Unemployment problem rise in USA

Unemployment rates rose in 43 states last month, the government said Friday, painting a bleak picture of the job market and illustrating nationwide data released two weeks ago. The rise in joblessness was a sharp change from November, when 36 states said their unemployment rates fell. Four states — South Carolina, Delaware, Florida and North Carolina — reported record-high jobless rates in December. New Jersey's rate, meanwhile, rose to a 33-year high of 10.1 per cent while New York's reached a 26-year high of 9 per cent. Analysts said the report showed the economy is recovering at too weak a pace to generate consistent job creation. 'A lot of states that had started to add jobs (in November) gave up those gains in December,' said Sophia Koropeckyj, managing director at Moody' s Economy.com. Texas and Georgia lost more jobs in December than they had gained the previous month, she noted, while Arizona and South Carolina lost nearly as many as they had gained. That is consistent with nationwide trends. Employers shed a net total of 85,000 jobs in December, the government said earlier this month, after notching a small gain of 4,000 jobs in November. In another nationwide trend, long- suffering states like California and Michigan saw their jobless rates stabilize even as they continued to bleed jobs. That's because thousands of frustrated workers gave up hunting for work and dropped out of the labour force, which means they aren't included in the unemployment rate. California lost 38,800 jobs, the most of any state. But its unemployment rate was unchanged at 12.4 per cent, the fifth-highest in the nation. That's because 107,000 people, or 0.6 per cent of the state's work force, gave up and stopped job-hunting. Michigan shed 15,700 jobs, but 31,000 people left the labour force. That caused the state's jobless rate to fall slightly, to 14.6 per cent from 14.7 per cent. Michigan has the nation's highest unemployment rate.

Global steel output fall

Global crude steel dropped 8 per cent in 2009, in one of the worst downturns in its history, but analysts expect production to rise around 10 per cent this year as the $500 billion industry slowly recovers. The world produced 1.22 billion tonnes of crude steel in 2009, its lowest level since 1.144 billion tonnes in 2005, figures from the Brussels-based World Steel Association, whose members represent 85 per cent of steel output, showed on Friday. China strengthened its position as the world's top producer, with its production rising to a record high at 567.8 million tonnes. After last year's 13.5 per cent rise in its output, the country now accounts for 46.5 per cent of the world's total production and is set to be the engine of growth once again in 2010. 'Even at a modest growth rate of 8- 10 per cent, the impact on the global industry will be huge,' said John Lichtenstein, global leader of steel at Accenture. 'Global steel production and demand should rise by around 10 per cent in 2010 over 2009, bringing production back to the 2008 level of approximately 1.2 billion tonnes,' he said. Signs of recovery were evident in monthly figures from last year. In December, output rose by 30.2 per cent year-on-year to 106.4 million tonnes although they showed a slight fall compared with November's 117 million tonnes. Macquarie Bank expects crude steel production at 1.365 billion tonnes this year, citing a phase of restocking after a sharp destocking last year, which would boost production. The recovery of steel production and demand is set to vary greatly according to regions and the pace of growth could be faster in the developed world, which has seen falls of over 30 per cent in output last year. 'Mature economies will show a higher recovery rate in 2010, in the range of 12-15 per cent,' Accenture's Lichtenstein said. 'Because the acceleration of growth in the mature economies is from a very low consumption level, it will not be sufficient to close the

Plastic fair begin tomorrow in Dhaka

The 6th 'Dhaka International Plastic, Packaging and Printing Industrial Fair- 2010' will begin at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka tomorrow for showcasing local plastic goods, raw materials and machinery. President of Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association Ferdous Wahed made the announcement at a press conference at the association's Paltan office on Saturday. Speaking on the occasion, 'We are trying to expand the plastic industry sector gradually as the present government has given priority to the trade and commerce sector,' said Ferdous Wahed. The main objective of holding the fair is to bring a opportunity for the Bangladesh plastic industry through developing new alternative sources, he said. Leading plastic technology and manufacturing countries including China, Taiwan, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Korea, Turkey, Austria and host Bangladesh will participate in the fair with their latest plastic items including plastic sack, shopping bag, toys and various household items. Some 200 stalls will be set up in the fair.

