In September 2024, the global PMI amounted to 47.5 for new export orders and 48.8 for manufacturing. The manufacturing PMI was at its lowest point in August 2020. It decreased over the last months of 2022 after the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war and rising inflation hit the world economy, and remained around 50 since.

The statistic shows the distribution of the workforce across economic sectors in the United States from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, 1.57 percent of the workforce in the US was employed in agriculture, 19.34 percent in industry and 79.09 percent in services. See U.S. GDP per capita for more information. American workforce A significant majority of the American labor force is employed in the services sector, while the other sectors, industry and agriculture, account for less than 20 percent of the US economy. However, the United States is among the top exporters of agricultural goods – the total value of US agricultural exports has more than doubled since 2000. A severe plunge in the employment rate in the US since 1990 shows that the American economy is still in turmoil after the economic crisis of 2008. Unemployment is still significantly higher than it was before the crisis, and most of those unemployed and looking for a job are younger than 25; youth unemployment is a severe problem for the United States, many college or university graduates struggle to find a job right away. Still, the number of employees in the US since 1990 has been increasing slowly, with a slight setback during and after the recession. Both the number of full-time and of part-time workers have increased during the same period. When looking at the distribution of jobs among men and women, both project the general downward trend. A comparison of the employment rate of men in the US since 1990 and the employment rate of women since 1990 shows that more men tend to be employed than women.

As of January 2024, the tech startup with the most layoffs was Amazon, with over 27 thousand layoffs, across five separate rounds of layoffs. It was followed by Meta and Google with around 21 thousand and 12 thousand job cuts announced respectively.

Layoffs in in the technology industry

Overall, layoffs across all industries began in 2020 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with tech layoffs increasing in 2022. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, more than 167 thousand employees had been fired worldwide, a record number of job cuts in a single quarter and more than all of the layoffs announced in 2022 combined, marking a harsh start to of 2023 for the tech sector. From retail to finance and education, all sectors are suffering from this widespread downsizing. However, retail tech startups were hit the most, with almost 29 thousand layoffs announced as of September 2023. Most job losses happened in the United States, where tech giants like Amazon, Meta, and Google are based.

Reasons behind increasing tech layoffs

Layoffs in the technology sector started with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when entire cities were in lockdown and mobility was restricted. Although restrictions loosened up in 2021, events such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the downturn in Chinese production, and rising inflation had a significant impact on the tech industry and continue to represent major concerns for tech companies. As a consequence, companies across the world have yet to overcome all economic challenges, examples of which are rising material and labor costs, as well as decreasing profit margins. To address such difficulties, tech companies have appointed business plans. For instance, in the United States, tech firms planned to focus more on consumer retention, automating software, and cutting operating expenses.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate in the information industry in the United States stood at 3.9 percent, increasing from 3.1 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 12 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 six 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 three million 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 45 dollars per hour. This trend towards more favorable employment conditions comes at a time when union membership within the industry declined to 8.4 percent in 2022.

Natural gas prices are the highest in the residential sector. In 2023, U.S. households paid an all time high average of 15.2 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic feet. Commercial natural gas costs were second-highest, while prices in the electric power sector were the lowest, at around four U.S. dollars on average. Prices for the industrial and electric power customers tend to be close to the wholesale electricity price. All sectors saw a year-on-year increase in natural gas prices in 2022 due to the decline in U.S. natural gas production in the first quarter of 2022, which resulted in high withdrawals of natural gas from storage and an increase in average natural gas prices. The growing natural gas market In recent years, the average natural gas prices for all sectors have been increasing in the United States. In 2022, the residential sector witnessed an increase in natural gas prices higher than 2008, while natural gas prices for other sectors were still lower despite increases in average natural gas prices for those sectors. Meanwhile, consumption of natural gas has increased more than any other fuel type following the 2008 Recession. Petroleum consumption has been more variable, and use of coal has significantly decreased. The price of coal and crude oil had already been increasing since the early 2000s, and was further exacerbated by the financial crisis. Around the same time, the cost of natural gas dropped significantly, making it a more viable economic alternative compared to other fossil fuels. This decrease was in part the result of drastically increased production of shale gas as a result of hydraulic fracturing and other techniques.

