Eurozone joblessness stays high; How slave labour builds modern, urban India; Macy's to cut 2,500 jobs; Record sales for Rolls-Royce; Indo-US ill will goes club size

1 Eurozone joblessness stays high (David Jolly in The New York Times) Europe’s labor market remained stagnant in November, but analysts saw reason for hope elsewhere in the economy, including a surge in retail sales. The unemployment rate in the euro zone stood at 12.1 percent, a stubbornly high level that has held since April, Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency, reported.

As the sovereign debt crisis seized the region and economic malaise set in, the jobless rose from just under 10 percent in early 2011 to the current record level. The November rate was in line with economists’ expectations. For the full European Union, made up of 28 member states, the jobless rate was unchanged at 10.9 percent. Eurostat estimated that 26.6 million people across Europe were unemployed and seeking work, 19,000 more than in October.

More than five years after the implosion of Lehman Brothers in 2008 triggered a global financial collapse, Europe’s economy remains on fragile footing. Lending to businesses is contracting, and investment is weak. There were indications, though, that the labor market might be lagging the broader economy.

Among the lowest unemployment rates in Europe were Austria’s 4.8 percent and Germany’s 5.2 percent. Greece showed the highest rate, 27.4 percent, though it is several months behind in its reporting. The November unemployment rate in the United States was 7 percent, although it is measured slightly differently.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/business/international/unemployment-in-euro-zone.html?ref=business&_r=0

2 Building modern, urban Indian with slave labour (Oliver Wainwright in The Guardian) India's cities are expanding ever outwards to accommodate an expected 600 million people by 2030, when over 40% of the country's population will live in urban areas – compared to just 10% a century ago. But this miraculous metropolitan boom comes at a price. Over 150,000 brick production units in the country together employ an estimated 10 million workers, churning out the building blocks of the new offices and apartments, factories and shopping malls. India's brick industry – the second largest in the world after China – contributes around £3bn to the country's economy every year. Not that the workers see much of that.

“It's modern-day slavery,” says Andrew Brady, of Union Solidarity International (USI), a UK-based NGO that has been campaigning to improve the brick labourers' conditions over the last two years. “Entire families of men, women and children are working for a pittance, up to 16 hours a day, in terrible conditions. There are horrific abuses of minimum wage rates and health and safety regulations, and it's often bonded labour, so they can't escape.” Dr Vamsi Vakulabharanam of the University of Hyderabad says,  “They are forced to lead sub-human lives. It's a condition that the entire world should condemn, but multinationals are buying into this.”

The Blood Bricks campaign, which launches next week, is the latest chapter in USI's work to force international attention on the issue. In partnership with Indian human rights group, Prayas, they have been working to organise brick kiln workers into unions, an initiative that has already seen 70% wage rises in some areas. The campaign comes after the Observer's recent revelations of horrific labour abuses on Abu Dhabi's new pleasure island of Saadiyat, where new outposts of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums are under construction. The investigation discovered thousands of workers living in squalid conditions, passports confiscated and trapped until they paid back hefty recruitment fees.

“It's a world-wide issue,” says USI's Andrew Brady. “We're merely using India as the example, but we've seen the same abuses with projects in Qatar and Brazil for the World Cup and Olympics – iconic projects built on the back of the blood and sweat of bonded labour. It's time to put an end to this trade in blood bricks.”

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/jan/08/blood-bricks-india-urbanisation-human-rights-slave-labour

3 Macy's to cut 2,500 jobs (BBC) Retailer Macy's said it will cut 2,500 jobs and shut five stores as part of a reorganisation plan. Macy's operates 840 stores in 45 US states under the Macy's and Bloomingdale's names and has approximately 175,000 employees. The retailer also said holiday sales rose 4.3% compared to the same period last year. But it lowered its forecast for 2014 sales growth to around 2.8%.

Macy's said the job cuts and store closures will save $100m per year and it forecast a profit for this year which was well above analysts forecast. Overall, US retailers posted their lowest holiday sales growth in four years, according to ShopperTrak, a research firm. Many retailers, including Wal-Mart and Target, were forced to slash prices to lure shoppers through their doors.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25661755

4 Record sales for Rolls-Royce (BBC) Rolls-Royce reported its fourth year running of record sales with 3,630 cars delivered to customers in 2013. That is a 1.5% increase on the 3,575 cars Rolls-Royce sold in 2012. To help meet demand, the carmaker, which is owned by BMW, says it plans to hire 100 staff at its manufacturing plant in Goodwood, Sussex in 2014.

"We have reported a strong year and have maintained our position at the pinnacle of the super-luxury market," said Torsten Muller-Otvos, chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The strongest sales growth was seen in the Middle East, which recorded a rise of 17%, as well as China, where sales rose 11% last year. Rolls-Royce now employs more than 1,300 staff after hiring 100 additional workers in 2013.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25660986

5 Indo-US ill will goes club size (Vibhuti Agarwal in The Wall Street Journal) When trying to win a diplomatic spat, the ability to make life a little less comfortable for the other country’s citizens by denying them diplomatic privileges and an expat lifestyle, can prove a useful weapon. India this week tightened the screws on the US Embassy and American citizens in New Delhi as part of an ongoing row over the arrest of one of its mid-ranking diplomats in New York in December.

The government told the US to shut down its club for American expats and stop operating shops and other commercial establishments in its embassy compound by Jan. 16. This means no more dining at the restaurant, swimming in the pool or playing on the soccer field or tennis court for members of the elite American Community Support Association, popularly known as American Club. These perks, reserved for members who have to be recommended by a US diplomat before they are granted membership, are rare in Delhi where open-air swimming pools and places serving steak aren’t the norm.

On top of this, the Indian government in recent days banned the embassy from screening movies at the American center in the capital, until they obtain a proper license. Normal diplomatic immunity from traffic rules will no longer apply to US embassy diplomats, the official added. Local traffic police “have been asked to make no exception,” with the US Embassy cars, the official said.

The latest action against US citizens in Delhi comes ahead of the Jan. 13 deadline for the indictment of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian consular officer, accused by US prosecutors of committing visa fraud and underpaying her domestic maid in New York. Following reports of her treatment, the India revoked diplomatic privileges for American officials and removed security barriers near the US Embassy in New Delhi.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/01/08/india-hits-u-s-citizens-where-it-hurts-in-the-club/