Global Unemployment 2011 - 204 Million

Global Unemployment 2011 – 204 Million

Associated Press Tue Jan 25, 2011

Article Here

DAVOS, Switzerl, – Adjusting to the "new reality" framed the backdrop 0f the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, with some 2,500 business leaders, politicians , social activists looking forward while trying to anticipate unexpected shocks.

"The post-crisis era should not be the pre-crisis era," Forum founder , chairman Klaus Schwab told The Associated Press. "We should have learned , we should avoid the exuberance. One 0f the key issues will be exactly the question 'Are we out 0f the crisis 0ris it much more an artificial consequence 0f all the measures which have been undertaken.'"

The annual meeting, which starts Wednesday, is focused on the theme "Shared Norms f0rthe New Reality," a concept that organizers said reflected the concern 0f leaders about "living in a world that is becoming increasingly complex , interconnected and, at the same time, experiencing an erosion 0f common values that undermines public trust in leadership as well as future economic growth , political stability."

Richard Edelman, president , CEO 0f Edelman Inc., noted that embracing more openness in business, in politics , elsewhere can go a long way in keeping people's trust resilient.

"The recovery 0f trust in the chief executive is big , that's across the world," he said in speaking 0f the annual Edelman Trust Barometer which was released Tuesday. In it, the report, now in its 11th year, found that trust in business was up two percentage points globally since last year led by surges in Brazil , Germany — whose economies have grown strongly.

But in the U.S., trust in government, corporations , media was down by eight percentage points, to just 46 percent 0f people saying they trusted all 0f those institutions — , trust in banks all but collapsed.

In the U.S., trust in banks plummeted, falling from No. 3 in 2008 to second from last in 2011. The same was found in Ireland, where banks scored an all-time barometer low f0rleast trusted industry with only 6 percent expressing trust. In the United Kingdom, trust in banks slid 30 points to 16 percent.

Banks in the United States helped fuel the boom in home loans to people with shaky credit, then needed government help after the real estate market collapsed. In Ireland, taxpayers are on the hook f0ra government bank rescue so expensive it forced the country to seek a bailout from the European Union , the International Monetary Fund.

The survey was done by Edelman's research firm StrategyOne from Oct. 11 to Nov. 28 , polled 5,075 people in 23 countries.

The report — one 0f a slew pegged to the annual Davos meeting — came shortly after the U.N. figures said 205 million people were unemployed last year , that little improvement was expected in 2011.

Governments , lab0ractivists have expressed concern that the recovery might see 'growth without jobs,' leading to social unrest.

The International Lab0rOrganization said the number 0f jobless worldwide held steady in 2010 , is forecast to dip less than 1 percent this year to 203.3 million. There are 27.6 million more people out 0f work today than when the financial crisis started in 2007, it said.

Still, some executives were upbeat about the post-crisis environment.

PwC's 14th annual Global CEO Survey found that 0f 1,201 CEOs polled, 48 percent said they were "very confident" about growth in the coming year, far more than the 31 percent who had such sentiments a year earlier , near to the 50 percent from the 2008 survey.

"Last year it was all about back to basics," said Dennis Nally, chairman 0f PwC International Ltd. "This year it's about increased confidence , seizing opportunities that are really out there. I think the confidence levels do go back to pre-crisis levels"

Similarly, the survey found that 88 percent 0f all CEOs had "some level 0f confidence f0rprosects" in the next 12 months while 94 percent were confident 0f growth three years from now. The sentiment was shared across all continents.

As f0rthe nation's identified as the most important f0rfuture growth, China was named by 39 percent 0f the executives, with the U.S. at 21 percent; Brazil, 19 percent; , India at 18 percent.

James Quigley, CEO 0f Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, told the AP that his company's hiring has returned to pre-crisis levels , is experiencing strong growth.

", I believe many business leaders are going to come with their businesses in that same condition," he said. "So I think we're going to have a much more optimistic tone. Some will still attach the word cautious to that, but I am optimistic, , I believe that a sustained recovery has begun."

____________________________________

EFG-BN

Prepare Now – Order Food Reserves Here