EU says 1 in 3 European workers worried about job loss in economic downturn

October 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government is working to sign a Labour Mobility Partnership agreement with the European Union, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said here Monday. The minister, who returned from a European tour Saturday, said the landmark agreement signed with Denmark on Labour Mobility Partnership last week would "enable Danish industry and business to recruit Indians on the fast track".

September 9th, 2009 Hooker Furniture takes 1Q loss as sales slideMARTINSVILLE, Va. — Hooker Furniture said it took a loss in the fiscal second quarter as the recession cut into its sales.

August 21st, 2009 Zygo reports $47.4M fiscal 4Q lossMIDDLEFIELD, Conn. — Zygo Corp., maker of optical components and fiber optic network modules, reported Thursday that it suffered a $47.4 million fiscal 2009 fourth-quarter loss, compared with a small year-ago profit, as revenue plunged 50 percent.

June 2nd, 2009 Deere to lay off most workers at Iowa plantMOLINE, Ill. — Deere & Co.

May 12th, 2009 Bertelsmann reports Q1 loss of euro78 millionFRANKFURT — German media company Bertelsmann AG on Tuesday reported a euro78 million loss for the first quarter on the back of falling advertising revenues and consumer spending, and said it expected revenues to decline this year. The Guetersloh-based company's loss for the January-March period compared with a net profit of euro35 million in the first quarter of 2008.

May 12th, 2009 ArcelorMittal workers attack HQLUXEMBOURG — Steel workers attacked ArcelorMittal's Luxembourg headquarters Tuesday during the company's annual shareholders meeting, setting off smoke bombs and breaking through the front door to protest temporary layoffs during the economic slump. Some of the 1,000 workers from Belgium and France hurled cobblestones and steel fencing at the building, smashing windows and tearing off a steel molding from the ornate 1920s exterior.

May 12th, 2009 NEC reports $3 bln loss, but sees profit this yearTOKYO — Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. said Tuesday it fell into the red last fiscal year because of business restructuring costs and stock losses from the economic downturn.

May 4th, 2009 Euro-zone official warns of jobless crisisBRUSSELS — The euro-zone's top economy official said Monday that Europe was "heading toward a social crisis" as unemployment rates rocket to a postwar record. The European Commission predicted earlier that the jobless rate in the 16 nations that use the euro would climb to 9.9 percent this year and 11.5 percent next year — the highest since the Second World War.

May 1st, 2009 Sovereign Bank laying off 950 workersPHILADELPHIA — Sovereign Bank officials say they will cut 950 jobs, or almost 9 percent of its work force, as part of cost-saving measures in response to the economic downturn. The cuts come just a few months after Philadelphia-based Sovereign Bank, the banking unit of Sovereign Bancorp Inc., laid off 1,000 workers in December.

April 28th, 2009 Finnair posts 1Q loss of euro19 millionHELSINKI, — Finnair PLC on Tuesday reported a first-quarter net loss of euro18.6 million ($24.4 million) as turnover fell 10 percent, and warned it expects a full-year loss. The Finnish airline said sales fell to euro516 million ($677 million) in January through March, from euro573 million a year earlier.

April 22nd, 2009 China to invest $9.5B to help farmers amid slumpBEIJING — China's central government will invest 65 billion yuan ($9.5 billion) on infrastructure and services in the vast and poor countryside to help farmers cope with the economic downturn, the Cabinet on Wednesday said. The move to support the agricultural sector includes investing in pig raising and dairy farming and improving grain production, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

March 2nd, 2009 AHMEDABAD - The downturn-hit diamond workers in Gujarat should be given financial aid at par with the concessions offered to the Tata Group for its Nano car project, a breakaway faction of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Sunday. The Mahagujarat Janata Party (MJP) - formed by some rebels of the Gujarat unit of the BJP - criticised Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his alleged apathy towards the recession-hit diamond workers in the state.

February 17th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Some 3.5 million European Union (EU) citizens will lose their jobs this year due to the economic crisis, an EU report said. 'As business and consumer confidence fell sharply in December and dropped again in January, further deterioration in the labour market situation is foreseen for the months ahead,' the European Commission said Tuesday in its first monthly survey of the EU job market.

January 18th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Europe faces a deep and broad recession this year, the European Commission predicted Monday, with economic activity in the 16-strong eurozone set to shrink by 1.9 percent as a result of the world's worst economic crisis since World War II. 'The economic horizon has now significantly darkened as the European Union economy is hit by the financial crisis that deepened during the autumn and is taking a toll on business and consumer confidence,' the European Union's executive arm said in presenting its latest economic forecasts.

January 8th, 2009 CHENNAI - Complaints of ill treatment of migrant workers by Indian immigration officials and by officials of Indian embassies abroad, the lack of higher education facilities for children of Indian workers and lack of legal assistance for jailed workers abroad were some of the issues brought to the notice of Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi by the people from the Gulf region here Friday. Participating in the session to discuss the problems faced by the Indians in the Gulf region at the seventh Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention, a delegate said: 'I saw an immigration official throwing a passport on the face of two workers.