(USA Today - U.S.)

The number of Mexicans moving to the USA has dropped sharply since the middle of the decade, according to a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center. Figures from various sources, including the Census Bureau, show that 30% to 50% fewer Mexicans came here -- legally or illegally -- in 2008 compared with 2006, says Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at the non-partisan research center, who is a co-author of the study. (...)

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(Il Corriere della Sera - Italy)

Aged from 15 to 35. No work, no studies. MILAN - "My name is Maria Elena Crespi, Malena for my one or two friends. I'm 23, I live just outside Milan and I don't work or study. Do I feel ashamed? No". Malena has a name, a surname, a fresh complexion and the history of disillusion and disengagement that the Spanish have labelled the "Generación ni-ni: ni estudia ni trabaja". The generation that neither studies nor works. Teens and young adults in Spain, Italy, Britain and America. Lots of them, and the number is growing, although they are not yet in the majority. In Italy, the phenomenon has not been named, or at least not yet, but sociologists and psychologists know it well. And unpublished data in the Youth Report 2008, from the department of social, economic, actuarial and demographic studies at La Sapienza university in Rome, appear to confirm it. Further corroboration comes from cross-referencing the figures with data from the ISTAT national statistics institute's study Work Force 2008. In the 15-19 age group, there are 270,000 young people (9%) who do not study and do not work. Most are unable to find a job but 50,000 say they are unemployed by choice and 11,000 say they want nothing to do with work or study ("I'm not interested", "I don't need to").(...)

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In Japan, Machines for Work and Play Are Idle (New York Times - U.S.)

They may be the most efficient workers in the world. But in the global downturn, they are having a tough time finding jobs.

Japan's legions of robots, the world's largest fleet of mechanized workers, are being idled as the country suffers its deepest recession in more than a generation as consumers worldwide cut spending on cars and gadgets.(...)

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The End of Sunday In France? (NPR - The Net)

As it stands now, Sundays are a mandatory day off. There are some loopholes to this, but for the most part, shops are closed. The new law would allow stores in France's large cities to be open on Sundays, and employees who agree to work would be paid double overtime. Not a bad deal.

Supporters of the bill, including President Nicolas Sarkozy, say that the move will help boost retail sales, make France more competitive worldwide, and improve the ailing French economy. (...)

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(Wall Street Journal - U.S.)

Finding a job in a recession is tough, let alone one that suits your background and interests. But a strong fit is important. Chances are you won't be happy if, say, you're an introvert and vegetarian working as a sales rep for a foie gras purveyor.

The good news is that several help-wanted sites now offer to identify free of charge ideal career opportunities, much as dating sites pair up singles. We asked two professionals to each test the matching capabilities of four sites: Bintro.com, which is in beta; Jobfox.com and Trovix.com, which are built around their job-matching functions, and industry veteran CareerBuilder.com, which features its 'job recommendations' matching tool on its home page.
(...)

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Amid hard times, an influx in real superheroes (CNN - U.S.)

Mr. Ravenblade, Mr. Xtreme, Dark Guardian and hundreds of others. Some with elaborate costumes, others with haphazardly stitched outfits, they are appearing on city streets worldwide watching over the populace like Superman watched over Metropolis and Batman over Gotham City.

As people become disillusioned from financial woes and a downtrodden economy and look to put new purpose in their lives, everyday folks are taking on new personas to perform community service, help the homeless and even fight crime.

"The movement is growing," said Ben Goldman, a real-life superhero historian. Goldman, along with Chaim "Life" Lazaros and David "Civitron" Civitarese, runs the New York-based Web site Superheroes Anonymous as part of an initiative dedicated to organizing and making alliances with superhero groups.(...)

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(Economix - The Net)

The pope today released an encyclical calling for a new economic order. But when it comes to the church's own finances, it looks like good old-fashioned capitalism may still come in handy, as the BBC reported:

Vatican Radio -- the voice of the Roman Catholic Church -- is starting to air advertisements for the first time in the station's nearly 80-year history.

The first company to run its commercials will be an Italian gas and electricity company -- Enel.

Until now Vatican Radio has been wholly funded by the Catholic Church at a cost of some $30m (£17m) a year.

