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Even cops losing their jobs in recession

Anita Gricar, a longtime resident of Versailles, Pa., talks about the loss of the local police department while standing outside the municipal building on Wednesday, June 24, 2009. Her small town, population 1,700, disbanded its three-member police force

CHICAGO (AP) — As hundreds of jobs in Chicago's police department go unfilled, officers who once patrolled the streets with partners are riding alone in what some cops bitterly call "rolling coffins."
In a Pennsylvania town that disbanded its three-member police force, Anita Gricar worries that officers from the neighboring town won't come fast enough if she calls for help. She also misses the comfort that came from having officers who knew everyone and everything about Versailles, Pa., population 1,700.
"They knew your house, they knew when your tomatoes are red," Gricar said.
This is what the nation's economic crisis looks like in law enforcement. As tax revenue shrivels, police agencies that for years were bulletproof when it came to funding are tightening their belts. Some worry that criminals will take advantage of the situation.
"There are consequences for every cut that is made. With the recession, people out of work, criminal offenses are going to go up ... immediately," said Steve Dye, an assistant police chief in Garland, Texas, and an International Association of Chiefs of Police official.
Exactly how many officers are losing their jobs and how many positions are going unfilled are unclear. But one after another, departments are telling the International Association of Chiefs of Police that officers are being laid off or taking furloughs, positions are being left vacant, and police forces are closing or consolidating.
"I've been in law enforcement for 25 years and if you would have talked about laying off policemen, people would not have believed you," Dye said.
The cuts come as police departments are being asked to take on more responsibilities, such as investigating domestic terrorism, said John Firman, director of research for the police chiefs association.
There is some help on the way, in the form of federal stimulus money, but the need may far outstrip the aid. For example, the $1 billion that the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services received to hire officers nationwide is less than one-eighth of the money agencies requested, said Fred Wilson, director of operations at the National Sheriffs' Association.
In the Southern California community of El Monte, dominated by huge car dealerships, the police department laid off 17 of its 148 officers as three of the dealerships went under and sales at the others plummeted, reducing the town's tax revenue.
In Chicago, with a police force of about 13,000, the number of vacancies has climbed to more than 400 since January 2008 because the department is not hiring to keep up with the number of officers who leave. The city could be down 800 officers by the end of the year, said Mark Donahue, president of the police union.
The danger of one-person squad cars was seen last summer in Chicago when Officer Richard Francis, riding alone, responded to a disturbance involving a mentally ill woman. During a struggle, the woman allegedly grabbed Francis' gun and killed the 27-year veteran.
"On calls like the one he was responding to at the time, they are being put at risk in one-man cars," Donahue said.
Also, more cops are being attacked on the streets, and police say that is because they can no longer flood the scene with officers when they respond to a call. The number of incidents of battery against a police officer in Chicago rose from 2,677 to 3,158 between 2007 and 2008, according to department statistics.
In Broward County, Fla., Sheriff Al Lamberti worries that attacks by inmates on deputies and each other will increase because he must lay off 68 of his 1,500 jail deputies. In addition, 100 civilians are being laid off at the county's jails, which house about 5,000 people.
In addition, he has eliminated jail programs that, among other things, help inmates overcome addiction and stop beating their kids.
"We are at the point where we are literally out of options," Lamberti said. "I never thought in a million years this would happen."
In El Monte, layoffs forced the department to shut down programs such as one in which officers served as mentors to young people likely to get into trouble.
"Now we're going to be responding when a kid slaps his mom instead of having him in a program where they can teach him to respect his parents," said Lt. Charles Carlson.
In Kansas City, Mo., only 45 police officer jobs have gone unfilled, but there is a very real possibility that the 31 cadets scheduled to graduate in August will be laid off before they can even start work.
"And we may not be able to have another academy class until 2011," said Maj. David Zimmerman.

MySpace's UK jobs at risk as website axes two-thirds of international jobs

MySpace is seeing a sharp drop off in users as rivals Facebook and Twitter continue to grow.

MySpace, the beleaguered social networking site, is to cut two-thirds of its international staff, putting dozens of British jobs at risk.

The News Corporation-owned website will close offices in at least four countries and reduce its international employees from 450 to 150. The UK is the company's biggest base out side of the US.
It comes just a week after the website cut 420 jobs from what Owen Van Natta, the MySpace chief executive, described as its 'bloated' US operation.
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Mr Van Natta said: "MySpace's staffing had become too big and cumbersome to be sustainable in current market conditions. Today's proposed changes are designed to transform and refine our international growth strategy."
"With roughly half of MySpace's total user base coming from outside the US maintaining productive and efficient operations in our international markets is important to users worldwide and our immediate financial strength," he added.
MySpace has put its offices in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden and Spain "under review for possible restructure".
Its offices in London, Berlin and Sydney will become "primary regional hubs".
Travis Katz, MySpace's international managing director, is understood to be leaving as part of the reorganisation.
The social networking site, bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation for $580m (£354m) in 2005, suffered a 18pc fall in unique users over the year to April 2009 as its members switched to Facebook and Twitter.
MySpace's monthly unique users fell from 8.5m in April 2008 to 7m in April this year. Over the same period Facebook grew by over 63pc to 23.5m unique users. Twitter grew at over 4,000pc to 2.5m.

