Recovery problem: job rate’s pulse is weak, statistics are misleading, and the construction sector –that in 2004 created 14% of the jobs but last year didn’t reach 3%,– looks gloomy. WASHINGTON | According to provisional statistics, the US created 200,000 jobs in December and 1.64 million around 2011, being 2011 the best since 2006 in terms of job creation. The employment forecast for 2012 is 2.1 million –unemployment rate ended the…
President José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero received an unexpected gift a day after national celebrations had offered him the chance to claim Spain's singularity. Risk agency Standard&Poor's announced in Thursday's last minutes that it had downgraded the Spanish sovereign debt qualification to AA-, from AA. S&P's analysts enumerate a few reasons for their decision: “high unemployment, tighter financial conditions, the still high level of private sector debt, and the likely economic slowdown in…
President José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero received an unexpected gift a day after national celebrations had offered him the chance to claim Spain's singularity. Risk agency Standard&Poor's announced in Thursday's last minutes that it had downgraded the Spanish sovereign debt qualification to AA-, from AA. S&P's analysts enumerate a few reasons for their decision: “high unemployment, tighter financial conditions, the still high level of private sector debt, and the likely economic slowdown in…
Link analyst note | “The unemployment rate among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) remained stable in July compared to June, at 8.2%, a level maintained for the fifth consecutive month. The OECD notes that the largest increase in that month was recorded in Luxembourg (three tenths, up to 4.6%), while the largest fall was in Mexico (five tenths, down to 5.3%). Spain, where…
Link analyst note | “The unemployment rate among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) remained stable in July compared to June, at 8.2%, a level maintained for the fifth consecutive month. The OECD notes that the largest increase in that month was recorded in Luxembourg (three tenths, up to 4.6%), while the largest fall was in Mexico (five tenths, down to 5.3%). Spain, where…
Someone even lost his temper: “If we need a bit of help with some tens of thousands of millions of euros, why not saying so? We must avoid the risk of an intervention. If a special loan could ease our internal difficulties, for instance with the financial system, let’s do it.” Finance minister Elena Salgado simply retorted to BBVA’s chairman Francisco González, whose words you just read, that such a question was…