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global recession

2009 an off-year for weapons industry

Tue, 09/14/2010 - 03:58 by Prince damin

Washington -- The global recession and a normal business cycle contributed to a sharp decline in U.S. weapons sales in 2009, an annual Library of Congress report said.

Worldwide weapons deals also dropped in the year, the library's Congressional Research Division report said, The New York Times reported Monday.

U.S. sales dropped from $38.1 billion in 2008 to $22.6 billion in 2009, a significant decline. But the United States still commands the lion's share of the market with 39 percent of global weapons sales last year.

Overall, weapons sales fell 8.5 percent to $57.5 billion in the year, compared to 2008.

Economy has a "long way to go" for recovery: Obama

Sun, 11/01/2009 - 10:59 by Ishita Sood

Washington, November 1 -- President Barack Obama brought optimism and cheer Friday, when he announced that U.S. economic growth in third quarter shows recession is abating.

Japanese trade indicator falls sharply

Wed, 05/13/2009 - 17:11 by Salinder Kumar

Tokyo -- Japan's Finance Ministry said Wednesday the global recession had pushed its trade balance account surplus down 50.2 percent from a year ago.

The account is linked to worldwide economies, as it shows how much Japanese currency foreign investors are buying to conduct business in Japan.

After posting new records each year from 2002 through 2007, the account has fallen to the lowest level since 1985, Kyodo news reported.

The balance also reflects the sharp drop in Japanese exports that has come with a downturn in demand from Europe and the United States.

Atsushi Matsumoto at Mizuho Research Institute said exports "will slowly recover from this fiscal year."

Courier giant UPS profits shrink by half

Fri, 04/24/2009 - 10:20 by Salinder Kumar

New York, April 24: The global recession has taken its toll on the United Parcel Service (UPS), with the world delivery leader reporting a 55 percent plunge in profits Thursday.

In a statement, Atlanta-based courier giant said its profit for the first quarter (January to March) of 2009 shrank to $401 million from $906 million during the same period last year - a drop of 55 percent. As the company reported a profit of just 40 cents per share - down from 87 cents a year ago, its shares slipped 6.5 percent to $51.21 Thursday.

Unsold goods tripping up economy

Tue, 02/17/2009 - 22:18 by Shruti Sharma

New York -- The global recession can be visibly measured by looking at the backlog of unsold products from U.S. homes to Japanese electronics, an economist said.

"There is over-capacity in everything," , chief economist at Argus Research, told The Washington Post.

Furthermore, "if capacity is too large, you don't need that many people employed, which is another reason we're seeing such high job losses," he said.

Few of the backlogs are as visible or pronounced as the buildup in unsold cars. With the capacity to build 18.3 million cars a year and a recession-tainted 11 million annual sales rate, vehicles are piling up, the Post reported.

At current rates, it would take 116 days to sell out the cars sitting in dealership lots, analysts said.

Layoffs in the automotive industry have rippled through assembly lines at car and parts supply companies, at dealerships and banks.