UAE government prepares to create more jobs

It is not anticipated that unemployment rates will increase among the UAE workforce, the majority of whom are expatriates, says Saqr Gobash Saeed Gobash, Minister of Labour.

Dubai: The UAE government is working to prepare the job market for the post global financial crisis period by drafting plans to develop value-added economic sectors and develop small- and medium-sized enterprises to create more jobs, said the Minister of Labour at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) summit on the global employment crisis.
Saqr Gobash Saeed Gobash told the gathering at the ILO summit in Geneva on the global employment crisis that "despite the difficulties, we see this crisis as an opportunity to reconsider the priorities of national economies, including our own national economy. We should move ahead with developing value-added economic sectors in accordance with our federal government's strategy.
"We should also focus on developing small and medium-sized enterprises to create job opportunities for our citizens and to attract skilled foreign labour."
To execute such plans requires closer cooperation between the UAE and its partners, including the GCC and Arab countries and the Asian labour source countries and to make good use of the expertise of the relevant international organisations, according to Gobash.
"I am looking forward with particular interest to the issuing of the final report of the committee formed by this summit to enable us to identify new areas for cooperation between the UAE and the ILO," said Gobash.
The global financial crisis has had a direct impact on the economy and labour market in the UAE but its effect has been limited on the UAE job market, according to Gobash.
Gobash said the unemployment rate in the UAE workforce, where the majority are expatriates, will not increase in the context of the global financial crisis.
Upon the emergence of the early signs of the crisis, the UAE Federal Cabinet took important proactive and preventive measures which have mitigated the impact of the crisis.
Thus the government pumped sufficient liquidity into the banking sector, ultimately amounting to $33 billion (Dh121.19 billion), and guaranteed all deposits in national and foreign banks operating in the country up to the end of 2013, Gobash said.
"It is not anticipated that unemployment rates will increase among the UAE workforce, the majority of whom are expatriates.
"What is anticipated is a slowdown in the rate of arriving workers, coupled with a slight increase in the number of those who leave the country on completion of the projects for which they were brought.
"It is also expected that access by UAE citizens to the job market in the private sector will be faced with some challenges, given the fact that dwindling growth rates will limit the creation of lucrative job opportunities in this sector," said Gobash.
More than 660,000 labour cards were issued between October 2008 and March 2009 and only 405,000 cards were cancelled, indicating an average monthly growth of 43,000 in the UAE labour force, according to the ministry's statistics.
However, there are no available statistics for the period after March.

Job losses 'set to keep rising'

Job losses 'set to keep rising'

Unemployment will continue increasing until the end of next year, long after the economy has started to recover from the recession, a new report has predicted.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said that although some economists are saying that the end of the recession may be in sight, unemployment will carry on rising for many months even after the UK economy has begun to pick up.
Using official figures and comparing the current recession to the economic downturn of the early 1990s, the TUC predicted that the number of people losing their jobs will carry on increasing until at least the autumn of next year.
The gloomy forecast came ahead of new figures which are expected to show another big increase in the jobless total. The number of unemployed people increased by 244,000 over the three months to March to reach 2.22 million, the biggest quarterly rise since 1981.The claimant count was 1.51 million in April, up 57,100 over the previous month and up 710,700 over the year to reach the highest since August 1997.
Officials at the TUC said there had always been a delay between the economy starting to grow and unemployment beginning to fall, as cautious employers make use of capacity among existing staff before recruiting new employees.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Some now say that we have a recovery, but even if this is not a false dawn, as others fear, it will be years before the thousands of people who have lost their jobs, or who will lose them in months to come, will see anything to celebrate.
"That's why tackling unemployment must remain the Government's number one priority. Speeding up the process of getting people back into work and into jobs with decent pay will not only benefit the two million people currently out of work, but will also give the economy the spending boost it needs."
A protest by Youth Fight for Jobs will take place outside Lord Mandelson's Business Department to coincide with the release of the new unemployment figues. Youth employment is already more than 16% among under-25s and is expected to rise.

