With the collapse of the U.S. housing market and the subsequent financial crisis on Wall Street in 2007 and 2008, economies across the globe began to enter into deep recessions. What had started out as a crisis centered on the United States quickly became global in nature, as it became apparent that not only had the economies of other advanced countries (grouped together as the G7) become intimately tied to the U.S. financial system, but that many of them had experienced housing and asset price bubbles similar to that in the U.S.. The United Kingdom had experienced a huge inflation of housing prices since the 1990s, while Eurozone members (such as Germany, France and Italy) had financial sectors which had become involved in reckless lending to economies on the periphery of the EU, such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Other countries, such as Japan, were hit heavily due their export-led growth models which suffered from the decline in international trade. Unemployment during the Great Recession As business and consumer confidence crashed, credit markets froze, and international trade contracted, the unemployment rate in the most advanced economies shot up. While four to five percent is generally considered to be a healthy unemployment rate, nearing full employment in the economy (when any remaining unemployment is not related to a lack of consumer demand), many of these countries experienced rates at least double that, with unemployment in the United States peaking at almost 10 percent in 2010. In large countries, unemployment rates of this level meant millions or tens of millions of people being out of work, which led to political pressures to stimulate economies and create jobs. By 2012, many of these countries were seeing declining unemployment rates, however, in France and Italy rates of joblessness continued to increase as the Euro crisis took hold. These countries suffered from having a monetary policy which was too tight for their economies (due to the ECB controlling interest rates) and fiscal policy which was constrained by EU debt rules. Left with the option of deregulating their labor markets and pursuing austerity policies, their unemployment rates remained over 10 percent well into the 2010s. Differences in labor markets The differences in unemployment rates at the peak of the crisis (2009-2010) reflect not only the differences in how economies were affected by the downturn, but also the differing labor market institutions and programs in the various countries. Countries with more 'liberalized' labor markets, such as the United States and United Kingdom experienced sharp jumps in their unemployment rate due to the ease at which employers can lay off workers in these countries. When the crisis subsided in these countries, however, their unemployment rates quickly began to drop below those of the other countries, due to their more dynamic labor markets which make it easier to hire workers when the economy is doing well. On the other hand, countries with more 'coordinated' labor market institutions, such as Germany and Japan, experiences lower rates of unemployment during the crisis, as programs such as short-time work, job sharing, and wage restraint agreements were used to keep workers in their jobs. While these countries are less likely to experience spikes in unemployment during crises, the highly regulated nature of their labor markets mean that they are slower to add jobs during periods of economic prosperity.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate in the information industry in the United States stood at *** percent, increasing from *** percent in the same quarter of 2023. In 2020, the tech industry was hit hard by the economic recession brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, registering a record ** percent unemployment rate during the second quarter. Information industry in the U.S. The U.S. information industry consists of those businesses involved in the production or distribution of information, those involved in providing a means to distribute information and data, and those involved in data processing. More specifically, the sector is comprised of * segments: publishing industries (except internet), motion picture and sound recording industries, broadcasting (except internet), telecommunications, data processing/hosting, and other information services. Employment in the U.S. information industry As a whole, the sector employs nearly ************* people around the United States and accounts for a significant portion of the country’s entertainment industry. As unemployment has fallen, average hourly earnings within the sector have also risen sharply within the past decade, now amounting to almost ** dollars per hour. This trend towards more favorable employment conditions comes at a time when union membership within the industry declined to *** percent in 2022.

The Brookings Institute study concluded that: Steep employment losses following the Great Recession stalled the steady decentralization of jobs that characterized the early to mid-2000s. However, by 2010 nearly twice the share of jobs was located at least 10 miles away from downtown (43%) as within 3 miles of downtown (23%).Job losses in industries hit hardest by the downturn, including construction and manufacturing, helped check employment decentralization in the late 2000s. In all but nine of the 100 largest metro areas, the share of jobs located within three miles of downtown declined during the 2000s.Metro areas showing the greatest increase in jobs in the 10-35 miles radius from downtown include:Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ, San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX, Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX.Metro areas showing the greatest loss of jobs within the 3 mile radius of downtown include:North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL, Boise City-Nampa, ID, Jackson, MS, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX, and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FLSource:Job Sprawl Stalls: The Great Recession and Metropolitan Employment Location, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institute. Elizabeth Kneebone. URL: https://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/04/18-job-sprawl-kneebone

In 2020, global gross domestic product declined by 6.7 percent as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak. In Latin America, overall GDP loss amounted to 8.5 percent.