China government will help to get employment for college student

A college diploma is still the ticket to a good job in China, even under the deepest economic slump in decades, the latest official graduate employment rate shows. "Last year, we made all efforts to help the college seniors find jobs and the employment rate reached 87 percent by the end of last year," Yin Chengji, spokesman with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said at a press conference on Friday. The data with the ministry showed that the number of college grads is more than 6.1 million last year and will reach 6.3 million this year. Helping graduates find employment in 2010 is still at the top of the government's agenda, Yin said, adding they will provide employment information and government-funded posts in communities for those unemployed grads. But the large number of graduates this year is posing a great challenge to the authorities in how to help them get employed, he added. Last year alone, in order to increase the graduate employment rate, about half a million government-funded positions were provided to grads, Chen Jianhui, deputy- director of the Chinese Talents Society told China Daily on Friday. "With the efforts taken by the authorities, getting a job for a college grad is not that difficult. For the rest of the unemployed, some of them have impractical expectations for their first jobs," Chen said. Wang Boqing, manager of MyCOS HR Digital Information Co Ltd, said the rate is reasonable, and that many students landed work in the last half of the year. As a senior student majoring in information engineering at Communication University of China, Ai Zeng believes the employment rate among his fellow students who graduated last year could be even higher than 87 percent. "None of my classmates failed to find their bread last year," Ai said.

Malaysian government want to setup textile, electronics and furni ture industries in Bangladesh

Malaysian government is keen to relocate textile, electronics and furniture industries in Bangladesh for mutual benefit of the two Muslim nations. "A Malaysian business delegation will arrive here soon to carry forward the matter," said president of Bangladesh Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI) Syed Moazzem Hossain at a press conference here. The press conference was organized to disclose key successes of the three-day trade fair titled Showcase Bangladesh-2010 held in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 8-10. Former chamber president Salauddin Quashem, chairman of fair organizing committee MA Salam and other office bearers of the BMCCI were present on the occasion. Hossain described the showcase a successful one and said the entrepreneurs were able to project Bangladesh's potentials in Malaysia. Highlighting achievements of the fair, he said two trade related Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) on RMG products and electronic banking are among the significant achievements of the trade exposition. During the fair, he said, Malaysian minister of international trade and industry assured the delegation of Bangladesh government of eradicating trade barriers mutually. Moreover, Malaysian high commissioner in Dhaka has expressed his country's interest to invest in Bangladesh's tourism sector, said the BMCCI president. A list of 19 items of Bangladeshi products including jute goods, frozen foods and ceramics already handed over to the Malaysian government for ensuring duty free market access to Kuala Lumpur. Hossain said there are some trade barriers between Malaysia and Bangladesh and Bangladesh could raise its export to Malaysia one billion US dollar if the existing trade barriers with Kuala Lumpur are resolved Malaysia exported goods worth 694 million US dollar to Bangladesh last year while Bangladesh's export stood at only 31.28 million US dollar.

