A woman walks past a closed sportswear shop in Munich, Germany. The global economy is expected to grow 6 per cent this year, compared with a previous forecast of 5.5 per cent, according to the IMF. Associated Press
A woman walks past a closed sportswear shop in Munich, Germany. The global economy is expected to grow 6 per cent this year, compared with a previous forecast of 5.5 per cent, according to the IMF. Associated Press
A woman walks past a closed sportswear shop in Munich, Germany. The global economy is expected to grow 6 per cent this year, compared with a previous forecast of 5.5 per cent, according to the IMF. Associated Press
A woman walks past a closed sportswear shop in Munich, Germany. The global economy is expected to grow 6 per cent this year, compared with a previous forecast of 5.5 per cent, according to the IMF. As

Eurozone unemployment unchanged at 8.3% in February


Alice Haine
  • English
  • Arabic

Eurozone unemployment remained stable at 8.3 per cent in February, as government programmes to help businesses survive the crisis stopped the jobless rate from escalating.

While the economic bloc's February unemployment rate was the same as January’s rate, according to the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat, it was up from 7.3 per cent recorded in February last year, just before the pandemic took hold.

It means 13.57 million people in the eurozone were out of work in February, a rise of 48,000 from January and an increase of 1.507 million from the same month last year.

"The eurozone’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.3 per cent in February despite virus measures being tightened, highlighting the extent to which government policies have protected jobs during the pandemic," said Jessica Hinds, Europe economist at Capital Economics.

"With this support set to continue, the risk of a surge in unemployment in 2021 is low."

Meanwhile, youth unemployment, which has risen more sharply during the crisis across the globe, edged down slightly to 17.3 per cent from 17.4 per cent the previous month. However, this remained higher than the 15.4 per cent out of work in February last year.

Unemployment in Europe surged in the spring of last year when the region was forced to introduce movement restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19.

However, many governments in the economic block implemented EU-backed job guarantee schemes that have so far prevented a long-term shock on employment.

Ms Hinds said short-time work schemes have protected millions of jobs, with firms forced to rely on them during the latest round of restrictions, "albeit nowhere near as heavily as they did last spring".

"With restrictions set to remain in place for another couple of months at least, substantial government support for jobs is likely to continue for most, if not all, of this year," she said.

Separately, the unemployment rate for women in the eurozone increased to 8.8 per cent in February, from 8.7 per cent in January, while the rate for men was unchanged at 7.9 per cent.

In comparison, Britain's unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 5 per cent in the three months to January despite many parts of the country entering a third Covid-19 lockdown.

The data from the Office for National Statistics earlier this month offered hope that that the UK can start to recover from its worst recession in 300 years.

The highest rates of unemployment in the eurozone were recorded in economies highly dependent on tourism, such as Spain, at 16.1 per cent. Germany, the eurozone's largest economy, had an unemployment rate of 4.5 per cent.

The Czech Republic and Poland had the lowest unemployment rates in the bloc, at just above 3 per cent.

Looking ahead, Ms Hinds expects the jobless rate to rise a little further over the next couple of quarters.

"Firms’ hiring intentions have rebounded from their level last spring, but they remain subdued and the generosity of government support is set to be tapered when activity picks back up," she said.

"In all, we expect the unemployment rate to creep back up over the next quarter or so, peaking at around 9 per cent."

Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule

1st Test July 26-30 in Galle

2nd Test August 3-7 in Colombo

3rd Test August 12-16 in Pallekele

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Director: Goran Hugo Olsson

Rating: 5/5

What are the main cyber security threats?

Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Ponti

Sharlene Teo, Pan Macmillan

The specs: 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali

Price, base / as tested Dh207,846 / Dh220,000

Engine 6.2L V8

Transmission Eight-speed automatic

Power 420hp @ 5,600rpm

Torque 624Nm @ 4,100rpm

Fuel economy, combined 13.5L / 100km

What are the influencer academy modules?
  1. Mastery of audio-visual content creation. 
  2. Cinematography, shots and movement.
  3. All aspects of post-production.
  4. Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
  5. Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
  6. Tourism industry knowledge.
  7. Professional ethics.
Recent winners

2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)

2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)

2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)

2007 Grace Bijjani  (Mexico)

2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)

2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)

2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)

2011 Maria Farah (Canada)

2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)

2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)              

2014 Lia Saad  (UAE)

2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)

2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)

2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)

2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)

AUSTRALIA SQUAD

Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle

Crops that could be introduced to the UAE

1: Quinoa 

2. Bathua 

3. Amaranth 

4. Pearl and finger millet 

5. Sorghum

The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

Engine: 5.6-litre V8

Transmission: seven-speed automatic

Power: 400hp

Torque: 560Nm

Price: Dh234,000 - Dh329,000

On sale: now

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Astroworld
Travis Scott
Grand Hustle/Epic/Cactus Jack

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

MATCH INFO

Delhi Daredevils 174-4 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians 163 (19.3 ovs)

Delhi won the match by 11 runs

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

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%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20flag%20was%20first%20unveiled%20on%20December%202%2C%201971%2C%20the%20day%20the%20UAE%20was%20formed.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIt%20was%20designed%20by%20Abdullah%20Mohammed%20Al%20Maainah%2C%2019%2C%20an%20Emirati%20from%20Abu%20Dhabi.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMr%20Al%20Maainah%20said%20in%20an%20interview%20with%20%3Cem%3EThe%20National%3C%2Fem%3E%20in%202011%20he%20chose%20the%20colours%20for%20local%20reasons.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20black%20represents%20the%20oil%20riches%20that%20transformed%20the%20UAE%2C%20green%20stands%20for%20fertility%20and%20the%20red%20and%20white%20colours%20were%20drawn%20from%20those%20found%20in%20existing%20emirate%20flags.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:

  • Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
  • Dubai Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi Saracens
  • Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
How to increase your savings
  • Have a plan for your savings.
  • Decide on your emergency fund target and once that's achieved, assign your savings to another financial goal such as saving for a house or investing for retirement.
  • Decide on a financial goal that is important to you and put your savings to work for you.
  • It's important to have a purpose for your savings as it helps to keep you motivated to continue while also reducing the temptation to spend your savings. 

- Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

 

 

Cracks in the Wall

Ben White, Pluto Press 

Temple numbers

Expected completion: 2022

Height: 24 meters

Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people

Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people

First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time

First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres  

Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres

Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor