Shoppers in Shanghai. Photo: Al Jazeera

The World Bank released its annual economic report this week, predicting that the global economy will grow by 2.7 percent in 2010.

Despite the optimistic outlook, today the U.S. Dept. of Labor announced an increase in unemployment filings. General Motors said that it will cut 8,300 more jobs across Europe in its Opel subsidiary.

Also, new figures suggest that China is growing much faster than expected. China is poised to overtake Japan as the world’s second largest economy.

But many economists are worried about asset bubbles in China — and about the effects of stimulus packages wearing off.

What is your sense of the economy and where it’s headed at the beginning of this new year?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below. Please be respectful and on-point. Malicious or offensive comments will be deleted, and repeat offenders will be banned.

The highest unemployment rate is in Latvia — 22.3 percent — followed by Spain at 19.4 percent.

Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain are among the world’s top 10 economies.

Roben Farzad, a senior writer for Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek, joins Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss the implications of the gloomy economic news.

Steve Chao reports for Al Jazeera English.

Roben Farzad, a senior writer for BusinessWeek, joins Martin Savidge to discuss where the economy stands and how different world regions are handling unemployment.

A Liberian boy tackles a coconut.

As the second half of 2009 begins, global stock markets have rebounded. But this may mask much of the pain still being felt around the world, as unemployment remains a huge problem.

Japan’s 5.2 percent unemployment rate is one of its highest since the end of World War II, while in Spain, unemployment has surged past 18 percent. But these figures pale in comparison to those in Liberia, where the vast majority of people — up to 85 percent — are unemployed.

Worldfocus contributing blogger Myles Estey is in Monrovia, Liberia, and describes how people get by without formal employment.

Gettin’ By

As the United States and Canada start to freak out that their unemployment rates approach the double digits, officially, Liberia’s unemployment rate remains, on paper, as 85 percent. Almost, but not quite, making it an inverse relationship.

The CIA Factbook uses this 85 percent stat, and I think everyone else cites it and throws it around like its an iron-clad stat. Its not.

While Liberia certainly lacks locations for official, regulated employment, that only 15 percent of the population works is an absurd assumption, and one that would be practically unattainable. While severe poverty is rampant, Liberians are not starving to death. Reason being, that as in any society where basic infrastructure has been destroyed, people find a way to get by.

They fill in the gaps of people’s needs, finding small ways to deliver goods and services to the population at large. ‘Git my hustle on,’ as many say.

In this hustle, profit margins are wafer thin. Full days of work often produce just a few dollars, which in turn often gets spread out to family and friends in need.

During my eight months of living here, and poking around at all levels of society, I still remain fascinated by the micro-economy. So, I have been collecting info about how many people manage to ‘get their daily bread’ - another ism. [I will] feature some of the professions that interest me the most. [...]

Profession: Coconut Seller

Location: Roaming

How it works: Coconuts come to Monrovia packed into trucks and cars from villages all around the country. The outer husks have been hacked off with machetes, to reduce size and weight. Sellers are generally old women, who carry up to 25 or 30 on their head (which is psycho heavy), or young men who can carry up to 80 in wheelbarrows.

Every seller carries a machete, allowing them to split the coconuts for anyone who stops them as they walk through the streets. They wait patiently as buyers drink, split the coconut to access the meat, take the empty shell, and move on.

Cash: Street sellers buy them wholesale for around $10 LD ($0.14 US), or ‘2 for 15′ [$LD] at spots around the city. Coconuts generally retail for $20 LD. Meaning that to make a dollar, 7 coconuts must be sold - roughly 15 pounds of weight.

Variables and Dangers: Insanely sore neck, machete wounds.

Net Profit: For female sellers, they rarely earn $ 5 US /load. Some will take more than one load per day, but it is rare, as they often have families to tend to, and business can be slow.

Wheelbarrow men can earn over $10 US/day, but this kind of profit demands a 10 hour day.

Point of Reference: used T-shirt sold on the street costs $ 1 - 3 US

To read more job profiles, follow Myles Estey’s blog.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user usnico under a Creative Commons license.

Oksana Zagrebnyeva’s house in Lipetsk.

Russia has suffered massively from the economic crisis, going from 8 percent growth in 2008 to a 6.5 percent contraction this year. Unemployment has soard to 10.2 percent, a nine-year high. 