Bangladeshi RMG trade fair in India in april

Bangladesh is going to hold single country trade fairs of readymade garment (RMG) and textile products for the first time in four Indian big cities in April, which businesspeople see as an icebreaking initiative to increase bilateral trade volume. "Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad are the cities where such fairs will be organised," said Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. This trade body of Bangladesh and Indian state-run Apparel Export Promotion Council ( AEPC) agreed to organise such a big exposition, following the recent visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Delhi. Her entourage included a high profile business delegation, which had BGMEA representation. Business between the two countries among other things came up for discussion during Hasina's January 10-14 official visit to the next door neighbour. BGMEA chief further said, "In connection with organising the fairs, an AEPC team is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka in the first week of February." In another development, India agreed to augment the imports of apparels to 14 million pieces fro 8 million pieces now with a zero tariff benefit every year. Dhaka is entitled to such duty-free benefit from Delhi under a pact for free trade, or Safta (South Asian Free Trade Agreement). During AEPC team's stay in Bangladesh's capital city, it will also visit the BGMEA Institute of Fashion and Technology (BIFT). It, as per an understanding during Dhaka's business team's Delhi visit, may reach an agreement with BIFT to extend technical support in developing innovative fashion and design in Bangladesh's garment items, Murshedy said. Bangladesh will mainly showcase woven ( pants and basic shirts) sweater and knit items in the fairs. "I am hopeful that this time apparel business will pick up with India as it has $27 billion domestic clothing market with 18 percent annual growth rate. India needs to outsource garment items from its neighbouring country, " BGMEA chief said.

Bangladesh Garment Workers want minimum payout 5000 tk

Bangladesh Garment Workers Unity Council yesterday announced a 90- day programme to press a series of demands, including a raise in minimum wage to Tk 5 ,000 from the existing Tk 1 , 662.50 per month. The two other major demands by the platform of garment workers are amendments to Bangladesh labour law and reversing the move to introduce industrial police. At a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity, Towhidur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Poshak Shilpa Sramik Federation, said workers can hardly purchase enough food with the salary they get now. "So, it is our demand to increase the minimum pay to Tk 5 ,000 a month." Meanwhile, Ikteder Ahmed, chairman of Minimum Wages Board, convenes its first meeting today to review minimum pay for garment workers. "I have already informed all the members of the board to attend the meeting," he told The Daily Star. The Minimum Wages Board for garment workers was formed in 2006. Nazma Akter, a member of the board, said the prices of basic commodities almost doubled from 2006. "So, it is a must to review the minimum wages of garment workers for their survival."

Citi officials in Dhaka

Philip Brown, director (risk) for Citi Micro- finance, arrived in Dhaka yesterday on a four-day visit, says the bank in a statement. During his stay, Brown will meet the bank's major clients in Bangladesh to facilitate the microfinance risk roundtable being held for the first time in Bangladesh. Brown, a member of the Governing Council of the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (UK) and the Advisory Council of the Centre for Financial Inclusion (USA), is responsible for developing policies, programmes and risk tools to enable Citi's businesses to commercially engage in the sector. Before moving to Citi Microfinance, he was the risk director for Project Finance and Structured Trade Finance within Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Google co-founder will sale 5m share

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin each plan to sell five million shares in the Internet giant, a move that would reduce their joint holdings to below 50 percent, according to a filing Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC filing said the stock sales, which will occur over the next five years, are part of a pre-determined stock trading plan set up by Page and Brin on November 30 , 2009. It said the Google co-founders currently hold about 57.7 million shares of Google stock, which represents 18 percent of Google's outstanding shares and 59 percent of the voting power. Page and Brin each plan to sell five million shares, which would leave them with approximately 47.7 million shares or 15 percent of Google's outstanding shares and 48 percent of the voting power, the SEC filing said. Although Page and Brin would no longer hold a majority of the voting power, their remaining holdings would allow them to continue to exert control over the Internet search and advertising giant.

Maruti Suzuki profit tripled

India's leading carmaker Maruti Suzuki reported Saturday its quarterly net profit more than tripled, fuelled by cheap loans and a reviving domestic economy. Maruti, majority owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, said net profit during the fiscal third quarter soared to 6.88 billion rupees (149 million dollars) from 2.14 billion rupees a year earlier. The figure outstripped market expectations that profit for the three months to December would total about 5.8 billion rupees. The company, which sells about one in two cars in the country, said sales jumped 62.5 percent to 73.34 billion rupees. The car manufacturer attributed the profit increase partly to government stimulus measures aimed at boosting the economy that have put more money into the hands of India's increasingly affluent middle class. "Favourable conditions in the domestic market supported by the government's stimulus package and ease of automobile finance helped achieve good sales," the company said in a statement.