French President Calls for Regulation of Globalization

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for more regulation of the global economy at the International Labor Organization's annual session in Geneva, 15 June 2009

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is calling for improved regulation of financial markets and globalization to get the world out of its economic slump. Mr. Sarkozy is one of nine heads of state and government participating in a three-day Global Jobs Crisis Summit organized by the International Labor Organization in Geneva.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for more regulation of the global economy at the International Labor Organization's annual session in Geneva, 15 June 2009French President Nicolas Sarkozy warns the world will not easily emerge from the worst global economic crisis since World War II if it does not learn the lessons of history and change its way of doing business. He says governments cannot wait for economic, financial, social and ecological issues to become a major global political crisis before taking action. He says the financial and globalization systems are unworkable and in need of better regulation.The French President says we need standard rules which apply to everyone. He says it is not a question of harmonizing all employment legislation or of imposing the social norms of rich countries on poor countries. He says it is a matter of creating a system of rules, which will pull everyone up instead of pulling everybody down.President Sarkozy says globalization will not survive what he calls the law of the jungle. He says there cannot be freedom and liberty without rules. And he warns of political and social unrest if the economic system is not just. He dismisses critics who do not want to change and claim that it is a pipe dream to believe a socially just system is achievable.On the contrary, he says it is irresponsible to believe that the financial crisis is just a temporary glitch in the system and that everything will go back to the way it was before.The French president says it is a pipe dream to think that a financial system based on the speculation, unsustainable high yields and dumping which have harmed globalization can continue indefinitely.He denounces the golden parachutes and outrageous bonuses given to captains of industry who got the world in the financial mess it is in.President Sarkozy calls for the US president to take the lead in helping the world recover. He says America must be the most ambitious of all countries, because that is what America does well.He notes multi-lateralism, regulation and globalization are ideas that stem from U.S. Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He encourages governments to embrace change by quoting Roosevelt, who during the Great Depression said the "only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Tourism jobs gone 'without reforms'

AUSTRALIA'S tourism industry is at risk of losing thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in income unless it undergoes fundamental reforms, a new report says.
The government-sponsored Jackson Report produced by the Long Term Tourism Strategy Steering Committee makes 10 recommendations to enhance research, online capability, skills and investment.
Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson welcomed the report chaired by former Qantas chairwoman Margaret Jackson, saying the government and the industry need to focus on improving productive capacity and international competitiveness.
"The tourism industry's contribution to the Australian economy is immense, with the sector generating more than $40 billion in gross domestic product and directly employing around half a million people," Mr Ferguson said.
The sector also generates more than $23 billion in exports.
Still, Australia's share of global tourism dropped 14 per cent between 1995 and 2008, and as a proportion of GDP has been in decline since peaking in 2001.
"Even more worrying, despite a long economic boom, Australia's domestic tourism performance has flatlined over the past ten years, while outbound travel has soared," Ms Jackson said.
"A generation of young Australians is growing up without a tradition of an annual local holiday.
However, she said Australia still had a strong international brand and was regarded as an aspirational destination.
"In our consultations we heard a universal view that Australia needs to focus more clearly on developing our tourism industry products based on our competitive advantages - our indigenous culture, landscapes, sophisticated cities and regions, and diverse and friendly people."
She said a vital step is to boost tourism industry research to enable quality decisions across policy, planning and investment.
The Steering Committee also believes a concentrated effort is required to accelerate online capacity of the tourism industry for marketing and booking.
Global key performance indicators and targets need to be set up for the industry, and develop plans based on Australia's competitive advantages and priority destinations.
"More effort is required to develop the long-term skill base and labour pool the industry needs," Ms Jackson said.
"Governments at all levels and the tourism industry will need to collaborate more closely to ensure tourism considerations are factored into the wide range of planning, investment and development processes."
She said the tourism industry's importance to Australia was widely under-estimated as it brought enormous benefits in terms of jobs creation and support for small businesses.
"If Australia does not make the necessary changes between now and 2030, we risk forgoing 3.6 million international visitors, $22 billion of tourism's contribution to GDP, and as many as 100,000 tourism jobs," she said.
"This cannot be allowed to happen."
Minister Ferguson said the Jackson report was a valuable contribution to the ongoing development of the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy, which will be finalised later this year.

Recession 'forcing girls into work'

According to the International Labour Organisation, more than 100 million girls are working

The global economic crisis could force more girls out of education and into child labour, experts have warned as World Day Against Child Labour is marked globally.
More than 100 million girls are involved in child labour worldwide, according to a report released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Friday.
"When families have to choose between educating a boy or a girl, the girl often loses out," said Guy Thijs, the deputy regional director for the ILO office in the Asia-Pacific. "Many are expected to give priority to household chores or economic activities over education and skills training."
The report, Give Girls a Chance: Tackling Child Labour, notes that progress has been made in reducing child labour globally, but also that the economic crisis will test commitment to further improvements.
Dangerous work
Many girls involved in child labour undertake similar types of work as boys, but often endure additional hardships and face extra risks. A major sector of employment for young girls is domestic work in households.
In video
Indian children tell of forced labour
In Bangladesh, an estimated two million domestic workers are employed in the cities of Dhaka and Chittagong alone.
According to rights groups in the country, the girls often begin working when they are eight-years old and can be subjected to violence and sexual abuse.The Bangladeshi Labour Institute says there are approximately eight million children who have full or part-time jobs.
However, in a country where at least 40 per cent of the population lives in poverty, child labour is often regarded by many as a necessity.The ILO has called for a "policy response" to address the causes of child labour, such as high poverty rates in developing countries."Investing in girls' education is particularly important," Thijs said."Putting girls into schools is one of the best investments any country can make."