But the Holy See's latest finances show that it too is suffering from the global economic downturn. (...)

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(The Guardian - U.K.)

Nobody in the business world has emerged unscathed from the financial carnage wreaked by the global recession. That includes those who ply their trade entirely legally - in the world's oldest profession.

Nevada is famous for its licensed brothels, which originally catered for miners and cowboys working in the sun-scorched desert. Now a lure for lascivious tourists, they have suffered a plunge in earnings as men become parsimonious about their spending on sex.
(...)

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(TIME - U.S.)

In Patpong, one of Bangkok's most notorious red-light districts, go-go girls count their livelihood by the number of sex tourists they entertain. "Three inches, three minutes, 3,000 baht ($87)," laughs Goy, a 25-year-old bargirl. Last summer, she and her fellow pole dancers at the Camelot Castle entertained scores of men every night -- first in the bar, where they earn a monthly salary, then at the customer's hotel, where they negotiate their own rates. But as cash-strapped tourists have turned their backs on Thailand -- tourism officials say revenues will plunge 35% this year -- the ranks of men cruising Patpong have thinned dramatically. On a recent Wednesday evening, just three tourists watched a visibly disgruntled Goy wiggle around her pole. "My base salary was 8,000 baht ($232) a month, but now they are giving me 6,000 baht ($174)," she says. "I haven't had a customer in five nights, and I'm lucky if someone buys me a drink." (...)

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(Wall Street Journal - U.S.)

England's Premier League has emerged over the past two decades as one of the world's most prominent and opulently rich sports associations. But as its season concludes, the tool it used to get there -- a muscular brand of sports capitalism with very few regulations -- is starting to look like a weakness. The league is home to England's top-20 professional soccer clubs, a roster that includes icons such as Liverpool, Arsenal and three-time champion Manchester United -- which, in a humbling result for English soccer, was beaten by 2-0 by Spain's FC Barcelona in Wednesday night's Champions League final. (...)

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(The Guardian - U.K.)

Britain's millionaires' row has nearly halved in size due to the slump in property and share prices. The number of millionaires in the UK has fallen from 489,000 at the peak of the economic boom in 2007 to 242,000, reducing the elite club to 2003 levels. Soaring property prices stoked a boom in the British rich list but the collapse in the housing market has suddenly reduced the net worth of thousands of former property millionaires. (...)

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(Wall Street Journal - U.S.)

At the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Milan's annual furniture fair, the economic downturn's effects were clear, as manufacturers sought to tone down their collections. (...)

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Fin Min admits euro adoption is likely to be postponed (Warsaw Business Journal - Poland)

Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski admitted that the crisis could change the course of Poland's road to adopting the euro.(...)

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Where are Argentina's coins? (Global Post - U.S.)

Think you've got cash problems? Just be glad you're not in Argentina.

No one knows the inconveniences of the peso better than Buenos Aires's convenience store owners. Walter Teich and his wife opened one right in the center of town three years ago. He's seen a lot of coins come and go, but never so few as right now.

"There's no coins, they don't exist," said Teich, standing next to a hand-written sign taped to the cash register telling his customers as much. "And it's getting worse all the time."

The coin scarcity has created a strange predicament: Merchants regularly refuse to sell their goods or services if it means they'll have to give coins back as change. For small transactions, they'd rather lose the revenue than spare the change.(...)

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(BBC - U.K.)

Italian clothing retailer Benetton has reported a 38% fall in first-quarter profits, after being hit by a drop in demand and unfavourable exchange rates. Benetton reported a net profit of 18m euros ($24.5m; £16m) for the January to March period, compared with 29m euros for the same period a year ago. (...)

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(USA Today - U.S.)

By Emily Bazar

The temperature was about 70 degrees on Nov. 19, the sky was "totally blue," and the laughter from a martini bar drifted into the St. Petersburg park where Marshall, 39, sat contemplating his first day of homelessness. "I was thinking, 'That was me at one point,' " he says of the revelers. "Now I'm thinking, 'Where am I going to sleep tonight? Where do I eat? Where do I shower?' " (...)

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(BBC - U.K.)

Pontiac has become the highest-profile victim of the crisis in the American car industry.

