News – Business & Economi

The crude oil prices have come down Tuesday on fears related to Greece and world economic growth.

On the Nymex, crude for April delivery ended at 104.70 dollars a barrel, down 2.02 dollars or 1.89%.

In London, ICE Brent for delivery in April ended at 121.98 dollars a barrel, down $ 1.82 or 1.47%.

After the close of markets, prices continued to decline according to figures from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showing an increase of 4.6 million in crude inventories last week in the U.S. States, while the market was expecting an increase of 800,000 barrels only.

The official government figures (EIA) will be published Wednesday. 

Investors have also noted a breakthrough in the Iranian nuclear issue, which has somewhat eased fears of supply disruptions.

Iran will allow experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the Parchin military site, reported Tuesday the news agency ISNA. The spokesman of the foreign policy of the European Union, Catherine Ashton, for his part announced that the major powers were willing to resume talks with Tehran .

The unemployment rate in France in late 2011 now stands at 9.8%, up 0.1 points over one year. A total of 3.4 million people are seeking employment. Agency employment center in Nice

The unemployment rate in France rose by 0.1 points in the fourth quarter 2011 compared to the previous quarter to 9.4% of the workforce (9.8% overseas departments included), announced the INSEE Thursday. This rate, calculated according to the standards of the International Labour Office (ILO), was also up 0.1 points versus the fourth quarter of 2010, INSEE said.

In France, 2,678,000 people were unemployed on average in the fourth quarter. But in total, 3.4 million people were unemployed and wanted to still work, or not available for this within two weeks and looking for work or not. This is the third consecutive increase, after the unemployment rate in the third quarter (9.3%) and second quarter 2011 (9.1%).

Labour Minister Xavier Bertrand noted but noted that "France has fared better than its main partners to the global crisis" between the second quarter 2007 and third quarter of 2011, citing OECD data. Unemployment among 15-24 year olds, great concern of the government, rose by 0.8 point compared to the previous quarter and by 0.2 percent yoy. The youth unemployment rate rises from 21.6% to 22.4%, or about 626,000 people.

Involuntary part-time increases

The unemployment rate for seniors is improving slightly on the contrary, down 0.1 points from the previous quarter. It remains up (0.2 pt) to the last quarter of 2010. Some 485,000 people aged over 50 were looking for a job in the last quarter of 2011. The employment rate of older, more and more likely to stay in business with the successive reforms of pensions, continued to grow (a point on the previous quarter, 1.6 points over one year). The increase was pronounced for those aged 55-64 (1.4 pt in the quarter, 2.8 points over one year).

The employment rate in permanent contract (CDI) is stable in the fourth quarter of 2011, to 48.7% of the population aged 15-64. Rate for those employed in CDD / Acting rose slightly and stood at 6.8%. Partial unemployment, the government and social partners come to reform to facilitate its implementation, down 0.3 percentage points and stood at 0.2% of employed persons. Involuntary part-time increased slightly to 5% of people with jobs. Finally, the unemployment rate is declining in women (-0.1 pt the quarter, -0.3 pt yoy) as he progresses on the contrary men (0.4 pt the quarter , 0.6 pt yoy).

If U.S. growth may be the envy of Europe, it resulted in an increase in imports and therefore the trade deficit reached $ 558 billion in 2011. Its highest level since 2008.

A moderate recovery is confirmed in the U.S. … and the trade deficit is widening. In December, imports reached their highest level since July 2008, said Friday the Commerce Department. Is a hole of 48.8 billion dollars against 47.1 billion (revised figure) in the previous month. This is more than the expectations of the analysts.

Over the full year 2011, the U.S. has a trade deficit of $ 558 billion, the highest since 2008. This represents 3.7% of gross domestic product. The trade deficit with China represents more than half of that total. At 295.5 billion dollars, it has largely beaten the record set in 2011.  

The overall trade deficit in December was partly explained by a phenomenon that seems to have widened in 2012: while the U.S. economy has maintained a respectable growth rate and thus increased its imports, the economies of the eurozone declined . This has particularly led to the largest monthly deficit ever recorded with Germany ($ 4.8 billion in December).

U.S. imports have generally increased by 1.3% this month, with among other record imports of capital goods. The trade deficit in petroleum products (24.4 billion) still weighed heavily. The average price per barrel of imported crude oil has exceeded $ 104, increasing by 5% within two months.

The housing market has included nine in the third quarter the prospect of a relapse into recession in the French economy with lower sales and housing starts, according to data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Housing.

More than 26,400 homes were sold in the third quarter, nearly 2,700 more than in the second quarter but 12.9% less than for the corresponding period of 2010.

Of the last four quarters, the number of sales totaled 101,300 or 10.7% less than in the previous four quarters.

A 71,600 homes at the end of the third quarter, the stock of new homes for sale is 14.4% higher than the third quarter of 2010.

France will nominate Coeuré Benedict, number two in the Treasury, the Executive Board of the European Central Bank to replace Italy's Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. ECB

Benedict heart, which should become the representative of France to the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), is a senior specialist in international finance, who was previously the number two position of the Treasury. Coeuré Benedict, 42, was appointed Thursday by Paris to serve on the Executive Board of the ECB, which will replace Italy's Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, who resigned.

