:00:02. > :00:05.Norodom Sihanouk. The monarch died of a heart attack in October last
:00:05. > :00:07.year. He was revered for leading the country to independence from
:00:07. > :00:17.France. Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now
:00:17. > :00:19.
:00:19. > :00:26.for the latest financial news with World Business Report. Is America's
:00:26. > :00:28.recovery still on track? Global markets await job numbers for
:00:28. > :00:36.January after a surprise contraction in the US economy at
:00:36. > :00:39.the end of last year. Plus, staff at Spanish airline Iberia say
:00:39. > :00:49.they'll strike over plans to cut up to 4,500 jobs. Bosses call the
:00:49. > :00:53.
:00:53. > :00:56.shake-up a fight for survival. Welcome to World Business Report.
:00:56. > :01:01.In a minute we'll have more on those looming job cuts at Spanish
:01:01. > :01:07.airline Iberia. Until this week there was a sense of optimism
:01:07. > :01:09.building about the improving health of the world's biggest economy. But
:01:09. > :01:12.Wednesday's news that US GDP, gross domestic product, unexpectedly
:01:12. > :01:22.shrank in the three months to December has been something of a
:01:22. > :01:27.
:01:27. > :01:29.wake-up call. Official US employment figures, known as the
:01:29. > :01:31.non-farm payroll, are always closely watched by global financial
:01:31. > :01:34.markets but today's data for January is attracting far more
:01:34. > :01:36.attention than usual. What are we expecting? Most economists
:01:36. > :01:39.anticipate that employers will have added around 160,000 jobs in
:01:39. > :01:41.January. That's not enough to make a significant dent on the
:01:41. > :01:47.unemployment rate which currently stands at 7.8%. Michelle Fleury has
:01:47. > :01:53.this report from New York. Lines at places like this are not
:01:53. > :01:57.getting any shorter, more than 12 million Americans are out of work.
:01:57. > :02:04.For those whose benefits and savings are running out, there is a
:02:04. > :02:10.sense of urgency. US employers are hiring, but not fast enough. Make
:02:10. > :02:14.no mistake there will be some real damage. With Washington locked in a
:02:14. > :02:19.fight over spending and the budget, it looks like more trouble ahead.
:02:19. > :02:24.Politicians will not get out of the way. We are going to have a
:02:24. > :02:30.consolidation in the Budget in the first half of this year. That will
:02:30. > :02:36.keep us growing slowly in the next quarter. Some manufacturers are
:02:36. > :02:41.hiring, but the industry is losing its spark. If more Americans are to
:02:41. > :02:48.find jobs they need have something to make. That is why the latest
:02:48. > :02:53.government report on growth is so troubling. America's economic
:02:53. > :02:56.recovery remains precarious as reflected in the latest consumer
:02:57. > :03:02.confidence data. The message does not seem to have got through on
:03:02. > :03:07.Wall Street, stocks are performing very strongly. Investors are
:03:07. > :03:12.looking past the obstacles in the near term put forward by Washington
:03:12. > :03:17.DC and seeing the resilience of the market economy. One example of that
:03:17. > :03:21.resilience is America's housing market, which is finally recovering.
:03:21. > :03:28.Once a trouble-spot for the US economy, it may be the source of
:03:28. > :03:31.much-needed jobs and growth in the months ahead. Staff at Spanish
:03:31. > :03:41.airline Iberia say they will go on strike over plans to cut up to
:03:41. > :03:46.
:03:46. > :03:49.4,500 jobs and reduce salaries. Bosses and union representatives
:03:49. > :03:52.have been in talks this week but they ended last night without
:03:52. > :03:56.agreement despite a management offer to reduce the level of job
:03:56. > :03:59.and salary cuts. Iberia lost well over $300 million last year amid
:03:59. > :04:03.competition from low cost airlines and slumping passenger demand in
:04:03. > :04:05.the recession-hit Spanish market. Parent company IAG, the
:04:05. > :04:11.International Airlines Group, which was formed from Iberia's merger
:04:11. > :04:16.with British Airways says it is in a fight for survival. John
:04:16. > :04:21.Strickland is an aviation industry consultant. In light of those
:04:21. > :04:31.numbers, were you surprised by the quite harsh objectives are being
:04:31. > :04:34.
