Five
million to lose jobs in tourism sector
Reduced travel due to new concerns
over SARS and the ongoing global economic downturn are likely
to cut five million jobs in the already-battered world tourism
sector this year, according to the International Labour Organisation
(ILO).
The ILO said the estimated five
million additional job losses since the start of the year come
on top of some 6.5 million jobs lost during the crisis in the
travel and tourism industry in 2001-02, bringing the total numbers
to 11,5 million jobs lost in the sector since 2001.
"The recent pressure on jobs losses
since the start of the year can be attributed to the outbreak,
of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), especially in Asia
and other regions, stated the ILO
The travel and tourism industry
represents over four per cent of the global GDP and over three
per cent of employment worldwide. Counting suppliers and other
economic activities related to travel and tourism, the value
of the sector can reach as high as 1.1 per cent of global GDP
and eight per cent of world employment.
Prior to the slump, direct employment
in industry's own enterprises amounted to close to.80 million,
while including suppliers and other related employment, brought
the total nearly to 200 million jobs worldwide.
EU
economy stagnates
The European Union economy stagnated
in the first three months of 2003, reaching zero growth for
the first time in almost two years, according to estimates from
the EU's statistics agency.
"The data is slightly disappointing
and slightly surprising," said Gerassimos Thomas, the EU's economics
spokesman. "There was expectation that GDP would grow o.1 percent
in the first quarter."
Thomas blamed the gloomy data on
the Iraq conflict, but said the war's early end should help
the European economy bounce back in the second half of 2OO3
and meet the EU's forecast of 1 percent growth over the year.
US
growth revised upward
The US economy plodded ahead at
a 1.9 percent growth -rate in the first quarter of 2003,
The Commerce Department said recently
revising upward its preliminary 1.6 percent growth estimate.
The tepid pace in the January-March
period for gross domestic product (GDP) reflected only a marginal
improvement from the 1.4 percent rate of the fourth quarter
of 2003. The slightly faster pace of growth in the first quarter
was roughly in line with the consensus forecast of WalI Street
economists.
Independent economist Joel Naroff
said the first-quarter figures were affected by the run-up to
the war in Iraq, but illustrate that this did not cause the
economy to collapse as some had predicted. "Even during the
quarter that we expected households to be the most conservative,
We still got some modest growth," Naroff said.
"Now that we're past those uncertainties,
we should expect growth to improve from that level. "We never
got a double-dip (recession), the economy held up.. This doesn't
tell us where we're going from here, but we have a base from
which to grow,"
Consumers remained the key force
in keeping the economy growing, with business investment faltering,
the report showed. Consumer spending rose at a revised 2.0 percent
rate in the first quarter, up from the initial estimate of a
1.4 percent gain.
In addition to a higher estimate
of consumer spending, there was also an increase in the estimate
of US exports, but a downward revision to equipment and software
and an upward revision to imports.
Germany's
core business strong
Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest,
has reported a 219 million euro (US$243 million) net loss for
the first quarter as a money-losing insurance company weighed
on its balance sheet. The bank said its core business was strong.
Deutsche Bank, the only one of
Germany's big four banks that made money last year, said the
results for the first three months of the year included a 1.2
billion Euro (US$1.33 billion) fall in the value of its investment
holdings. The bank made a 597 million Euro profit in last year's
first, quarter.
Australian
economic growth on track
The Australian economy picked up
pace in the March quarter, shrugging off drought, SARS and a
'gloomy' international climate with a performance that would
see it achieve full-year growth targets, treasurer Peter Costello
said recently.
At the same time, Costello warned
the economy's resilience was set to be tested in the final months
of the 2002 financial year to June, particularly as the full
impact, of SARS on tourism was felt.
National accounts figures showed
gross domestic product increased by 0.7 per cent in the March
quarter, more than double the 0.3 per cent rate achieved in
the December quarter.
The figures put Australia's annual
growth rate at 2.9 per cent, a shade below the government's
fiscal 2002-03 target of three per cent but strong enough for
the central Reserve bank to leave interest rates on hold for
a year.
"Against the background of a very
weak global economy and the most extensive drought recorded
in Australia's history, this is a very solid result," Costello
said.
IMF
asks Russia to push reforms
The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) called on Russia recently to reinvigorate its reforms
in order to underpin economic growth.
The IMF's annual report on Russia
said it expects gross domestic product to grow by 4.0 percent
in 2003, down from an estimated 4.3 percent in 2002.
Price rises were also seen slowing,
with the annual consumer price index seen up 12.0 percent in
2003, compared with 15.1 percent in 2002 and 18.6 percent in
2001.
The IMF attributed the decline,
in growth the "the recent slowdown in the pace of structural
reforms," which it blamed on elections and "strengthening opposition
from vested interests."
Although it commended the authorities
for Russia's macroeconomic performance, it warned that structural
reforms "will need to be reinvigorated and will be essential
for sustained, broad-based economic growth that is less dependent
on the energy sector," it said.