Germany casts doubt over Magna takeover of Vauxhall and Opel

German economy minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, seen here in Berlin with chinmey sweepers raising money for cancer sufferers, said there companies other than Magna were interested in Opel.

Germany said it was still talking to potential investors for Opel and Vauxhall on Thursday, casting doubts over a bid from Magna, the Canadian car parts group.

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the German economy minister, said at a joint news conference in Berlin with Lord Mandelson, the British Business Secretary: "We are still in contact with other investors. BAIC [the Chinese car maker] for example ... and others that I will not speak about here."
He said he believed Fiat, the Italian carmaker which this week completed its takeover of Chrysler, still had its eye on Opel.

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Germany only has a preliminary agreement with Magna about a takeover General Motors' European unit.
Lord Mandelson said Britain was prepared to offer financial support for the plan to rescue Opel, which includes UK unit Vauxhall, although he did not give any details.
"We have to be satisfied not only with the viability of the company going forward, we also have to be satisfied ... that what is finally agreed offers value for money to the British taxpayer," he said.
Vauxhall employs 5,000 workers at plants in Luton, north of London, and Ellesmere Port in northwest England.
British unions have accused their government of allowing the fate of GM's European business to be decided in Germany and of not doing enough to protect nearly British jobs.
Magna wants to cut 11,600 jobs, German daily Die Welt reported on Thursday, citing Magna's preliminary business plan for Opel. A German official had previously said around 10,000 jobs could go.
Another media report on Thursday said Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp (BAIC) is also interested in buying Ford's Swedish carmaker Volvo.
A team of BAIC executives is likely to visit Volvo's Gothenburg, Sweden headquarters as early as Thursday to meet with its executives and tour its research and development and manufacturing facilities, the Wall Street Journal said, citing three people familiar with the situation.

SPIN METER: Meet the new stimulus, same as the old

President Barack Obama meets with his Cabinet, Monday, June 8, 2009, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. From left are, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Recovery Act Chairman Earl Devaney, Vice President Joe Biden, the president, Attorney General Eric Holder and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is promising some exciting coming attractions for his stimulus plan. But it turns out they're just summer reruns.
Obama promised Monday to ramp up spending from the $787 billion stimulus fund and create or save 600,000 jobs by the end of the summer. It was an effort to shift the focus away from persistently rising unemployment and beat back criticism that the money isn't flowing quickly enough.
Those promises aren't new.
Stimulus spending had always been expected to rise sharply this summer, and the White House has been predicting that 600,000 job total for about a month.
Obama faces souring public opinion over his handling of the economy, which has shed 1.6 million jobs since the stimulus was signed in February. That total has far overshadowed White House announcements estimating the effort has saved 150,000 jobs, a figure that is so murky it can never be verified.
Monday's announcement sought to reposition Obama in the driver's seat of America's recovery. It portrayed the president as revving up the engine of the stimulus, but it was something federal agencies were already planning to do anyway.
Obama spoke about "modest progress" in the economy, citing fewer jobs lost last month than expected. He said he hopes to build on that in the months ahead with stimulus programs.
"We've done more than ever, faster than ever, more responsibly than ever, to get the gears of the economy moving again," he said.
But he acknowledged: "I'm not satisfied. We've got more work to do."
And for the first time, the administration admitted the economic forecasts it used to sell the stimulus were overly optimistic.
"At the time, our forecast seemed reasonable," said Vice President Joe Biden's top economic adviser, Jared Bernstein, explaining that the White House underestimated the scope of the recession. "Now, looking back, it was clearly too optimistic."
By this point, according to earlier White House economic models, the nation's unemployment rate should be on the decline. The forecasts White House advisers used to drum up support for the plan projected today's unemployment rate would be about 8 percent. Instead, it sits at 9.4 percent, the highest in more than 25 years.
By any measure, spending $44 billion in four months - and with unprecedented transparency - is an uncharacteristic feat in Washington. But the expectations have been even higher, and restoring the economy has proven tougher than the administration expected.
Several economists said Monday the economy is unlikely to see any boost from the stimulus before next year.
"It takes time to organize projects, to get the bids in, the funds out and the work started," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.
Obama's disapproval rating on the economy has risen from 30 percent in February to 42 percent, according to a Gallup poll completed May 31. Sensing weakness on a signature issue of Obama's presidency, congressional Republicans are renewing their criticisms that the stimulus plan has not shown results, only mounting debt.
"This is President Obama's economy, and his administration must provide results and specifics rather than vague descriptions of success that seem to change by the week," said House Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia. "The administration looks dramatically out of touch as they highlight the creation of temporary summer employment in the face of job losses unseen in decades, record unemployment and massive deficits."
Obama shot back at skeptics during Monday's Cabinet meeting.
"Now, I know that there's some who, despite all evidence to the contrary, still don't believe in the necessity and promise of this recovery act," he said.
"And I would suggest to them that they talk to the companies who, because of this plan, scrapped the idea of laying off employees and, in fact, decided to hire employees. Tell that to the Americans who received that unexpected call saying, 'Come back to work.'"