Oksana Zagrebnyeva of OpenDemocracy Russia shares her personal account of life in an industrial Russian town hard-hit by the economic slowdown.

Letters from Russia: Lipetsk

I moved to Lipetsk about a year ago.  It’s roughly 500 km south-west of Moscow.  [...]Today Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) carries on the 18th century Petrine tradition of the ironworks. The owner is Vladimir Lisin, one of the five richest men in Russia.  They are the main employer in the city:  they occupy a vast area of land and employ about 35,000 people.  On top of that many of their components are made to order in small and medium-sized Lipetsk factories, so that accounts for several thousands more jobs. 

Lipetsk and its region have felt the influence of the economic crisis more strongly than other cities and regions, because it’s a single-industry city and everything depends on NLMK.  They are short of orders, so their employees have felt the pinch too - many of them are not working a full day any more, some are working a short week and others have been retired or made redundant.  My friend’s mother worked has had her work cut back, so she’s earning less.  Her father worked in a factory which depended on orders from NLMK.  When the crisis started he was paid 4,000 ($130) instead of the usual 10,000 roubles ($324).  No explanation.  There are 4 people in that family, 3 are working.  By the New Year their total monthly income had dropped to  30,000 roubles ($971.5), half what it was before the crisis.  Many, though not all, have lost 30 - 50% of their income.

My husband worked at the Lipetsk Meat Processing Plant, where he was head of sales.  The enterprise ran on credit, as most of them do, and had no working capital of its own.  When the banks cut the credit line the directors started streamlining their expenditure by sacking people and cutting wages.  My husband was offered the possibility of working for 15,000 ($485.75) instead of 30,000 - or find another job.  His last working day there was 31 December.  What a way to start the new year!

[...]My husband and I live with his father in a block of flats built as temporary accommodation in the ’50s for workers at the Lipetsk Tractor Plant.

There are 8 flats in the block, which has been condemned - the pipes are in a terrible state, the roof is leaking and there are problems with the electricity. Lipetsk has dozens of buildings like ours: the people living in them are waiting their turn on the regional resettlement programme list. I don’t believe in miracles such as being resettled at someone else’s expense, so I decided to do some repairs to our hovel. It’s said that there’s nothing more permanent than the temporary and, as my mortgage dreams melted away in the crisis and I don’t want to take a flat and pay some unknown landlord rent, we going to put to rights what we’ve got.

On the whole I often think that we live in defiance.  In defiance of the crisis, the falling salaries and growing prices, in defiance of the fact that we can’t plan our budget.  And in defiance of everything I got married during the crisis - no pomp and ceremony, no banquet, just him and me.  During the crisis several of my friends have had babies and others (and I’ll let you in on a secret - me too) are planning to have them.  Some friends are intending to buy a house in the suburbs, others want a car and without any favourable credit facilities from the state.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Worldfocus correspondent Martin Seemungal reports from the town of Vila Real in eastern Spain, where many people make their living making tiles. Suddenly, no one wants or needs what they make.

The pain is being felt well beyond the United States.

In Asia, in China, the urban unemployment rate officially stands at 4.2 percent. However, the Chinese Academy of Social Scientists says it is closer to 9.4 percent. In China, rural unemployment is not measured because of the difficulty of doing so.

Also in Asia, in Japan, unemployment hit 4.4 percent by the end of 2008, rising at its fastest rate in 42 years. Growing lines at food banks have been one result.

In India, unemployment officially stands at 8.2 percent. However, that number is thought to largely reflect unemployment in the organized sector of the economy, which comprises just 10 percent of the country’s workforce.

In Africa, in South Africa, economists expressed “surprise” as the unemployment rate fell to 21.9 percent at the end of last year, down from 23.2 percent several months earlier.

In Europe, unemployment in Germany stands at 8.5 percent, and in Britain, it is 6.1 percent, the highest in ten years.

In Latin America, Mexico’s unemployment rate is 4.3 percent. However, anyone in Mexico who is 14 years or older and who has worked one hour a week is considered “employed.”

Telis Demos, a reporter with Fortune magazine, joins Martin Savidge to discuss global unemployment, the German auto industry, China’s role in the global economy and when the downward spiral might end. 

