13/02/2013 World Business Report

News. Now for the latest financial President Obama outlines his plans

to boost economic growth but will his formula of increased spending -

upping the minimum wage and a revamp of the tax code - get the

political backing? Fasten your seat-belts - Peugeot will reveal

just how tough things are as the French car maker tries to save

money through layoffs and factory closures. Welcome to World Business

Report. I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the programme - South Korea's

unemployment rate hit a 7-month high in January. The government

blames tens of thousands of college graduates flooding the job market.

President Obama has outlined his plans to get the US economy on a

strong growth path. In the first State of the Union address since

winning re-election, he made many promises - some we've heard before

- but his overall appeal was to help the struggling middle classes.

Are a growing economy that creates good middle class jobs. That should

be the start it guides our efforts. How does he propose to do that.

Here is a look at his key points on the economy. Obama talked about

boosting the manufacturing by creating hubs that will work in

partnership with the private sector and create jobs in the high tech

industry. He also talked about working with Europe to increase

trade. Another proposal to lift households out of poverty is to

increase the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour. Obama called on an

increase in spending to fix roads, bridges and update schools -

something he wants to achieve without increasing the budget

deficit. And he touched on the hot potato of tax reform - reducing

corporation tax - making the system easier and fairer - calling on the

rich to pay more. Michelle Fleury is in New York and has been

following President Obama's speech. What did you make of it? It is a

top job. We heard him not one what he hopes to do, his agenda for the

next four years. An ambitious plan to try to restore what we have seen

in America, and increasingly difficult life for middle class

Americans. One of the striking things he talked about was raising

the minimum wage. The idea that those on a low wage cannot earn a

bit more and reduce income inequality which has been a hot

potato topping care over the last few years. All this, while they

sound great on paper, his hands are tied behind his back because he has

very little money to spend and in his speech he said he will do all

he has planned without increasing the deficit. It is a tall order,

but there was a lot in there to help manufacturing. He talked about

bringing companies like Apple back to America. He talked on closer

ties to Europe as well? Let us start with manufacturing. In the

audience, the boss of Apple was beaming as President Obama

mentioned that Apple was bringing manufacturer and jobs back to

America. We have heard this before from the President. He's talked

about restoring American manufacturing but that truth of the

matter is that although some jobs of returning, we are not talking

significant numbers. Most Americans work in the service sector.

Interesting to see how much of the difference this does make. One of

the initiatives they're focusing on his technology centres, the idea

being that manufacturing in the future will be more highly skilled.

The other the area of interest was trading, he wanted to talk to the

US and Europe. Europe is already a huge trading partner for the United

States. There is $2.7 billion of trade between these regions on a

daily basis. Businesses on both sides of the Atlantic may welcome

what they have heard but the key will be in the detail. Can these

regions get over some of the disagreements they may have,

example on tariffs. Today is the day that French carmaker Peugeot

has been dreading - the day it releases its annual financial

results. Since the company has been losing a quarter of a billion

dollars a month, they're unlikely to be anything better than awful.

Peugeot is trying to stem the losses by closing one of its

factories and axing 8,000 jobs. But their plans are being opposed by

France's most militant trade union, as Jeremy Howell reports. For weeks,

members of this union have been picketing the Peugeot works make

Paris. Peugeot wants to close it down, redeploying up the stop and

laying off the rest. Most of the trade unions here have accepted the

move but this union is to find. With one to keep the factory open.

We will not wreck the factory. The ones wrecking the place are the

directors. The boss wants to close down the factory. Cook show is in

crisis. It is losing $250 million a month. Last year its global sales

fell by 16%. In 1983, it wasn't a similar state to today but then it

launched a car which went on to become Europe's best selling car.

It saved the company financially. Recently it has bought out its

successor which is currently Europe's 7th biggest-selling car.

Can it to turn pressure's fortunes around? Now there are so many good

small cars. Lots of small cars coming from Korea, all the

manufacturers are concentrating on that segment of the market. The

chance of one cartooning the fortunes of the company car round a

slimmer than they used to be. wants to make savings from the tie-

up with General Motors to share production and development

facilities but Opel is also a troubled company. Opel has lost

more money over the last decade more than any other company in

Europe. Their other two weakest car defensive alliance between two

weaklings, like to dance leaning against each other for support.

show's managers promised to inject new life into the firm, restoring

it to profit by 2015. It is difficult to see how they can,

given Europe's sinking car market. The South Korea released its latest

labour figures and its unemployment rate hit a 7-month high in January.

Mariko Oi is at our Asia Business hub in Singapore. Of why are the

number of people out of work going on? It is because of tens of

thousands of college graduates joining the labour market. Even

though when you say the jobless rate has hit the highest level in

seven months, it is still relatively low compared the United

States or Europe at 3.2%. When you look at the figures for younger

people, between 25 and 29, the jobless rate is much higher. It is

double the national average at 6.4%. As you were talking to Michel

earlier, job-creation was something President Obama took about a lot in

his speech, and it is something many Asian countries share as well.

It is one of any economic issues the new president will have to face

when she takes office next month. In other news US cable provider

Comcast is to buy the part of TV and film company NBC Universal it

doesn't already own for $16.7 billion. Comcast will buy the 49%

stake in the joint venture from US industrial conglomerate General

Electric. As part of the deal, it will also buy the well-known 30

Rockefeller Plaza building in New York and another property for $1.4

billion. Quite a week this year, the Chinese New year celebrations

continue for Shanghai and Hong Kong. Some of the share markets closed

for Asia. Japan seeing a 1.2% fall, probably on profit taking. Japan