ILO Says Criminals Make Billions From Forced Labor

Roger Plant, of ILO, Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor, answers journalists' questions in Geneva, Switzerland, 12 May 2009

The International Labor Organization says criminals are making $20 billion a year from forced labor and that figure is substantially higher when profits from sexual exploitation are factored in. A new report launched by the ILO in Geneva finds the impact of the global economic and jobs crisis is worsening the forced labor problem. New data from the International Labor Organization finds criminals now are making five times more in profits from forced labor than they did four years ago. At that time, the ILO reported they were making huge profits of $32 billion a year. That included $28 billion from sexual exploitation.

Roger Plant, heads the ILO's Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor, tells VOA illicit profits from forced labor are likely to be much more now."In 2005, we looked at $4 billion of profits outside the sex industry. We are now saying, we have a loss to the workers of $20 billion outside the sex industry. So, we are likely to be dealing with a much more serious problem, "he said.That would add up to $52 billion, if the profits of sexual exploitation were the same.The ILO calls forced labor a global problem. It says this form of modern slavery operates in multinational companies in industrialized countries, not just in the informal sector of developing countries. The U.N. agency reports more than 12 million people around the world are trapped in all forms of forced labor. Between 40 and 50 percent are children under the age of 18. Plant says child labor is a particularly serious problem in West African countries. He adds the whole issue of forced labor has not received enough attention in Africa."For us, forced labor is a serious crime," added Plant. "It has to be dealt with through adequate penalties and it has to be strictly enforced. Sometimes in Africa, we found that there is a strong focus on slavery. But, sometimes quite low and weak penalties for a slaver. We also have got countries in West Africa where there has been a legacy of slavery and slavery-like conditions. These are quite serious problems that need to be strictly addressed." The report finds people are forced to work very long hours under bad conditions for no pay or very little pay in a wide range of industries. It says forced labor is appearing in electronics, automobiles and modern textiles, as well as in brick kilns, small fishing boats and backward agriculture in developing countries.In times of economic and financial crisis, it says migrants, including young women and children are more exposed to forced labor. Under conditions of hardship, the study notes vulnerable people will take more risks than before.

Trade, housing data more stable, but still weak

Graphic charts the monthly changes in U.S. trade deficit from 2002 to present

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite weak performances in three areas — trade, home sales and job openings — the U.S. economy appears closer to stabilizing, though at low levels, economists said.
The Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened to $27.6 billion in March, from February's revised $26.1 billion gap, which had been the smallest since November 1999.
Through the first three months of this year, the trade deficit ran at an annual rate of $359.7 billion, far below last year's $681.1 billion. Economists expect the deficit will remain low this year as the U.S. recession crimps demand for foreign goods.
The global downturn also has cut into sales of U.S. exports. That could limit any improvement in the trade gap, which reflects the higher value of America's imports compared with its exports.
The export slump has been a blow to U.S. manufacturing giants like 3M Co. and Honeywell International Inc. that derive a large part of their sales from foreign markets.
For March, exports of goods and services fell 2.4 percent to $123.6 billion. That was the lowest level since August 2006. Sales of farm products dropped $2.4 billion, while exports of capital goods slid $1.7 billion, led by big declines in sales of civilian aircraft, telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, and domestic autos and auto parts.
U.S. imports also fell despite imports of oil rising 6.2 percent to $17.2 billion, the highest level since January. But analysts said the minor drops pointed to a leveling-off point, rather than future declines.
"The composition of exports suggest that the global economy is beginning to stabilize," Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, wrote in a research note. "The steepest export declines are behind us. But given the weak state of overseas economies, we do not expect the U.S. recovery to be export-led."
The March trade deficit also was smaller than the one the government assumed when it released its first estimate showing the overall economy fell at an annual rate of 6.1 percent in the January-March quarter. That means the next estimate for the first quarter likely will be revised to show a drop of around 5.7 percent, Gault said.
3M, maker of Scotch tape, Post-It Notes and automotive parts, saw sales plummet in the first quarter partly due to lower overseas demand. A bellwether of the U.S. economy, the Maplewood, Minn.-based company has operations in more than 60 countries, and generated about two-thirds of its revenue outside the U.S. last year.
Deutsche Bank analyst David Begleiter says there are clear signs of improvement for 3M, especially with demand in China expected to pick up due to Beijing's stimulus package. Still, China reported Tuesday that its global export sales fell 22.6 percent in April, fresh evidence that pain in the country's trade sector persists due to slumping global demand.
"Some companies have entrenched themselves into local economies and this increased focus helps them weather the storm better than companies that use a standardized approach for all foreign countries," said Frost and Sullivan analyst Dilip Sarangan. He cited Morristown, N.J.-based Honeywell for performing well in countries like India and China in recent years.
But Honeywell, which makes aircraft equipment, specialty chemicals and building control systems, has warned that the deepening global recession will make 2009 a tough year.
The politically sensitive trade deficit with China rose 10 percent to $15.6 billion in March. But for the first three months of this year, the deficit with China is running 10 percent below last year's pace, according to the Commerce Department.
China for more than a decade has had the largest trade surplus with the U.S. The gap has triggered repeated calls in Congress for a crackdown on what critics see as unfair trade practices in China that also have resulted in the loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs.
With the U.S. recession expected to last until the second half of this year and the downturn in many other nations expected to drag into 2010, economists don't expect a significant rebound in trade anytime soon.
Meanwhile, home prices in the U.S. also continue to fall, though that has prompted sales gains in a handful of states. The National Association of Realtors said median sales prices of existing homes declined in 134 out of 152 metropolitan areas compared with the same period a year ago. Nationwide, sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties made up about half of the market.
The median sales price nationwide was $169,900, down 13.8 percent from a year ago. The median price is the midpoint, which means half the homes sold for more and half for less.
"I think we're near a bottom, but we're not there yet," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities. While prices could hit bottom as soon as this summer, he said, they are likely to remain stable and start edging higher slowly.
But the nascent signs of recovery in the housing market could be short-lived if employers lay off more workers in bulk.
There were 2.7 million jobs available nationwide in March, down from 3 million in February and 4 million a year ago, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That's also the fewest in the eight years the department has tracked job openings.
Other recent reports indicate that while layoffs may be slowing compared with the waves announced earlier this year, hiring hasn't picked up much since the department gathered the job openings data in March.
The department on Friday reported 539,000 net job losses in April. While still elevated, it was the lowest level in six months and below the 700,000 monthly average during the first quarter of this year.
Many economists say the unemployment rate, which hit 8.9 percent in April, will climb to around 10 percent even if the recession ends and a recovery begins sometime this fall.