More than half of all Silicon Valley startup companies had one or more highly-skilled immigrants as key founders, according to a Duke University study.

As unemployment continues to spike in the U.S., highly-skilled immigrants are more vulnerable to lose their jobs and their visas.

The U.S. issues up to 65,000 H-1B work visas each year for highly-skilled professionals. Foreign-born architects, engineers, computer programmers, accountants, doctors and other skilled workers are eligible to come to America under these visa provisions.

Each year, approximately 20,000 more H-1B visas are reserved for those with master’s or doctoral degrees from the U.S.

Holders of this visa can stay for a maximum of six years and apply for a Green Card and permanent residence if sponsored by their company. But applicants often wait in line for years, and up to 500,000 H-1B visa holders are waiting for a green card.

Rajeet Mohan is an Indian living in the U.S. on an H-1B visa. He shares his frustrating immigration experience and offers some solutions to retain and leverage highly-skilled immigrants in the U.S.

“Slumdog” Immigrant

I saw the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” the weekend after my Green Card application had been denied.

So many threads from the main character Jamal’s childhood connect to the moment he’s sitting in the hot seat of “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” competing for 20 million rupees. The movie made me think of how U.S. immigration policies seem to have played such a big role in shaping my destiny in this country and how I have no control over the results. This is my story of patience and frustration for the elusive “greener pastures” in my life.

A lot has been written and debated about the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S., however, little is published on highly-skilled immigrants.

Who is a highly skilled immigrant? For the purpose of my story, it represents an individual (like me) who has earned a master’s degree or higher from an American university, and holds a job for which an American citizen wasn’t available.

The life cycle of the legal immigrant is well defined: An F-1 student visa, followed by an H-1B (valid for six years) and — if the Goddess Fortuna blesses him/her — the prized Green Card (U.S. permanent resident card).

I came to the U.S. from India on Jan. 3, 1998 with $1,000 in Traveler’s checks and $500 in cash — just enough to buy a return ticket if there was an urgent situation back home. Little did I realize that on that day I had stepped into the “slumdog” immigrant life cycle — a legal process of immigration that is so painful and uncertain that if I were ever to advise potential immigrants willing to take this path, I would oppose the decision with the same level of intensity that Lou Dobbs so effectively uses to make his case against illegal immigrants.

I completed my master’s degree and went on to work for some of the finest American companies as an employee and a consultant. My Green Card application was filed in October 2002. After six years in line, I have never seen the Green Card and I’m not sure if I ever will get to see one.

The reason: I changed jobs three years ago. Though the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act has made job changes for immigrants easier after a specified period of time, my case falls into what was a loophole in the system. In 2006, it was technically legal for my former employer to “transfer” my status (without my knowledge) to another immigrant professional when I left my job. This practice was addressed and made illegal by Homeland Security in 2007.

How I found out: I logged on to my computer this past Thanksgiving to check my application status, as I often do, and it abruptly said “canceled.” I was not notified three years ago when I switched jobs or even now. Modern technology today allows us to track every packet via FedEx or UPS, so why do immigration applications, which are so crucial to the U.S. government and the applicant, get lost in a service center “black hole”?

Defenders of USCIS say that there is a process to appeal such decisions, which I’m in the process of doing. The problem is that there is no definite time line for the appeals process to be resolved and usually the legal immigrant has to finally use his $1,500 to go back to his home country.

I have listed several problems here, but the consultant in me wants to offer some solutions so that highly-skilled immigrants who find themselves in this predicament have more options than to simply quit their jobs, unwind their assets and return to their home countries.

I’m a firm believer of free market principles and having a good understanding of supply and demand (something I still remember from business school), I propose the following solutions to the legal immigrants’ problem of being in the dark during the Green Card process.

1. Decouple the link between the employer and the applicant after a specific stage in the Green Card process. In other words, take the middle-man employer or sponsor out of the process and make the contract between the immigrant and the government. I’m confident that this action will unleash the full potential of highly-skilled immigrant populations and America has all to gain from it — especially in today’s tough economic environment.