In 2023, Uber Eats generated approximately 12.2 billion U.S. dollars in global revenue, surpassing food delivery competitors Delivery Hero and DoorDash, whose worldwide revenue amounted to about 11 billion and 8.6 billion U.S. dollars, respectively. Online food delivery boom The tremendous popularity that online food delivery garnered among consumers during the pandemic made many eager to invest in the booming sector. In 2021, the value of online food delivery funding worldwide reached a record-breaking 19.1 billion U.S. dollars. That is nearly double the amount of funding the sector received in the previous year. As of January 2023, Delivery Hero had received the largest amount of funding among the leading food delivery companies at nearly ten billion dollars. In comparison, Just Eat Takeaway and DoorDash received 2.8 billion and 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in funding, respectively. Recession fears As global markets battled an impending recession in 2022, investment and growth in the online food delivery sector came to a grinding halt. In Europe, venture capital investment in food delivery experienced a dramatic decline: nearing seven billion U.S. dollars at the height of the pandemic in 2021, funding dropped to less than 2.5 billion in the following year. The food delivery sector’s recession woes also included several waves of mass layoffs that affected even the biggest players in the industry. As of January 2023, more than 2,300 Gopuff employees lost their jobs. DoorDash announced 1,250 layoffs in November 2022.

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.

As of January 2025, the largest all-time bankruptcy in the United States remained Lehman Brothers. The New York-based investment bank had assets worth 691 billion U.S. dollars when it filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. This event was one of the major points in the timeline of the Great Recession, as it was the first time a bank of its size had failed and had a domino effect on the global banking sector, as well as wiping almost five percent of the S&P 500 in one day. Bank failures in the U.S. In March 2023, for the first time since 2021, two banks collapsed in the United States. Both bank failures made the list of largest bankruptcies in terms of total assets lost: The failure of Silicon Valley Bank amounted to roughly 209 billion U.S. dollars worth of assets lost, while Signature Bank had approximately 110.4 billion U.S. dollars when it collapsed. These failures mark the second- and the third-largest bank failures in the U.S. since 2001. Unprofitable banks in the U.S. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank painted an alarming picture of the U.S. banking industry. In reality, however, the state of the industry was much better in 2022 than in earlier periods of economic downturns. The share of unprofitable banks, for instance, was 3.4 percent in 2022, which was an increase compared to 2021, but remained well below the share of unprofitable banks in 2020, let alone during the global financial crisis in 2008. The share of unprofitable banks in the U.S. peaked in 2009, when almost 30 percent of all FDIC-insured commercial banks and savings institutions were unprofitable.

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 shows the growth rate of the real gross domestic product (GDP) in Japan from 2019 to 2023, with projections up until 2029. In 2023, Japan's GDP increased by 1.68 percent compared to the previous year. For comparison, the GDP growth rate of China had reached about 8.45 percent that same year.Gross domestic product growth rate in JapanGDP serves as one of the most heavily relied upon indicators to gauge the state and health of a country’s economy. GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services that have been produced within a nation’s borders in a given period of time, usually a year. GDP figures allow a more fundamental understanding of a country’s economy. Year-on-year GDP growth acts as a helpful and clear sign of the direction in which a country is moving in economic terms. Real GDP is especially useful and insightful as it takes price changes (inflation and deflation) into account.The gross domestic product growth rate in Japan has been shaky since the recession of 2008 struck the world economy like a bolt out of the blue and Japan is still yet to gain a solid foothold. Despite its ongoing financial predicament however, Japan remains one of the world’s most highly developed economies. The economy of Japan is the third largest worldwide by nominal GDP and the nation has a very active manufacturing sector. It is active in the auto manufacturing sector, the third largest in the world after the United States and China, and has an electronics industry that is counted among the worlds most innovative. Japan can boast many titles, but perhaps the most significant to its future stability is that which relates to its astronomical national debts, currently running at over 200 percent of GDP, roughly 10.5 trillion US dollars.

