China moved to curtail bank lending on Friday for the second time in a month in the latest effort to cool down its supercharged economy.

For the first time ever unemployment in the European Union has reached 10 per cent of the active population, report says.

With the economic recession easing its grip, a survey shows American companies are planning to hire more employees in the new year with IT and financial sector leading the pack.

Making a strong case for credit access a "human right", Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday said the global economic crisis offers a big opportunity to rebuild and recast the financial institutions.

Indicating the fragility of its recovery process, the Japanese economy expanded just 1.3 per cent in the third quarter, much lower than estimated.