... And Things Just Keep On Getting Better, Eh?

Oh yeah - absolutely. Read'em and weep, folks:

World growth 'worst for 60 years'

World economic growth is set to fall to just 0.5% this year, its lowest rate since World War II, warns the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In October, the IMF had predicted world output would increase by 2.2% in 2009.

It now projects the UK, which recently entered recession, will see its economy shrink by 2.8% next year, the worst contraction among advanced nations.

The IMF says financial markets remain under stress and the global economy has taken a "sharp turn for the worse".

In another gloomy view of the UK economy, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said Britain would be saddled with government debt for more than 20 years.

IFS director Robert Chote warned that spending would have to be cut or taxes raised by more than planned to allow public finances to recover.

The predictions came as Pascal Lamy, the director general of the World Trade Organization, urged countries not to react to the global economic crisis by resorting to protectionism.

Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Lamy said such a move would be "a big mistake".

'Virtual halt'

According to the IMF, the outcome of the economic slowdown has been to send global output and trade plummeting.

"We now expect the global economy to come to a virtual halt," said IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard in a statement.

The IMF says that despite a number of policy moves, which have been carried out by many states, financial strains remain.

International co-operation is needed now to draw up new policy initiatives, and for capital injections to support "viable financial institutions".

Meanwhile, it predicts that the eurozone economy is poised to shrink by 2.0% in 2009 and the US economy by 1.6%.

Banking crisis

The report comes on the same day the International Labour Organization said that as many as 51 million jobs worldwide could be lost this year because of the global economic crisis.

It had been hoped that growth in developing nations would continue at a steady pace and help offset the recession in developed nations such as the US and UK.

The BBC's Greg Wood: "The recession will also last longer than expected"

But the seemingly endless crisis in the banking system has put paid to that notion.

Countries such as China are now struggling with a collapse in demand from their primary export markets.

Meanwhile, developed economies such as Japan, Spain, the US and UK are in recession, with new job losses being announced on a daily basis.

'Uncertainty'

The IMF says that growth in emerging and developing economies is expected to slow sharply, from 6.25% in 2008 to 3.25% in 2009.

It cites the main reasons for the drop as being falling export demand, lower commodity prices and much tighter external financing constraints.

(Keep reading ...)

Global job losses 'could hit 51m'

As many as 51 million jobs worldwide could be lost this year because of the global economic crisis, says the International Labour Organization(ILO).

The UN agency says that would push up the world's unemployment rate to 7.1% by the end of 2009, compared with 6.0% in 2008 and 5.7% in 2007.

The ILO's most optimistic forecast is for 18 million more unemployed, giving a global jobless rate of 6.1%.

It says developing countries will suffer most from additional job losses.

"If the recession deepens in 2009, as many forecasters expect, the global jobs crisis will worsen sharply," the ILO said.

The International Monetary Fund is expected later on Wednesday to cut its forecast for world economic growth and predict a deeper than expected recession in the developed nations.

Action needed

Despite painting both its best and worst jobs scenarios, the ILO said realistically 30 million more people could lose their jobs, pushing the global unemployment rate to 6.5%.

This week US construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar has taken steps to cut about 20,000 jobs, Home Depot is shedding 7,000 jobs, and other firms such as ING and Philips are also axing posts.

"We are now facing a global jobs crisis," said ILO director-general, Juan Somavia in the ILO's Global Employment Trends 2009 report.

"Many governments are aware and acting, but more decisive and coordinated international action is needed to avert a global social recession.

"Progress in poverty reduction is unravelling and middle classes worldwide are weakening."

He called on the upcoming meeting of the G20 in early April in London to urgently agree on priority measures to promote productive investments and "decent" work and social protection objectives.

'Working poor'

According to ILO estimates, North Africa and the Middle East had the highest unemployment rates at the end of 2008, of 10.3% and 9.4%.

Central and south-east Europe, as well as the former Soviet Union countries, ended last year with a jobless rate of 8.8%.

(Keep reading ...)

Looks like a very dark and violent storm is brewing over the planet, folks ...