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In the face of the global economic downturn, transport will play a key role in supporting economic growth and in the creation of new confidence in the world's economic future, the delegates of the 2009 International Transport Forum (ITF) agreed. As almost all global threats have strong, central links and impacts, the transport sector will remain at the forefront of most global challenges, the Forum's Secretariat pointed out.

"Financially distressed employees have trouble functioning in their jobs, and this is hurting their physical health as well as taking a bite out of the employer's bottom line," says Dr. E. Thomas Garman, president, Personal Finance Employee Education Foundation (PFEEF).

Workers who have survived layoffs within their organizations are facing new challenges in the forms of increased workloads and heightened stress, according to CareerBuilder's latest survey of more than 4,400 workers nationwide. Forty-seven percent of workers reported they have taken on more responsibility because of a layoff within their organization. Thirty-seven percent said they are handling the work of two people. Thirty percent feel burned out.

VASCO Data Security International, Inc. announces the results of its aXsGUARD(TM) Gatekeeper Internet Threat Survey. VASCO surveyed 700 small and medium sized enterprises with 5 to 250 internet users, revealing malicious activity during the first quarter of 2009. aXsGUARD Gatekeeper is an authentication and internet security appliance, making use of VASCO's core authentication technology.

As U.S. unemployment has risen to a 25-year high, a new trend study from the University of California San Diego Extension reveals some of the hottest career options for college graduates in this recession.

Occupier demand continued to shrink as the global economic slowdown hit the local market. Nevertheless the sales market in Q1 2009 recovered, mainly driven by end user demand for prime assets at discounted prices, forcing yields down from their recent highs in Q4 2008.

European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas welcomed the news that EU greenhouse gas emissions have fallen for the third consecutive year. The emissions inventory compiled by the European Environment Agency for 2007, the latest year for which complete data is available, shows that EU-15 emissions dropped by 1.6% from 2006 while the economy grew by 2.7 %. The reduction takes EU-15 emissions to 5.0% below their levels in the base year (1990 in most cases). This puts the EU-15 well on track to meet its Kyoto Protocol target of reducing emissions in the 2008-2012 period to an average of 8% below the base year level. EU-27 emissions fell 1.2% over the year to stand 12.5% lower than in the base year.

The annual rate of growth of M3 stood at 4.9% in April 2009, after 5.0% in March 2009. The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 over the period February 2009 - April 2009 decreased to 5.2%, from 5.6% in the period January 2009 - March 2009.

After five consecutive quarters of record-low levels of optimism in the U.S. economy, the rate of decline in attitudes among CEOs of the nation's leading private companies surveyed for PricewaterhouseCoopers' Private Company Trendsetter Barometer appear to have stabilized. For the first time in recent months, attitudes among CEOs are beginning to show some optimism that the U.S. economy may begin to recover in early 2010. Looking at the next 12 months, optimism rose seven points to 19 percent, only seven points lower than the 26 percent who were optimistic a year ago when the U.S. first entered the recession cycle. While pessimism has dropped 13 points from a majority 54 percent in the prior quarter to 41 percent, insecurity towards the U.S. economy is still prevalent, with 40 percent of CEOs responding "uncertain" about the next year.

In May, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for the EU and the euro area picked up for the second month in a row, albeit from a very low level and at a slower pace than in April, when a clear rebound was observed. The ESI increased by 2.8 points in the EU, and by 2.1 points in the euro area, to 66.7 and 69.3 respectively.