Menu

With more workers vying for summer jobs this year, those looking for seasonal employment need to prepare for a challenging job market. Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of employers plan to hire seasonal workers for the summer, in line with last year's findings, but the competition for those jobs will be stiffer than in years past due to high unemployment and a tough economy. This is according to CareerBuilder's Annual Summer Job Forecast that was conducted from February 20 to March 11, 2009, among more than 2,500 employers.

The Monster Employment Index France increased six points in April as demand for healthcare and other government workers continued rising. Demand in hospitality and tourism also increased as leisure related businesses prepare for the upcoming summer season. Compared to the European Index, which experienced an annual decline of 33 percent, demand in the French online job market is holding up relatively well, as offerings only saw a decline of 27 percent compared to year-earlier figures.

Governments and software companies are making progress in slowing the illegal use of personal computer (PC) software products, but progress has stalled in the United States, posing serious challenges to the high tech sector and cyber security.

NYSE Euronext announced trading volumes for its global cash equities and derivatives exchanges for April 2009. For the month of April 2009, NYSE Euronext’s handled U.S. and matched European cash trading volumes increased 38.3% and 15.5%, respectively, and U.S. options volume increased 73.6%. European derivatives volumes increased to their highest levels since September 2008, driven in part by record Bclear OTC equity products trading activity.

The average daily value traded on the equity order books of London Stock Exchange Group during April increased 16 per cent on the average for the first quarter of 2009 to £7.5 billion (€8.4 billion), though this was down by 34 per cent on April last year. Driven in particular by increased trading activity in the Italian market, the average daily number of trades across the Group was 1,053 494, up by 14 per cent on April 2008, and up 12 per cent compared with the average for the previous three months. The total value traded during the month was £150.2 billion (€168.2 billion), and the total number of trades was 21.1 million.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for Spain declined 0.1 percent. The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index™ (CEI) decreased 0.9 percent in March.

The Monster Employment Index UK increased by two percent in April. This was the second monthly rise in three months, suggesting that UK job demand may be starting to stabilise. Year-on-year, however, the Index was down 67 points, or 37 percent.

Total investment in fixed assets of the country stood at 3,708.2 billion yuan from January to April, a year-on-year rise of 30.5 percent. Of which, state-owned and state-holding enterprises invested 1,605.5 billion yuan, surging 39.3 percent; real estate development valued at 729.0 billion yuan, went up 4.9 percent.

The unemployment rate for the OECD area was 7.6% in March 2009, 0.3 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.0 percentage points higher than a year earlier.