UN United Nations & Jobs - "A 64 million jobs deficit". World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012 (WESP)

This week, the United Nations published new economic forecasts which reveals that persistent high unemployment, the euro area debt crisis and premature fiscal austerity have already slowed global growth and factor into the possibility of a new recession. The report reveals a "A 64 million jobs deficit".  The biggest issue of 2012 is jobs.

The United Nations report states that: "The rate of unemployment averaged 8.3 per cent in developed countries in 2011, still above the pre-crisis level of 5.8 per cent recorded in 2007. Almost 1/3 of the unemployed in developed countries had been without a job for more than one year, affecting about 15 million workers. Prolonged unemployment tends to have long-lasting detrimental impacts on both the affected workers and the economy at large, as skills of unemployed workers deteriorate, leading to lower earnings for affected individuals and lower productivity growth."

With this news, it is no secret that smart money is staying on the sidelines looking for buying opportunities and wealth preservation.

As a former Wall Street Firm Wealth Manager, investors tend to go to the "Cash is King" strategy. With so much private cash and company cash on the sidelines, there is much demand that is ready to be unleashed. With low interest rates and large expense deductions available, it is amazing that there is not more spending in the USA. However, people and organizations tend to make due with what they have to ride out rough times.

What incentives are needed for people to go back to work? What incentives should be implemented to help companies hire people who want to work? If you go on Monster.com ( symbol MWW)or Dice.com (symbol DHX), there are hundreds of thousands of jobs listed. In contrast, many people are starting great small companies on their own. Since necessity is the mother of invention, this may be a great time to start you small business either full time or part time. Either way, job related websites such as Monster, JOBS, or LinkedIn (symbol LNKD) will probably continue to forge ahead in this global headhunting cyberworld.

As an optimist, I believe the world is in a great transition. People are retooling around the world for new jobs and acting on new ideas. The information technology and internet age is expanding from country to country where the internet bubble is over and the real profits begin to flow to stakeholders and communities. First it was Silicon Valley, then EU, then China/Asia, and next is India, Arabia and Africa. This could be a sign that it is time for all of us to become global investors and for all US companies to be more global-customer oriented.

There are successes made every day, and like water, the money and intellectual capital flows where there is least resistance.

UN Report Citation: http://www.slideshare.net/undesa/world-economic-situation-and-prospects-2012-pre-release - Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)