2. In return for action mentioned in the first solution and the assurance of the Green Card, immigrants with master’s degrees or higher, should donate their time and expertise. For two hours a week for one year, these highly-skilled immigrants should teach/tutor kids of U.S. citizens. I am proud of the strong foundation of the Indian schooling system, especially when it comes to math and science. Both Alan Greenspan and Thomas Friedman have highlighted the huge gap in math and science education for American kids. Their analysis predicts detrimental long-term impact. Their writings enunciate how this knowledge gap could lead America to potentially lose its innovative spirit.

Leveraging the skills of these immigrants could herald a new dimension to the grassroots movement that seems to be taking shape and ultimately restore America to the greatness for which we all left our homeland. The recent changes in the American political landscape have given me “hope.” President Barack Obama’s call for grassroots movement made me think of what immigrants could do for their adopted country.

So, back to me as the “slumdog immigrant.” I’m in the “hot seat” situation as I wait for my rejected Green Card application to be reconsidered. The motion I will be filing has no expected resolution date and since my current work visa (my current backup) is valid only until June 15, 2009, my hopes now rest on the astronomical alignment of my fate. If my application doesn’t get reconsidered by June 15, I must quit my job, sell my house, unwind my assets and return to India.

I don’t doubt that I can find work in India, and certainly, my family is there. But my wife, 2-year-old son and I have made a life and home in the U.S. and want to stay.

In the game show, the contestant has one opportunity to use a “lifeline” to choose A, B, C or D. In my case, the only “lifeline” I have is to dial 1-800-375-5283 — USCIS Customer Service.

- Rajeet Mohan

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user ario_j under a Creative Commons license.

Wal-Mart may expand its presence in Russia.

Europe has been hard-hit in the world financial crisis, and unemployment is rising.

But Russia may see more growth than other European countries in the coming months, and some retail giants are looking to Moscow — including Wal-Mart, which plans to expand its overseas presence.

Blogger “Sean” is a graduate student studying history at the University of California, Los Angeles. He writes at “Sean’s Russia Blog” about what Wal-Mart’s presence might mean for Russian jobs.

Russian Unemployment Rising, Fast

Russian unemployment is growing fast, especially in Moscow. Mikhail Nagaitsev, the chairman of the Moscow Federation of Labor Unions, reported on Ekho Moskvy that during the holiday period the number of people registering for unemployment doubled.

Now there are about 290,000 unemployed in Moscow compared to 56,500 a year ago.

Some statisticians are saying that unemployment is perhaps higher that the official 6.6 percent.  According to a survey conduced by FOM, only one percent of Russians register as unemployed when the lose their job making the overall figure probably closer to 7.5 percent.  If correct, that would put the number of unemployed in Russia at 6 million out of 76 million people of working age.  Experts believe that social unrest tends to occur when unemployed surpasses the 10 percent mark.  With officials admitting that joblessness in Russia might increase by 2.1 to 2.2 million people in 2009, that 10 percent mark is inching closer and closer. Couple this with another FOM survey which finds that every fifth Russian not only expects an increase in labor strikes, but are also willing to participate in them and the situation is looking more ominous.

Unemployed, disgruntled Russians might not need to worry too much longer. Walmart has made some serious steps for entering the Russian market.  It’s cheap goods, enormous stores, and abundant service jobs will certain ally the frustrations of any downtrodden public.  But as anyone from small town America knows that box store on the hill is a temple of false gods.  Walmart is cancer to small businesses, acid to the idyllic downtown Main Street, and a snake oil cure for disparity.  Walmart may have branded itself as that blue vested, smiley faced cornucopia of consumerism, but its real face is a low wage and viciously anti-union substitute for the loss of well paid jobs.  I urge Russians to beware.

But Walmart’s penetration into the Russian sales and labor market is still a while off.  In the meantime something is needed to get a grip on any future public disorder.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user racineur under a Creative Commons license.

Up to 27,000 Woolworths employees could soon lose their jobs.

Even as the number of jobless people in the United Kingdom grew to over 1 million, retail sales in the country unexpectedly rose for the first time in three months. 

The retail bump, a monthly sales increase of 0.3 percent, has been attributed to higher demand at food and discount stores. 

Stores like Woolworths have begun offering substantial discounts. Woolworths —  an English chain that has operated since 1909 — plans to close its doors by Jan. 5 if a buyer is not found, leaving 27,000 people out of work. 

In November, unemployment (now at 6 percent) rose at the fastest rate in 17 years.