E-commerce companies selling abroad require rather complex IT infrastructure for operations like taxes management and international shipping. Out of roughly 5,700 e-commerce sites analyzed in a study, over 2,300 used cross-border e-commerce software-as-a-service (SaaS) Zonos. 1,835 e-commerce domains used software provider Global-E, while BorderFree ranked third at 424 sites.

The cross-border struggle Tax calculations, shipping conditions, product restrictions, and a lot of paperwork — companies operating abroad are regularly confronted with difficulties that hinder their operations. According to a survey from 2023, more than one in two supply chain professionals struggled with cross-border e-commerce issues. In most cases, shipments got delayed in customs or were not compliant with customs regulations.

Challenges from the economic scene E-commerce companies operating internationally have big market opportunities, combined with higher risks. The inflation wave from 2022 might still affect cross-border players by 2024. More than that, the subsequent economic recession that hit consumer spending power so hard is going to remain a challenge according to one in two logistics professionals worldwide. On top of the mentioned factors, shipping costs are unlikely to decrease, while the international supply of products is expected to be quite unstable.

The statistic shows the growth of the real gross domestic product (GDP) in India from 2019 to 2024, with projections up until 2029. GDP refers to the total market value of all goods and services that are produced within a country per year. It is an important indicator of the economic strength of a country. Real GDP is adjusted for price changes and is therefore regarded as a key indicator for economic growth. In 2024, India's real gross domestic product growth was at about 7.02 percent compared to the previous year. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in India Recent years have witnessed a shift of economic power and attention to the strengthening economies of the BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The growth rate of gross domestic product in the BRIC countries is overwhelmingly larger than in traditionally strong economies, such as the United States and Germany. While the United States can claim the title of the largest economy in the world by almost any measure, China nabs the second-largest share of global GDP, with India racing Japan for third-largest position. Despite the world-wide recession in 2008 and 2009, India still managed to record impressive GDP growth rates, especially when most of the world recorded negative growth in at least one of those years. Part of the reason for India’s success is the economic liberalization that started in 1991and encouraged trade subsequently ending some public monopolies. GDP growth has slowed in recent years, due in part to skyrocketing inflation. India’s workforce is expanding in the industry and services sectors, growing partially because of international outsourcing — a profitable venture for the Indian economy. The agriculture sector in India is still a global power, producing more wheat or tea than anyone in the world except for China. However, with the mechanization of a lot of processes and the rapidly growing population, India’s unemployment rate remains relatively high.

In 2023, the employment rate in China decreased to around 63.09 percent, from 63.57 percent in the previous year. China is the world’s most populous country and its rapid economic development over the past decades has profited greatly from its large labor market. While the overall working conditions for the Chinese people are improving, the actual size of the working-age population in China has been shrinking steadily in recent years. This is mainly due to a low birth rate in the country.

Economic slowdown – impact on labor market

After decades of rapid development, the world’s second largest economy now seems to have difficulties to boost its economy further. The GDP growth rate indicated a declining trend over the last decade and the number of employed people decreased for the first time since decades in 2015. Under the influence of the global economic downturn, the coronavirus pandemic, and the US-China tensions, many Chinese enterprises are having tough times, which leads to a recession in China’s labor market.

Chances for better employment situation

The long-lasting Sino-U.S. trade war has caused China great loss on its international trade sector, which has been driving China’s economic growth for decades. However, there is also a lot China could improve. First, the potential of domestic demands could be further developed and satisfied with high-quality products. Second, it’s a good timing to eliminate backward industries with low value added, and the high-tech and environment-friendly industries should be further promoted. In addition, China’s market could be more open to services, especially in the financial sector and IT services, to attract more foreign investors. Highly skilled talents should be better valued in the labor market. Efficient vocational education and further education could also help change the structure of China’s labor market.

Funding in artificial intelligence (AI) startups maintained a stable growth in the years before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, increasing from 18 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 to 26 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. Investments into AI-driven startups increased substantially as of 2021, as generative AI emerged and at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it became clear that working from home and cyber solutions were a permanent part of the workplace. Consequently, investments grew from a little over 30 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 to more than 65 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. However, investments in AI startups had been slightly declining in 2022 until the record level of funding for OpenAI and other generative AI investments at the tail end of the year.