Printing, paper, food, textile and other machinery manufacturers are critical in supplying equipment to Canada's broader manufacturing sector. Healthy economic and population growth has led the country's manufacturing sector to flourish in recent years, benefiting machinery manufacturers. The pandemic posed a major challenge for manufacturers, as disruptions to nearly every downstream market introduced unprecedented volatility. Diversification suppressed the overall impact on revenue, but some manufacturing companies were still hit harder than others, depending on their specialization. As manufacturing and industrial capacity recovered in 2021, supply chain disruptions and workforce shortages limited growth for machinery manufacturers. Manufacturers struggled to source critical inputs even at premium prices, while workforce shortages left companies with long lead times and depressed profit. Growth remains subdued as inflation, high interest rates, and recession concerns influence how and when direct downstream markets invest in new machinery. Revenue is expected to increase at a CAGR of 1.0% to $5.4 billion through the end of 2024, with 0.1% growth expected in the current year. More than three years past the pandemic, machinery manufacturers continue facing supply chain snags and bottlenecks that impact their production. An inability to source critical inputs leaves manufacturers unable to fulfill orders, putting current revenue and future growth at risk. While no single solution exists to resolve supply chain disruptions, some manufacturers are responding by deploying technology to manage costs or reconfiguring their supply chains to feature more local suppliers. The population and economic growth in Canada occurring pre-pandemic will continue, translating into a higher volume of industrial and manufacturing activities that benefit machinery manufacturers. Still, the industry's growth trajectory will depend on how and if recession concerns come to fruition. Prolonged high interest rates and a recession would cause many downstream buyers to curtail investment in new machinery – although some markets will be less affected than others. Revenue is expected to increase at a CAGR of 3.2% to $6.4 billion through the end of 2029.

Luxury goods industry was one of the hardest-hit by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2020, the value of the personal luxury goods industry declined by about ** percent on the previous year. Luxury apparel saw the biggest drop in market value, as many retail locations had to shut down amidst coronavirus lockdowns and retailers had to halt or reduce orders. Impact of COVID-19 on luxury goods According to analyses, the negative impact caused by the pandemic and the ensuing economic downturn was as high as a ** percent drop in the luxury goods industry. Specifically, the pandemic triggered the most drastic decline in the luxury watches and jewelry segment. Despite seeing a decline compared with 2019, the luxury cosmetics and fragrances segment performed better within the personal luxury goods industry. That said, the industry is expected to pick up over the next five years. Between 2020 and 2025, all segments of the industry are forecast to grow, with a CAGR varying between * to * percent. Who are leading the luxury game? The luxury goods industry is characterized by high levels of competition where growth through acquiring and merging with other brands and houses is standard. In 2019, based on worldwide sales, the French conglomorate LVMH, was the leading global luxury brand. With sales amounting to **** million U.S. dollars that year, LVMH is the parent company to a number of high value brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany and Co. among others.

The development of credit banks in Germany over the last five years has been strongly influenced by several factors, including the transition from a prolonged period of low interest rates to significantly higher interest rates, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the recession of recent years. Industry turnover, which is made up of the interest and commission income of credit banks, has risen by an average of 17.1% per year since 2020. The strong increase in the last five years can be attributed to the following reason: For a long time, banks did not generate significantly higher income as the European Central Bank's (ECB) key interest rate remained at 0% for a long period of time. Only the significant increase in the key interest rate to combat inflation revitalised the traditional interest margin business. This then led to significantly rising growth rates in earnings. However, IBISWorld expects the positive sales trend to weaken in 2025, even if the higher base rate level, which improves interest income, is still clearly noticeable. Industry turnover is expected to increase by 3.6% year-on-year to 182.4 billion euros.Banks offered loans on favourable terms due to the low interest rates that prevailed for a long time. This increased the demand for loans and the lending volume in the sector rose. In addition, digitalisation has prompted banks to rethink their business concepts, which has led to numerous branch closures over the last five years. This has led to job cuts and savings. IBISWorld expects this trend to continue in the coming years and more banks to rely on the use of modern technologies for business processing.For the period from 2025 to 2030, IBISWorld forecasts average annual sales growth of 2% to 201.3 billion euros. The high level of key interest rates is expected to be mitigated by slight interest rate cuts to stimulate the economy, which will have a positive impact on the earnings situation of credit banks. The hoped-for economic recovery is not yet in sight. The International Monetary Fund anticipates further weak growth in the global economy this year, which is likely to hit Germany hard in a global comparison. As a result, there is also a risk that corporate customers, who are important for the sector, will demand fewer loans.

In a survey conducted on the impact of COVID-19 in India in March 2022, a majority of participants reported a net increase in spending across categories like groceries with a share of 45 percent expecting to buy lesser quantity. However, a drop in spending was observed for categories related to leisure, travel, and dining in restaurants.