Blogger “Huw” in Lancashire says her local Woolworths looks miserable, calling it “sickening” and worrying for the future of the commercial sector. 

The “Suz Blog” writes about going to a closing sale at a “Woolies” in London, describing the store as half empty.

The “Life on My Planet” blog writes that high street stores will become ghosts. 

Blogger “Debbie” in Yorkshire writes about losing her job. 

The “British Politics” blog paints a dim picture of the British economy’s future. 

World Bank President Robert Zoellick stated Thursday that worldwide unemployment will likely rise and economies likely worsen for at least the first half of 2009.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user suburbanslice  under a Creative Commons license.

Virgin Media plans to cut 15 percent of its workforce by 2012 — 2,200 jobs.

In October, U.K. unemployment rose at the fastest rate in 16 years — with the number of people receiving jobless benefits rising from 36,500 to 980,900. About 1.82 million British people are now out of work, and earlier this week, businesses cut another 5,000 jobs.

On Tuesday, Britain and the EU called for coordinated global efforts to stem an impending recession.

Blogger “Nicolae Sfetcu” outlines how the financial crisis has impacted several different European countries.

On a British conservative blog, users respond to a post about the unemployment rate. User “Torymory” writes about losing his/her job and blames the government for the “mess,” while user “Tony Makara” bemoans the British economy’s dependence on the world.

From Iceland, blogger “Simmi” writes about his personal experience in the recession, speaking of growing resentment in the country. Iceland was hard-hit after three major banks collapsed within one week in October.

The crisis may have far-reaching effects, from financial institutions to more minute aspects of daily life. “Finding Dulcinea” writes that French culinary tastes may shift in response to the financial upheaval.

Ireland faces a recession for the first time in 25 years. The “Notes on the Front” blog looks at the future of recession, unemployment and economic policy in the country.

Blogger “Dirk Ehnts” criticizes European response to the financial crisis, calling for massive and coordinated action and saying that policy thus far has been driven by “dogma instead of pragmatism.”

An article in the Los Angeles Times compares the economies of Italy and Spain, which have faced a lower level of financial panic than the rest of Europe.

For more on global unemployment, read our previous Blogwatch: Unemployment claims reach historic highs.

Photo courtesy of wallyg under a Creative Commons license.

Workers sit on the steps of a hotel in Qinghai, China.

As the U.S. deals with the fallout of the financial crisis, unemployment claims have reached historic highs. But citizens around the world are increasingly finding themselves out of a job. The global financial crisis could increase world unemployment by an estimated 20 million people.

Liberia has one of the world’s highest unemployment rates at about 85 percent. The country is still recovering from the effects of a civil war that ravaged the country for decades. Blogger “Micahel Donkor” writes about the despair of Liberians and refugees who have returned to the country only to find themselves jobless.

Spain has Europe’s highest unemployment rate at 11.3 percent. The “Megaspora” blog promotes a radical change to the country’s unemployment benefits system.

The UK unemployment rate is now skyrocketing at the fastest rate in over a decade, and currently sits at about 5.7 percent. The “Pbleepd” blog writes about the lack of prospects for new graduates.

Italy’s unemployment is expected to rise over the next year. An article in The Christian Science Monitor compares the Spanish and Italian tactics against illegal immigration — a point of contention when it comes to the status of job markets in both countries.

Though unemployment in Sweden has been declining since 2004, the recent economic downturn has sent the rate rising. The “Reflections on Sweden” blog writes about hardship in the Swedish job market.

Iraq’s violence may have dropped, but its unemployment rate continues to soar. As PBS’s “Wide Angle” reported earlier this year, options are limited for even the most skilled of Iraqi workers, and the country’s middle class is dwindling.

Qatar has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Middle East. A blogger at “Qatar Living” praises the country’s management amid economic gloom.

About 2.5 million people in India are unemployed. Recently, workers of India’s Jet Airways protested the firing of 1,100 employees. As Reuters’ India blog describes, the protests struck a chord with the struggling middles class in India. India’s central bank is expected to strike next week.

Today, Chinese workers are protesting the closure of three large toy factories — which put about 6,500 people out of work. Fresh graduates from China’s schools also face daunting prospects. A blogger in nearby Singapore writes about an influx of American and British banking professionals into the Asian market.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Kees & Sarah under a Creative Commons license.