The decision this week by General Motors to discontinue the brand shocked a generation of petrol heads who fell in love with the all American muscle cars the company developed in the 1960 and 70s.

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(BBC - U.K.)

Mobile phone sales have plummeted by a record amount in the first quarter of 2009 as the global financial crisis sapped demand, a research firm said.

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Home prices post 18.6% annual drop in Feb. (Los Angeles Times - U.S.)

Home prices dropped sharply in February, but for the first time in 25 months the decline was not a record, another sign the housing crisis could be bottoming. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed home prices in 20 major cities tumbled by 18.6% from February 2008. That was slightly better than January's 19% and the first time since January 2007 the index didn't set a record. (...)

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US bank claims masterpiece from national museum (NRC Handelsblad - Nederland)

JPMorgan Chase has put a claim on De bocht van de Herengracht (The bend in the Herengracht), a painting by Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde from circa 1672, newspaper de Volkskrant reported on Friday. The painting is part of the collection of Dutch investor Louis Reijtenbagh, who used it as collateral to secure a 50 million dollar loan from the bank in 2006. It was bought by the Netherlands for its national gallery the Rijksmuseum in September 2009. Now that Reijtenbagh is unable to repay his loan, the bank has claimed the Berckheyde as well as Reijtenbagh's entire art collection, which includes works by Rembrandt, Modigliani, Van Dongen, Giacometti, Monet and Picasso. (...)

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Communities print their own currency to keep cash flowing(USA Today - U.S.)

A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money.

Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.

The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount -- say, 95 cents for $1 value -- and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.(...)

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Porsche profits boosted by controversial VW share dealings (The Guardian - U.K.)

by David Gow

Porsche earned more profits than revenues in the first half of its financial year thanks to controversial dealings in Volkswagen options that left many hedge funds nursing heavy losses. The luxury sports car-maker reported this morning that it enjoyed a €6.8bn (£6.3bn) windfall from its share options in VW, whose value soared last autumn after it emerged that Porsche controlled most of the company. (...)

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Idaho teacher sells advertising space on tests (The New York Times - U.S.)

Suicide seemingly catalyzed by the economic crisis. "It is the most iconic image of the 1929 Wall Street Crash," Claire Prentice reported for the BBC, "financiers, having lost their fortunes, jumping to their deaths from the windows of skyscrapers." Now, 80 years later, American psychologists have coined the phrase "econocide" to describe a wave of suicides they say is linked to the current global economic crisis. (...)

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Idaho teacher sells advertising space on tests (Yahoo News - The Net)

In a cash-strapped Idaho high school where signs taped near every light switch remind the staff to save electricity, an enterprising teacher has struck a sponsorship deal with a local pizza shop: Every test, handout and worksheet he passes out to his students reads MOLTO'S PIZZA 14" 1 TOPPING JUST $5 in bright red, inch-high letters printed along the bottom of every page.

"I just wanted to find a way to save money," said Jeb Harrison, who teaches history and economics. "We have to sell ads for our yearbook, for our school newspaper. I don't think this small amount of advertising will change my classroom."

School officials were not wild about the idea, but Pocatello High School Principal Don Cotant relented after Harrison explained the advertisements could help illuminate such topics as the Great Depression.(...)

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One-Euro Shops Oust Boutiques (Il Corriere della Sera - Italy)

Latest case at Bagheria but there are already 500 shops in Italy selling everything at a fixed price. Business was looking bleak at Via Dante 12, the mens, womens and childrenswear store in the town centre at Bagheria, Sicily. One glance inside offered a snapshot of the crisis from the ground floor, in human terms: not GDP or export figures but pants and jerseys gathering dust on the shelves, disappearing customers and falling takings. "Over Christmas, the drop in sales reached 40%", the owner Emanuele Corvaja tells us. At the end of January, Via Dante 12 closed for the last time but one month later, the enterprising Mr Corvaja had opened a household goods shop. He sells soap powder, batteries, brushes and even giftware all at the same unbeatable, crisis-proof price of one euro. "Shoppers don't want to spend so we've adjusted", says Mr Corvaja, who is smiling again now that business is back on track. (...)

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