Are we Heading for a Jobless Recovery ?

Macro-economic trends worldwide show that the world economy is gradually turning the corner and heading away from recession towards a period of mild growth. European leaders seem to have muddled through the Eurozone crisis and saved Greece from a 'Grexit', while Spain, Italy and Portugal have tightened their collective belts and braced themselves for a period of overdue austerity.
Across the Atlantic, however, the situation looks much brighter with the Dow Jones index touching 5 year highs and corporate earnings looking positively healthy. Ford Motors has reported a record pre-tax profit of $8.3 billion in North America (and a loss of $ 1.75 billion in Europe), a radical transformation after being on the verge of bankruptcy in 2008, while companies in the IT, healthcare and engineering sectors are also doing well. Growth in China has picked up again and consequently Australia (a major supplier of raw materials to China) is on a roll, its stock market rallying by 5.33% during the last 30 days. The other BRIC countries have also stabilised and the conventional wisdom seems to be that the “green shoots” of recovery are finally visible and that there is cause for “cautious optimism”.
But where are the jobs? Despite all the positive signs pointing to a gradual economic expansion and improvement in investor confidence, not a single country has reported any significant improvement in the jobless numbers. Is this an indication of things to come? If so, it certainly does not bode well for the future, particularly for young job seekers entering the market over the next few years.

by Anil Rikhye, Consultant, Business & Trade, Geneva Business News

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