Hiring is exploding in the one corner of the U.S. economy where few want to be hired: Temporary work.

From Wal-Mart to General Motors to PepsiCo, companies are increasingly turning to temps and to a much larger universe of freelancers, contract workers and consultants. Combined, these workers number nearly 17 million people who have only tenuous ties to the companies that pay them — about 12 percent of everyone with a job.

Virgin on Monday completed the purchase of a 60 percent stake in low-cost rival Tigerair Australia and named its chief executive John Borghetti as chairman of the new business.

Australia's competition regulator agreed to the tie-up earlier this year and Virgin, the country's second-largest carrier after Qantas, said all the formalities were now complete.

Iran's central bank on Saturday drastically devalued the national currency's fixed subsidized rate against the dollar, as the Islamic republic struggles to shore up its faltering economy.

The rial has lost more than two thirds of its value on the open market since early 2012, when the United States and the European Union imposed harsh economic sanctions curbing Iran's ability to export oil and conduct financial transactions.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's on Friday downgraded Nokia Corp.'s credit rating, citing the deal this week to buy out Siemens from its Nokia Siemens Networks joint venture for 1.7 billion euros ($2.21 billion).

The agency lowered the Finland-based company's long-term corporate credit rating to B+ from BB-, warning that its strong balance sheet will weaken as a result of the acquisition.

The United States added a robust 195,000 jobs in June, and job growth in prior months was revised higher, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The June employment gain was well above the analyst consensus estimate of 166,000 jobs, and marked a steady pickup in job creation in the economy.

Italy's household consumption fell sharply last year, with style-conscious Italians cutting back on clothes and home furnishings, official data showed on Friday.

Average monthly spending per household fell to 2,419 euros ($3,105) -- 2.8 percent less than in 2011.

Inflation in Brazil slowed to 0.2 percent in June compared to the month before, but, at 6.7 percent over 12 months, was still well above the government's target of 4.5 percent, according to the latest official figures Friday.

The June figure was the lowest since the same month the year before, when consumer prices rose 0.08 percent, the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE) reported.

World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim said Thursday he hopes Egypt's loan and assistance program will continue despite the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, but called for progress toward new elections "as quickly as possible."

"We are in the middle right now of trying to understand just what did happen and what the legal status is of the government in place," Kim said at a press conference at Chile's government palace, after he met with President Sebastian Pinera.

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest technology firm by revenue, on Friday fueled concerns about flagging demand for high-end smartphones with a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast for the second quarter.

The South Korean giant forecast of 9.5 trillion won ($8.3 billion) in operating profit for the April-June quarter would be a record. But analysts had expected a figure of more than 10 trillion won, and shares in the firm lost more than three percent in afternoon trade.

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said Friday it will close its only European solar cell plant in Hungary, resulting in the loss of 550 jobs.

The assembly factory in the city of Dorog will end production in September before its official closure in March, a Panasonic spokeswoman in Tokyo said.