financial crisis. The EEF manufacturers' organisation said tofay that it expected growth to slow this year to just 0.7 per cent, down from an earlier forecast of 1.5 per cent.

4. Pilots at German airline Lufthansa said today they will stage new walkouts on freight and long-haul passenger services on Tuesday in their long-running dispute with management over early retirement provisions.

5. Tesco agrees to sell Homeplus, its Korean business to a consortium of investors led by MBK, a South Korean buyout firm set up a decade ago, for £4.2billion. Tesco's chief executive Dave Lewis said: "This sale realises material value for shareholders and allows us to make significant progress on our strategic priority of protecting and strengthening our balance sheet,” City A.M. reports.

6. Toshiba announces long-delayed results after accounting scandal cost it $1.22billion. It has posted a net loss of 37.7 billion yen ($318 million; £209.3 million) for the year to March.

7. WhatsApp the messaging app bought by Facebook in 2014 now has 900 million monthly active users according to its founder Jan Koum. The number is up from 800 million users CHECK THIS – how can it be up from the same number?in April and 700 million at the start of the year.

8. YouTube is preparing to provide viewer data to advertisers, the Financial Times reports. The move comes after complaints by advertisers such as Unilever and Kellogg’s which are afraid they are losing money on ads that are not visible.

9. Primark sales will be up 9 per cent this financial year, according to parent company Associated British Food, reflecting a strong performance in a number of countries

10. Glencore’s shares have been suspended in Hong Kong ahead of debt cutting plan. The commodities and trading giant has announced plans to reduce its net debt of some $30 billion.