Brazil to counter meltdown with more state aid

The Associated Press, 01/12/2009
Brazil’s president says the government will free up more credit for the private sector to counter a bleak global economic situation that is expected to hit the nation hard in the first quarter. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says Brazil’s National Development Bank will offer the credit. He hasn’t said how [...]

Brazil’s industrial employment has steep decline

The Associated Press, 01/13/2009
Government figures for November show Brazil’s industrial employment index posting its steepest decline in five years. About 60,000 workers lost their jobs. Tuesday’s statement by the IBGE statistics agency says that employment in the industrial sector fell by 0.6 percent from the month earlier _ the largest drop since the 0.7 percent [...]

Brazil GM Workers Protest 802 Layoffs With Brief Work Stoppage

Dow Jones, 01/13/2009
Workers for General Motors in Brazil on Tuesday protested the auto manufacturer’s sacking of 802 employees because of the global economic crisis and demanded they be reinstated. The Metalworkers Union covering GM’s Sao Jose dos Campos plant outside Sao Paulo said the workers downed tools for an hour at the start of their [...]

Why Latin America is better prepared to ride out slump

Tyler Bridges | McClatchy Newspapers, 01/13/2009
The deteriorating global economy will end five boom years in Latin America in 2009, analysts now believe. Latin American companies are shedding workers and having trouble getting loans to finance exports. Governments are likely to run budget deficits after producing surpluses, immigrants to the U.S. and Europe are expected to [...]