This brilliant economist and author of numerous articles and a graduate of Japan, has spent most of his career at the French Treasury. He led a parallel career as a teacher and researcher in the circle of economists, an influential economic think-tank. From 1997 to 2002, he holds the office of Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury.Heart is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole National Statistical and Economic Administration (ENSAE).

Right in the debate on greater involvement of the European Central Bank (ECB) in the rescue of the euro, the institution claimed to have bought nearly 8 billion euros of bonds fragile last week against four, 5 billion the previous week. ECB

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced Monday that it bought nearly 8 billion euros of government bonds on the secondary market over a week against nearly 4.5 billion euros over the previous seven days. The total purchases of the ECB as part of this program, which began in May 2010 when the emergence of the Greek debt crisis, this is close to the threshold of 200 billion euros (194.5 billion euros).

The ECB never gives details of its operations, to know which country and how much it bought the debt.

International creditors of Greece did not convince the leader of the Conservatives Saturday, Antonis Samaras, engage in writing for the austerity measures required for new aid.

The leader of New Democracy, one of three teams who sit in the national unity government led by Lucas Papademos, reiterated that his word was enough and that a written guarantee was unnecessary.

European leaders are concerned that the parties are reluctant to implement unpopular reforms before the elections on February 19.

Antonis Samaras has already announced that it was an absolute majority at the polls to renegotiate the terms of the European aid plan.Creditors are willing to block eight billion euros needed to Athens to avoid default next month.

Representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also met with former Prime Minister George Papandreou, leader of the Socialist Party (PASOK), which had no comment.

They should also meet Sunday with Georgios Katzaféris, leader of the far-right party Laos, the third member of the coalition.

"THERE WILL BE A SOLUTION"

In an interview with the weekly Sunday Real News, the leader of Laos suggests that it will sign a written undertaking.

"Do we need the money or not? If the answer is no, we do not sign.

Former Vice President of the ECB Lucas Papademos on Thursday arrived at the presidential residence where met party leaders charged with finding a new prime minister after the resignation of George Papandreou. It may be designated in the day. Lucas Papademos.

The former vice president of the European Central Bank Lucas Papademos, tipped to become the next Prime Minister of Greece, arrived Thursday at the presidential residence, where were gathered the leaders of parties responsible for appointing a successor to George Papandreou. The grand bargain between the Greek parties to designate a consensus prime minister who is the patience of the country's creditors to end, resumed Thursday morning, when right, and right-wing socialists found themselves trying to get out of a political imbroglio .

After a series of twists, the former vice president of the ECB and former Governor of the Bank of Greece Lucas Papademos, 64, was again the favorite in the press Thursday to succeed the Socialist Georges Papandreou resigned. The Orthodox archbishop of Athens Archbishop Ieronymos, head of the Church of Greece, has canceled a trip and was prepared to answer a summons to any oath as president, has also said the Greek news agency Ana, semi-formal. The leaders of three parties, George Papandreou's PASOK (Socialist), Antonis Samaras of New Democracy (right) and George Karatzaferis (far right) met again for the presidency of the Republic at 8 am, after the failure of a first meeting Wednesday night.

Mr. Papandreou spoke by telephone Wednesday with Mr. Papademos, 64, it was said a source close to PASOK.

Tokyo has purchased 10% of 3 billion euros of bonds that the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) lifted Monday. This is two times less than in the previous issue. The yen is now at its highest level in 15 years against the dollar

Japan purchased 10% of 3 billion euros of bonds to ten years raised Monday by the Relief Fund of the euro area (EFSF), a smaller proportion than the 20% invested in the previous issues, officials said Tuesday at the Ministry of Finance. "We took into account the state of our liquidity in euros, the conditions of issue and the market environment" for deciding the level of Japanese investment, set at 300 million euros this time, said a ministry official.This surge in the yen higher costs of products made in Japan and reduced the value of income from abroad by Japanese exporters group, which ultimately weigh on the recovery of the country recovering from earthquake, tsunami and accident nuclear March 11. The third largest economy is in recession since late 2010 and in particular on exports out of the rut, but the rising yen, combined with slowing global growth could stall restart.

The proceeds of the issue of Monday, the fourth conducted by the EFSF, must be used to finance a portion of the aid to Ireland, which has, like Greece and Portugal, an international aid program. The request was only slightly greater than the amount of three billion euros and the rate stood at 104 basis points above the risk free rate of the same maturity, or 3.59%.

The European Union has increased the pressure on Sunday in Athens Greece quickly establishes a government of national unity and implement the measures included in the second bailout of the country, saying that membership in the euro area was Thurs

"We called for a national unity government, is convinced that it is the convincing way to restore confidence and to honor commitments," he told Reuters Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Economic and monetary.

With the announcement of a proposed referendum on the bailout plan, since abandoned, Greece had broken the bond of trust that binds to its European partners last week, which called into question his membership in the euro area, he said.

But the country has apparently abandoned the strategy of the edge, Olli Rehn said in a telephone interview.

"There have been efforts to Athens to restore that trust and we need a compelling report on the subject of the finance minister Evangelos Venizelos tomorrow during the Euro."

The 17 finance ministers of the euro area can be found Monday evening in Brussels for a meeting of the Eurogroup.

NEGOTIATIONS TO ATHENS

Olli Rehn was speaking Greek political parties then negotiated fiercely on Sunday a coalition agreement may prove to other countries in the euro zone as Greece is determined to continue on the path of austerity to avoid bankruptcy.