Artificial Intelligence investments during COVID-19 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the level of investment rose in nearly all organizations across the globe. The increase was most staggering in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry where nearly 44 percent of companies reported an increase in their use of artificial intelligence. The automotive industry, being one of the more advanced automation industries in the world, also increased its investment by over 40 percent. The automotive industry automation market totaled two billion U.S. dollars in revenue . Artificial Intelligence in business and recession The increased use of AI in the United States is enabling companies to reduce their labor demands and hiring cycles, thus becoming more efficient. Nearly a third of companies have either implemented or begun to implement AI driven solutions within their organization. In the context of energy driven recession faced by Europe - that is impacting the entire world - AI comes to the rescue. Most mobile companies reported an energy saving of 10 to 15 percent. Such small steps are vital in maintaining a robust technological economy in recession times.

In 2023, the inflation rate in Ireland amounted to about 5.21 percent compared to the previous year. Ireland’s inflation is forecast to stabilize over the coming years at around two percent.

The Irish recession

Ireland’s economy was the first one in the EU to collapse and enter a recession during the financial crisis of 2008. Unemployment skyrocketed, gross domestic product declined, many Irish workers emigrated to find jobs elsewhere, and even a decade later, Ireland still struggles to return to its former standards. GDP growth, for example, still fluctuates considerably, just like inflation, and unemployment seems to have only just recovered.

To good health and a stable economy

The Central European Bank recommends a stable inflation around two percent as ideal, and Ireland seems to be on the right track. Most of its GDP is generated by services, for example tourism and financial services. However, the alcohol industry is also an important player: In 2018, more than 3.7 billion U.S. dollars in revenue were reported by the Irish alcoholic drinks market.

There was a significant drop in the average return on assets (ROA) of the EU banking industry in 2020, which was caused by the poor economic conditions due to COVID-19. The ROA of the banking sector in 2020, however, remained well above the value measured during the global financial crisis in 2007 and 2008, and the euro area recession in 2012. As the economy stabilized in 2021, so did the ROA of the banking industry, which stood at 0.46 percent at the end of the year. In 2023, the ROA of the EU banking industry remained relatively high, at 0.68 percent.

Halliburton generated 23.02 billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2023. This was an increase of nearly three billion U.S. dollars from the previous year. In 2020, Halliburton's revenue recorded a record low, as the global oil industry struggled to adjust to steep demand decline and over-production in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Haliburton’s revenue that year was lower than during the 2009 recession and 2016 oil crisis.

Global and national standing

Founded in 1919 in Houston, Texas, Halliburton has a presence in over 70 countries and ranks among the leading oil equipment and services providers worldwide based on revenue. In 2023, it recorded one of its most profitable years in recent years on the back of rising oil production. It also diversified its profile by being awarded a multi-million dollar deal in the Black Sea.

Shale and the world oil glut

After the 2008 financial crisis, hydraulic fracturing was developed to affordably extract shale oil that was once out of reach in the United States and increase domestic production. Halliburton was a key player in rapidly expanding this technology, with the U.S. shale oil production having climbed to an estimated 26.9 trillion cubic feet in 2022. Until 2050, unconventional oil production is expected to continue seeing year-on-year growth and reach over 30 trillion cubic feet in annual production by 2035.

By the end of 2023, total retail sales reached approximately 7.24 trillion U.S. dollars, around one and half a billion U.S. dollar increase from the year before. Retail sales have steadily increased since 2009, as the economy recovered from the downward trend due to the recession following the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and most recently from the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

The United States as retail powerhouse The United States is home to many of the leading retail companies in the world, including Walmart, Costco, and Amazon. Amazon, in particular, has seen extreme levels of growth in revenue in tandem with the increase of e-commerce globally.

The rise of e-commerce and mobile shopping E-commerce is responsible for a growing percentage of total retail sales, partially due to a surge in mobile shopping, with customers increasingly using their mobile devices for various online shopping activities. Smartphones accounted for more retail website visits than desktops or tablets, and matched desktops in generating online shopping orders.