Stress Test Countdown: Bank Results Due Today

The government is scheduled to release the much-anticipated results of its bank stress tests today.(ABC News Photo Illustration)

Geithner: Test Results Will 'Lift the Fog of Uncertainty' Over Financial System

The government will release the results of its stress tests for the nation's 19 biggest banks this afternoon, an attempt to answer the burning questions on the minds of policy-makers, investors and taxpayers alike: How healthy are the country's leading financial institutions, and will they need more cash to survive should the economy get worse?

The government has already invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the nation's financial system.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News an earlier Wall Street Journal report that at least seven banks have been directed by the Federal Reserve to increase capital by $65 billion.
In the meantime, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., MetLife Inc., American Express Co., Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Capital One Financial Corp., will not have to raise extra cash. That decision essentially gives them a clean bill of health from the government. It's the first time the government has drawn a clear line between the healthy banks and those struggling.
The largest capital infusion goes to Bank of America: $34 billion. Wells Fargo needs to raise $13 billion to $15 billion, GMAC, $11.5 billion, Citigroup $5 billion and Morgan Stanley $1.5 billion.
Banks will have until Nov. 9 to raise the capital that regulators have determined, through the stress tests, will be needed if the recession becomes more severe.
To raise the funds, banks will have to seek out private sources of capital or accept the government's offer to convert already existing preferred stakes in the banks -- which the government acquired through the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program -- to common equity.

Converting these existing investments would help provide needed capital without requiring additional taxpayer funds. But it also means that if a bank were to collapse, taxpayers would be less likely to see their investment repaid.
The idea that banks would need more money at all has raised the ire of many already-seething taxpayers.
"It's just unbelievable the amount of money that they've already got," said Trecia Harris, a bank customer in Houston. "It's like there's no end to this."
ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos said on Good Morning America today said the administration's stress test shows that the banks are "not completely out of the woods, but they believe the government isn't going to have to go back to the taxpayers to bail out the banks."

"That clears the decks for a lot of other big items on President Obama's agenda," Stephanopoulos added.
While consumer outrage has been obvious, the health of the banks themselves has been harder to judge. Everyone knows that the ongoing recession has taken a toll on the country's biggest banks, but up until now no one has known just how dramatically they have been affected.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that the stress tests will be "an important next step forward" in understanding where the banks stand.
"What these results will do is they will bring in a level of transparency to bank balance sheets that will allow investors to judge, make it easier for them to raise capital, improve confidence that this system is going to be strong enough to get through this, and that will be enormously helpful," Geithner told PBS's Charlie Rose in an interview Wednesday evening. "…(I)t will help lift this fog of uncertainty over the financial system, and I think the results will be, on balance, reassuring."
The International Monetary Fund has estimated that there will be $2.7 trillion in losses on U.S. loans and securities, with the brunt of these losses being felt by the biggest banks. An industry source told ABC News that "roughly half" of the 19 banks have been told by regulators to raise more capital as a result of the tests.

