Worldwide
unemployment hits new high: report
Five
years after the global financial crisis hit, unemployment numbers
continue to soar, with a record 202 million people worldwide expected
to be officially jobless this year, the International Labour
Organization said Tuesday.
21
January, 2013
Last
year saw a clear resurgence of the crisis, the UN’s labour body
said in its annual report on global employment trends, pointing out
that jobless numbers rose by four million to 197 million in 2012.
“This
figure means that today there are 28 million more unemployed people
around the world than they were in 2007,” before the crisis, ILO
chief Guy Ryder told reporters in Geneva Monday.
Last
year’s unemployment number inched up towards the all-time record of
199 million reached at the epicentre of the crisis in 2009, but “we
will beat that record in 2013″, an ILO expert told AFP.
In
fact, another 5.1 million people are expected to join the jobless
ranks this year, bringing the total number to more than 202 million.
That
number is expected to rise by another three million in 2014 and
should hit 210.6 million by 2017, ILO said, adding that the global
unemployment rate was expected to stay steady at 6.0 percent until
then.
“The
trends are very much (going) in the wrong direction,” Ryder said,
lamenting a “noticable worsening of the unemployment situation
around the world”.
The
impact of the economic crises on the global labour market had in many
cases been worsened by incoherence between monetary and fiscal
policies and “a piecemeal approach” to the problems, especially
in the eurozone, the report said.
“Weakened
by faltering aggregate demand, the labour market has been further hit
by fiscal austerity programmes in a number of countries, which often
involved direct cutbacks in employment and wages,” it said.
At
the same time, “labour force participation has fallen dramatically
… masking the true extent of the jobs crisis,” ILO said, pointing
out that 39 million people dropped out of the labour market
altogether last year as job prospects became increasingly gloomy.
Young
people have been especially hard-hit by the expanding jobless trend,
the UN agency said, pointing out that there are currently some 73.8
million youths, aged 15 to 24, without work worldwide.
“And
the slowdown in economic activity is likely to push another half
million into unemployment by 2014,” the report cautioned.
Last
year, the global youth unemployment rate stood at 12.6 percent, and
it was expected to rise to 12.9 percent by 2017, according to ILO.
“The
crisis has dramatically diminished the labour market prospects for
young people, as many experience long-term unemployment right from
the start of their labour market entry,” the UN agency said, adding
that it had never seen anything similar during previous downturns.
Today,
around 35 percent of all young people on the dole in advanced
economies have been out of work for six months or longer, up from
just 28.5 percent in 2007, the report showed.
20,000 Layoffs in Spanish Banks, 40% Pay Cuts, Pension Contributions Halted; Spanish Bank Unions Announce Strike; Protests Snowball; When's the Breaking Point?
21
January, 2013
Spanish
banks have already shed 30,000 jobs in its banking crisis. Another
20,000 cuts are due in 2013, along with pay cuts and reduced pension
contribution. In response Spain's
Banking Unions Announce Strikes.
Workers at three of Spain's bailed-out banks will stage strikes in coming weeks as they fight mass layoffs, unions said on Monday, spreading industrial unrest to a sector where walkouts have so far been rare.
While the banks, crippled by a property bubble that burst five years ago, have hogged headlines, employees have so far mostly kept a low profile even as protests become a way of life elsewhere in Spain.
But about 20,000 layoffs planned for 2013, almost 10 percent of the total, could reduce the workforce to levels last seen in 1975, data from the unions showed.
Alarmed at the scale of cuts, employees from across the industry will demonstrate on January 23, while workers from Bankia, Banco de Valencia and NovaGalicia Banco will strike on February 6 and hold partial strikes before then.
Protests are snowballing and becoming more visible, as bankers take to the street and join judges, doctors, bus drivers and garbage workers as strikes become almost a daily occurrence across recession-bound Spain.
As well as losing their jobs, workers at the likes of Bankia are being asked to take 40 to 50 percent pay cuts and many will see pension contributions halted for several years.
Many of Bankia's more than 20,000 employees also bought shares in its listing in June 2011 and face seeing their savings practically wiped out.
The deadline for negotiations between unions and Bankia is Feb 9.
Spain's banks have shed over 30,000 jobs since the start of the global financial crisis in 2007, data from the Comisiones Obreras union showed. With about 20,000 more set to be axed in 2013, the banking workforce could drop to 218,500 by year end.
When's
the Breaking Point?
With 26% unemployment and rising, as well as corruption and fraud at the highest levels in government, I keep wondering when the breaking point will hit Spain.
All I can suggest is some time in 2013.
Other
stories -
"The
U.K.’s financial industry will lose 43,000 jobs in six months,
according to a forecast from the Confederation of
British Industry, as companies shrink and reduce costs."
Downsize,
downsize, downsize; cut, cut, cut. -- RF
"Steadily
dropping water levels in the Great Lakes threaten to leave the
Canadian economy high and dry as shipping routes evaporate and
water dependent industries shut down, costing billions of
dollars, according to one expert."
Region
struggles with shadow economy (Southeast
Europe)
"A
World Bank report released last year notes that the shadow economy
of eastern European states ranges from 17 percent to 33
percent of GDP."
If
you need a lesson on how to cut your own throat, this is it.
Singapore is one of the last places I want to be when the excrement
hits the fan. -- RF
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