Ranks of the unemployed are swelling
Fazle Rashid | Sunday, 6 July 2008
There were no good tidings on the economic front to greet the Americans on the Independence day. The economy is becoming gloomier by the day. The other crucial player in the global economy, the European Union (EU), did not have a different story tell.
Though administrations in the US or the EU will still not acknowledge that their economies are in recession all indications point to an irreversible downturn in economies. In the United States, the most robust economy in the world, roughly 438,000 workers have been hooted out of their employment in the past six months or so.
Two presidential candidates Barak Obama of the Democratic Party and John McCain of the Republican Party have demanded extra government measures to pull the country out of the economic slump. The employment rate is shrinking by 6.0 per cent in US, a sure sign of alarm. Such fall in the employment rate was last experienced in 90s.
The cut in employment rate signals the coming of recession. More US companies like coffee giant Starbucks and American Airlines will soon announce redundancies in their companies. The US federal government has injected more than $107 billion to the affected people over the past three months. Barak Obama called for energy rebates, extension of unemployment benefits beyond the present limit of 26 weeks and help states hard hit by the downturn. John McCain called for enactment of 'a job first economic plan.' Four per cent inflation has eaten up the 2.8 per cent pay hike. Some retailers like Lord and Taylor are offering a discount upto 50 per cent to boost sales. Retailers have denied that there is any such intention behind the discount. Experts however say consumer behaviour indicate the stores have an incentive to pretend that nothing is amiss.
On other side of the Atlantic, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised its interest rates to 4.25 per cent to slay the dragon called inflation. Bitter economy is hurting countless retailers'. Flagging economy and soaring gas prices are behind the present economic woes. So desperate is the situation in US that an investment banker with a degree from MIT is distributing his resume to passers-by in fashionable commercial area, the Park Avenue in New York seeking job.
Worldwide banks and securities firms have cut more than 80,000 jobs. The MIT graduate and an investment bankers have drawn immediate attention from the media.
The MIT is receiving sympathetic e-mail messages from other unemployed people like him. If policymakers around the globe seem remarkably relaxed about higher inflation, that is because it reflects a jump in the cost of oil and food rather than a broad acceleration in prices, the Economist wrote.
The alarm bell has started to ring and urgent SOS messages are being sent to G-8 leaders by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Food Programme.
Though administrations in the US or the EU will still not acknowledge that their economies are in recession all indications point to an irreversible downturn in economies. In the United States, the most robust economy in the world, roughly 438,000 workers have been hooted out of their employment in the past six months or so.
Two presidential candidates Barak Obama of the Democratic Party and John McCain of the Republican Party have demanded extra government measures to pull the country out of the economic slump. The employment rate is shrinking by 6.0 per cent in US, a sure sign of alarm. Such fall in the employment rate was last experienced in 90s.
The cut in employment rate signals the coming of recession. More US companies like coffee giant Starbucks and American Airlines will soon announce redundancies in their companies. The US federal government has injected more than $107 billion to the affected people over the past three months. Barak Obama called for energy rebates, extension of unemployment benefits beyond the present limit of 26 weeks and help states hard hit by the downturn. John McCain called for enactment of 'a job first economic plan.' Four per cent inflation has eaten up the 2.8 per cent pay hike. Some retailers like Lord and Taylor are offering a discount upto 50 per cent to boost sales. Retailers have denied that there is any such intention behind the discount. Experts however say consumer behaviour indicate the stores have an incentive to pretend that nothing is amiss.
On other side of the Atlantic, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised its interest rates to 4.25 per cent to slay the dragon called inflation. Bitter economy is hurting countless retailers'. Flagging economy and soaring gas prices are behind the present economic woes. So desperate is the situation in US that an investment banker with a degree from MIT is distributing his resume to passers-by in fashionable commercial area, the Park Avenue in New York seeking job.
Worldwide banks and securities firms have cut more than 80,000 jobs. The MIT graduate and an investment bankers have drawn immediate attention from the media.
The MIT is receiving sympathetic e-mail messages from other unemployed people like him. If policymakers around the globe seem remarkably relaxed about higher inflation, that is because it reflects a jump in the cost of oil and food rather than a broad acceleration in prices, the Economist wrote.
The alarm bell has started to ring and urgent SOS messages are being sent to G-8 leaders by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Food Programme.