New jobs for train manufacturing

Hitachi said the plants could generate up to 500 jobs

Up to 500 jobs could be created in Yorkshire if an international company decides to build a new high-speed train manufacturing plant in the region.
Sites in Sheffield and Leeds are among five locations shortlisted for the new plant by Hitachi.
The company said the plant could create long-term job opportunities and economic growth in the chosen region.
Sheffield International Rail Terminal and Gascoigne Wood, near Leeds are two of the sites being considered.
The plant would be used to manufacture and assemble "super express trains", employing 200 people.
Hitachi said this could rise to 500 if big enough contracts were secured.
In a statement the company said: "Hitachi hopes to contribute to the development of a strong rail industry and infrastructure in the UK through the transfer of high quality Japanese manufacturing processes and skills to the UK."
Earlier in the year Hitachi secured a £7.5bn contract from the government to build the super express inter-city trains.
Once open, the company expects the manufacturing plants to be capable of producing about 30 vehicles per month.
Two of the other sites being considered are in the East Midlands, while the other is in Gateshead.
The new trains are expected to be in use by 2015.

Stand up for yourself – Stand up for each other

MAY DAY saw Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams and deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald MEP launch the party’s 10-point plan for supporting workers through the current recession.Adams and McDonald were joined by Cllr Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, who served on the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) National Executive and is currently a board member of InterTrade Ireland.Speaking at Leinster House, Mary Lou McDonald said: “Irish workers are being forced to carry the can for the economic crisis. Fianna Fáil continues to punish working families and the low-paid for their mistakes. But the current crisis offers the people an opportunity – an opportunity to reshape this state. “Fianna Fáil and the Greens have pursued a shameful tactic of divide and conquer, pitting the public sector against the private, the low-paid against social welfare recipients, in an effort to deflect attention from their own economic failure. This post-colonial style of governing by Fianna Fáil cannot continue to go unchallenged. “Ireland needs to come out of this crisis with the necessary infrastructure, skills and public services that will put us at the top of competitiveness rankings and deliver prosperity and equality for all our people. Fianna Fáil has proved itself unable and unwilling to protect the ordinary people of this state. It’s time for them to go.“Sinn Féin representatives have been meeting with chambers of commerce, employers’ groups, trade unions and communities throughout the country, putting forward our solutions to get Ireland back to work. Workers must be supported and job retention and creation promoted.“Our proposals to support workers through the recession include a €300 million jobs retention fund to subsidise workers in struggling but viable SMEs. We want to increase the school leaving age to 17 and to introduce a scheme to get early-school-leavers back into education. Take those on or below the minimum wage back out of the tax net. And we need to get construction workers back to work by proceeding with the construction of key infrastructure projects, including the construction of 125 schools a year between 2010 and 2013.“If we are to build a better future it is the skills and efforts of workers that will enable us to do so. With new leadership at the helm we can turn things around. Today, Sinn Féin is marking International May Day by launching a 10-point plan for supporting workers through the recession. My message to workers today is a straightforward one – Stand up for yourself, stand up for each other.”

Sinn Féin, helping workers through the recession – 10 key steps
1. Establish a €300 million jobs retention fund to subsidise workers in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) struggling to keep their workers.2. Bring forward proposals for a ‘GI’ type of Bill for redundant workers and those signing on where they would have fees waived and keep social welfare benefits while studying.3. Increase the school-leaving age to 17 and introduce a scheme to get early-school-leavers back into education.4. Increase the number of Community Employment schemes and places, make schemes more relevant for the needs of society and local government, and have all schemes fit into FETAC and HETAVG awards schemes so students can progress to higher-level education qualifications.5. Introduce pension reform and start putting in place the framework for a new system based on a universal state pension that would be augmented by a Social Insurance earning-related pension.6. Ensure all those who lose their jobs are able to access their entitlements as speedily as possible. To do this, transfer additional staff from within the public service to process claims for unemployment assistance.7. Deal with the predicament of construction sector workers whose social welfare entitlements were undermined as a consequence of being coerced into becoming self-employed by their employers.8. Take those on or below the minimum wage back out of the tax net.9. Get construction workers back to work by proceeding with the construction of key infrastructure projects, including the construction of 125 schools a year between 2010 and 2013.10. Banks to be compelled to allow those on high-interest fixed mortgages to move to tracker mortgages without facing penalties.