:04:34. > :04:42.put on the table by Iberia to its unions? Spain is one of the most
:04:42. > :04:48.difficult markets in Europe. We have seen low-cost airlines cut
:04:48. > :04:54.capacity in Spain. There was a need to make radical changes. British
:04:54. > :05:00.Airways is profitable, it is a company that has been through its
:05:00. > :05:07.share of pain over the last couple of beers. I was not surprised that
:05:07. > :05:14.management said they had to make those changes. Were you surprised
:05:14. > :05:21.that the unions rejected these reduced demands to cut less jobs?
:05:21. > :05:29.We are facing another strike. not. Iberia has been insulated in
:05:29. > :05:34.the past. It has not had to face up to its problems. However, a weak
:05:34. > :05:44.market has worsened things. There can be a sense of disbelief. We
:05:44. > :05:47.
:05:47. > :05:55.have seen the pilots' union, they feel under threat. They are very
:05:55. > :06:01.unhappy about a low-cost subsidiary called Iberia Express. No-one wants
:06:01. > :06:06.to change. No-one wants to see their terms and conditions change.
:06:06. > :06:16.How much is this about that low- cost airline? It was hugely
:06:16. > :06:19.
:06:19. > :06:29.controversial. How much is it about Iberia being a Spanish company?
:06:29. > :06:31.
:06:31. > :06:36.mentioned Ryanair and easyJet is in big plays in Spain. -- being big
:06:36. > :06:46.players. They have greater efficiency. Iberia cannot carry on
:06:46. > :06:58.
:06:58. > :07:05.making loss-making for -- flights. As you say, there is a national
:07:05. > :07:15.element to this as well. Emotions running high. We do not know when
:07:15. > :07:25.
:07:25. > :07:27.the strike will happen, but we expect it later next month. Markets
:07:27. > :07:34.in Asia are weighing up some disappointing data this morning
:07:34. > :07:37.about China's vast manufacturing sector. The official Purchasing
:07:37. > :07:39.Managers' Index, which gives an insight into factory activity, came
:07:39. > :07:41.in weaker than expected in January although it still showed an
:07:41. > :07:51.improvement. China reported a slowdown in its manufacturing
:07:51. > :08:06.
:08:06. > :08:11.growth. The PMI fell in January. The HSBC index rose during January.
:08:11. > :08:21.A bit of volatility. Analysts saying that sort of volatility is
:08:21. > :08:22.
:08:22. > :08:32.fairly normal. These lacklustre numbers point to some of the
:08:32. > :08:37.
:08:37. > :08:42.challenges China's new leader's face in sparing economic growth.
:08:42. > :08:50.Manufacturing activity usually flows around the Chinese media. We
:08:50. > :09:00.see that in February. -- Chinese New Year. There is a colder than
:09:00. > :09:05.expected winter which will have an impact. That is having an impact on
:09:05. > :09:15.the markets. We saw Hong Kong and South Korea also showing some
:09:15. > :09:17.
:09:17. > :09:20.weakness. Thank you. America's biggest oil companies Exxon Mobil
:09:20. > :09:26.and Chevron report results later. They're both expected to say
:09:26. > :09:29.profits rose in the last three months of the year. On Thursday
:09:29. > :09:32.European rival Shell said its annual profits fell some 14% last
:09:32. > :09:36.year despite an improvement in the final quarter. The oil giants are
:09:36. > :09:39.trying to chase growth amid flat market prices for crude oil and gas.
:09:39. > :09:46.Shares in Japanese electronics firm Sharp are on the rise after reports
:09:46. > :09:49.the company returned to profit in the last three months of last year.
:09:49. > :09:54.The results would be a welcome boost for the struggling TV maker,
:09:54. > :09:57.which warned in November it was worried about its future survival.
:09:57. > :10:00.Once a titan of the electronics world Sharp has seen its fortunes
:10:00. > :10:03.tumble in recent years as it struggles to compete with low cost
:10:03. > :10:08.rivals from South Korea and China. Both Sharp and fellow television