Spending models The COVID-19 pandemic has had a grave impact on the Indian economy which come with its own array of setbacks indicating a drastic change in the pattern of market dynamics. It was observed that during the pandemic, people’s spending models changed from one of indulging to hoarding. People spent less of their income on items that were perceived as non-essential such as clothing, make up, jewelry, toys and games and electronics. By inference, more money was spent on purchase of essential goods, particularly groceries and other food items. The second wave and the economy The nation’s battle with the coronavirus continues bringing in the second wave. This has prompted a reimposition of strict measures including partial lockdowns and curfews in certain states to keep the contagion under control. Experts have postulated a more virulent mutation of the virus could make the second wave even deadlier. While the economy has not yet fully recovered from the first wave of the pandemic following the lockdown imposed in March 2020, India’s recovery signals a slowdown. In the case of further lockdowns, it could lead to an economic recession. Some of the worst hit sectors during the pandemic have been tourism along with automotive and power.

In 2023, Singapore’s construction sector contributed around ***** billion Singapore dollars to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). This was a noticeable increase after the construction sector had been especially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Robust private and public sector demand in 2019 The construction sector in Singapore experienced three consecutive years of negative growth until 2019. This increase was fueled in part by the unexpected higher demand from the private sector, especially by the construction of new petrochemical facilities by global giants Linde and ExxonMobil. Public construction demand, meanwhile, has been growing steadily since 2015, supported by major civil engineering projects such as the expansion of the MRT lines and housing development. In that year, the value of contracts awarded for both private and public sector construction amounted to around ** billion Singapore dollars. Impact of COVID-19 on the construction sector However, the COVID-19 pandemic has already negatively impacted the construction industry. Singapore experienced its worst recession since independence, and in Q1 2020, the construction sector contracted by **** percent. Social distancing measures and the stopping of non-essential work meant that many construction projects were put on hold. Furthermore, Singapore’s construction sector is facing a two-fold labor crisis. This industry is heavily reliant on migrant workers from foreign countries. The global restrictions in travel meant that hardly any new labor was available. Adding to this challenge, the migrant workers in Singapore had been badly hit by COVID-19, making up the largest share of COVID-19 infections in the country.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of Finland was 273 billion euros in 2023, an increase of around 7.2 billion euros compared with the previous year. Finland's GDP showed an upward trend from the early 2000’s until 2009, when the economy was strongly hit by the global financial crisis. Thereafter, the Finnish economy stagnated, and the GDP slowly resumed its growth. However, after a three-year recession between 2012 and 2014, the GDP growth rates remained relatively weak. Slow recovery after the financial crisis As a small open economy, Finland was severely affected by the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. While all euro-countries fell into recession in the early stages of the crisis, the recovery of the Finnish economy has been tardy, remaining below the EU average. Finland’s GDP drop in 2009 was the worst since the ‘great depression’ of the early 1990’s, from which the Finnish economy recovered relatively fast because of the strong Nokia-led ICT industry. By 2009, the backbones of Finnish economy, forest and ICT industry, had started to encounter difficulties in foreign trade. This declining value of foreign trade coupled with weaker international business conditions resulted in economic stagnation. Challenging outlook According to economic forecasts, the Finnish economy is expected to experience a slow growth rate of the GDP in the upcoming years. In recent years, the economic growth has been stronger, although Finland is still catching up to other similar EU countries in productivity, household income, and employment rate. Traditionally, the country’s strengths have been high-level education and skilled workforce, openness to investments, as well as stable institutions. However, the population is ageing and the public debt has risen almost 30 percent between 2008 and 2019. The future outlook is further challenged by the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The statistic reflects the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in member states of the European Union in November 2024. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Spain in November 2024 was 11.2 percent.The unemployment rate represents the share of the unemployed in all potential employees available to the job market. Unemployment rates in the EU The unemployment rate is an important measure of a country or region’s economic health, and despite unemployment levels in the European Union falling slightly from a peak in early 2013 , they remain high, especially in comparison to what the rates were before the worldwide recession started in 2008. This confirms the continuing stagnation in European markets, which hits young job seekers particularly hard as they struggle to compete against older, more experienced workers for a job, suffering under jobless rates twice as high as general unemployment. Some companies, such as Microsoft and Fujitsu, have created thousands of jobs in some of the countries which have particularly dire unemployment rates, creating a beacon of hope. However, some industries such as information technology, face the conundrum of a deficit of qualified workers in the local unemployed work force, and have to hire workers from abroad instead of helping decrease the local unemployment rates. This skills mismatch has no quick solution, as workers require time for retraining to fill the openings in the growing science-, technology-, or engineering-based jobs, and too few students choose degrees that would help them obtain these positions. Worldwide unemployment also remains high, with the rates being worst in the Middle East and North Africa. Estimates by the International Labour Organization predict that the problem will stabilize in coming years, but not improve until at least 2017.