Surprise Rise in US Jobless Raises Spectre of Great Depression
TIMES ONLINE: Fears that the world is sliding into the worst global recession since the Great Depression multiplied yesterday as figures showed the steepest jump in American unemployment since the Second World War and a slump in manufacturing across Europe.

Economists on both sides of the Atlantic were startled by the severity of the latest indications of global economic slump, which further stoked pressure for radical action to stave off economic calamity.

A further surge in US joblessness led the litany of bleak developments yesterday. Official figures confirmed that more Americans lost their jobs last year than in any year since 1945, and that unemployment is soaring at the fastest pace seen since then.

A total of 524,000 Americans were made redundant by US employers last month alone, the latest official payroll figures showed. The mounting toll of job losses drove the unemployment rate in the world's largest economy up to a 15-year peak of 7.2 per cent, sharply higher than November's 6.8 per cent, amid predictions that it will leap to 9.5 per cent or more by the second half of next year.

“The jobs situation is ugly and it is going to get uglier,” Richard Yamarone, chief economist at Argus Research in New York, said. “There's no reason to expect hiring any time in the next three to six months. We're not going to get any hiring until the Government steps in and acts. Talk doesn't work.” >>> Gary Duncan, Economics Editor | Saturday, January 10, 2009

WELT ONLINE: Experten erwarten längsten Abschwung seit 1945

Die Rezession schlägt in den USA dramatisch auf den Arbeitsmarkt durch: Allein im Dezember gingen 524.000 Jobs verloren. Die Rezession in Amerika wird nach Ansicht von Experten länger dauern als alle anderen seit 1945. Frühestens im kommenden Jahr wird sich die US-Wirtschaft wieder erholen.

Die Rezession in den USA wird Experten zufolge voraussichtlich länger dauern als alle anderen seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Zwar werde es wohl noch in diesem Jahr zu einer leichten Erholung der Wirtschaft kommen, normalere Wachstumsraten seien jedoch erst wieder für 2010 zu erwarten, erklärten die Experten des Blue-Chip-Barometers. Die Mehrheit der Befragten aus führenden Unternehmen und Forschung glaubt demnach, dass die Rezession offiziell im dritten Quartal 2009 enden wird. Die Arbeitslosigkeit wird nach Ansicht der Hälfte der Umfrageteilnehmer jedoch erst 2010 ihren Höhepunkt erreichen. >>> Reuters/dpa/ras | Samstag, 10. Januar 2009

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London Shares Fall as Bail-out Euphoria Gives Way to Slowdown Fears
THE TELEGRAPH: Shares in London fell as a two-day global rally faltered as the euphoria surrounding a £2 trillion worldwide effort to bail out banks and reinvigorate lending was replaced by growing fears over corporate profits and the possibility of a recession.

The FTSE 100 index of leading shares opened down 35 points - or around 1 per cent - at 4352 as grim reality hit stock markets following a week of rollercoaster boom and bust culminating in huge rises on Monday and Tuesday.

"After a bumper start to the week, the inevitable reversal for equity markets does seem to be underway but there's certainly no real belief so far that this will mark the end of the rally at least in the short term," said Matt Buckland, trader at CMC Markets.

Financial stock were the main risers with Lloyds TSB up 7.5pc, HBOS 3.9pc and Royal Bank of Scotland 1.1pc. Concerns of a global slowdown saw miners fall further.

Asia followed Wall Street down. Tokyo's Nikkei index, which was down 1.4 per cent before lunch follwing its record 14 per cent rise on Tuesday, perked up in the afternoon to trade up 1pc.

But Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 2 per cent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.8 per cent, New Zealand's benchmark NZX-50 index 3.9pc, and South Korea's Kospi index 2 percent.

Overnight, the Dow Jones index in New York had fallen 76.6, or 0.8 percent, to 9,311, after a record gain on Monday in advance of President George W. Bush's announcement of a $250 billion bank bail-out package. London Shares Fall as Bail-out Euphoria Gives Way to Slowdown Fears >>> By Richard Spencer in Beijing and Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo | October 15, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Era of Self-regulation Is Over, European Commission Warns: The European Commission has warned the business community that the "ideology" of self-regulation is dead and that more rules are required at both the European and global level. >>> By Richard Tyler in Brussels | October 14, 2008

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