Oil hits 2009 high

US crude futures rose US$1.27 to US$54.47 (S$80.13) a barrel. --PHOTO: AFP

NEW YORK - OIL prices rose to their highest close of the year on Monday as investors bet the economic recession would end soon, paving the way for a recovery of ailing world energy demand.
US crude futures rose US$1.27 to US$54.47 (S$80.13) a barrel - the highest settlement since Nov 24. London Brent rose US$1.73 to US$54.58.
The gains were encouraged by stronger global equities markets and positive economic data in the United States, Europe and Asia that fed hopes the worst of the downturn was over.
A top official at the US Federal Reserve, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker, said on Monday that the recession was fading and that economic growth would resume later this year.
'The stock markets are up and there is the hope that we might be seeing some recovery,' said Dan Flynn, energy analyst at Alaron Trading in Chicago.
Weakness in the US dollar against the euro also supported greenback-denominated commodities markets.
Oil prices have bounced back from five-year lows just above US$30 hit this winter, boosted in part by deep Opec production cuts aimed at countering the first global decline in energy demand in a quarter century.
A Reuters survey on Friday showed Opec had delivered around 84 per cent of promised curbs of 4.2 million barrels per day since September, around its highest-ever level of output discipline.
Opec efforts to support the price have been in part offset by the impact of high inventories on land and large amounts of floating storage as traders have made use of a bearish market structure to stockpile oil. -- REUTERS

US Jobless Rate Up to 8.9 Percent, Highest in 26 Years

Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall testifies during a hearing on Capitol Hill, (File)

The U.S. Labor Department reports the unemployment rate in the United States rose last month to 8.9 percent. It was the highest rate since 1983, but the number of jobs lost was not as large as expected.

The commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Keith Hall, presented the Labor Department report to the Joint Economic Committee."This was another bad report. There was a significant deterioration in the labor market again. The job loss is large, it is widespread, it is affecting every industry sector and every demographic group," he said. Some 539,000 jobs were lost in April, bringing the total number of unemployed to 13.7 million, up from 13.2 million in March.But the number of job losses were the fewest in the past six months, tempered in part by the federal government's hiring of temporary workers to prepare for the U.S. census next year.Commissioner Hall says the slowdown in layoffs could be, as he put it, "a glimmer of hope" that the economy could be improving."That looks like a moderation, but it's only one month," he cautioned.
Congressman Eric CantorSenator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat who chaired the hearing, said the Labor Department report underscores the need for continued government assistance."It is a testament to making sure unemployment compensation is available, making sure we are looking out for people who have lost their jobs," she said.Republicans used the report to criticize the policies of the Democratic majority in Congress and the Obama administration. Congressman Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican, said in a statement that the Democrats continue to increase government intervention in the free market, taking away incentives to create jobs.

British man wins Australian island dream job

AP – In this undated hand out picture supplied by Queensland Tourism, Ben Southall, 34, right, is seen on …

SYDNEY – A bungee jumping, ostrich-riding British charity worker was named the winner Wednesday of what's been dubbed the "Best Job in the World" — a six-month contract to serve as caretaker of a tropical Australian island. Ben Southall, 34, of Petersfield, beat out nearly 35,000 applicants from around the world for the dream assignment to swim, explore and relax on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef for while writing a blog to promote the area.
He was selected for the 150,000 Australian dollar ($111,000) gig by officials from the tourism department of Queensland state.
Southall and 15 other finalists spent the past four days on the island for an extended interview process, which required applicants to snorkel through crystalline waters, gorge themselves at a beachside barbecue and relax at a spa. The finalists also had to demonstrate their blogging abilities, take swimming tests and sit through in-person interviews.
The job is part of a AU$1.7 million tourism campaign to publicize the charms of northeastern Queensland, and officials say it has already generated more than AU$110 million worth of publicity for the region. It quickly became a viral marketing hit, spreading quickly across the world via YouTube and social networking sites such as Facebook.
"I hope I can sell the reef as much as everybody is expecting," Southall said after he was crowned the winner at a ceremony on Hamilton Island. "My swimming hopefully is up to standard."
Southall once worked as a tour guide in Africa, but most recently has worked as a charity fundraiser. In his application video, he expressed a love for adventure, and featured photographs of himself riding an ostrich, running a marathon, scuba diving and kissing a giraffe.
"From the time he was announced in the Top 50, and then the Top 16, Ben has excelled in showing a true passion for Queensland," Queensland Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said in a statement. "His ideas for how he will make the role his own ... plus his initiative and ability to rise to a challenge impressed the selection panel and secured his place in the top job."
Although unquestionably a publicity smash success, the contest also attracted a fair bit of scandal since it was unveiled in January.
First, the job's Web site crashed due to a deluge of visitors, angering many hopefuls who couldn't access the site to lodge their video applications. Later, the tourism department was forced to admit it had created a popular video "application" showing a woman apparently getting a tattoo expressing her love of the Great Barrier Reef.
Then one finalist was ousted after it was revealed she had connections to the adult entertainment industry. And a prankster identifying himself as terror mastermind Osama bin Laden posted a video of himself on YouTube reciting reasons why he was the best pick for the job.
Southall will live for free in an airy, three-bedroom oceanfront villa with a private pool and sweeping views of the surrounding islands. He plans to bring his Canadian girlfriend with him to the island for the duration of the job.
Southall starts "work" on July 1.