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The financial center of New York is on a diet. After reducing the 25% bonus in 2011, it should delete 4300 jobs this year. The New York Stock Exchange

Employees' bonuses on Wall Street fell by around 25% in 2011 compared to the previous year, according to an estimate released Monday by an independent agency in New York.

"We believe that the benefits of Wall Street totaled $ 10.5 billion in 2011, a level well below that of recent years, and that bonuses for the year fell 25%," says a news agency audit of the City of New York.

If compensation practices had changed since the 2008 crisis, with all or most bonus blocked for several years and their payment spread over time, generous bonuses had continued to be paid up to date on New York. Bank executives' bonuses on Wall Street in 2010 had even begun to rise.

The CEO of the investment bank Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein saw his pay triple for example in 2010 to two million. The other four main executives of the bank had also received the same salary increase while the performance of Goldman Sachs had been poor in 2010 (including net income had declined 37% and the turnover was eroded).

Moreover, Wall Street is expected to lose many jobs in 2012, according to the agency. "We believe that Wall Street will eliminate 4,300 jobs this year and wages, including bonuses, decrease by 7.5%," added the independent organization funded by public funds. The paper explains these predictions by "the changing environment in the financial sector", the economic slowdown caused by "problems in the euro area" and "rising oil prices caused by tensions in the Middle East."

For these reasons, the Agency Audit of New York lowered its forecasts for job creation in all sectors: it table more than 22,000 jobs created in New York in 2012, against 38,800 estimated in December and 44,400 in 2013 (against 50,000).

High labor costs does not rhyme with high unemployment and does not necessarily mean poor economic performance, according to a study by INSEE Wednesday in the time left and right clash violently on the "social VAT".

The Department of Labor will release the unemployment figures Friday of January. End of 2011, the number of unemployed people on French territory, all regions and categories, exceeded 4.5 million, its highest since 1999.

Across the Rhine, the unemployment rate last month was at its lowest level since reunification in 1990.

Labor costs in Germany was also one of the highest in Europe in some industries four years ago, an economic fact that has not prevented e to view the best export performance of the euro area and an unemployment rate among the lowest in the Old Continent. 

At two months of the first round of presidential elections, the government, which regularly cites Berlin as an example, has made the reduction of labor costs one of its priorities é ; ECONOMIC by deciding to reduce employer contributions in exchange for a higher rate of VAT, a measure criticized by unions and the opposition who fear a degradation of power purchase.

In a study entitled "Employment and Wages", especially on the evolution of the price of labor in Europe, INSEE found that the cost of labor in some sectors Manufacturers across the Rhine was the highest in the Old Continent. 

"This is particularly true in the automotive industry, where (in 2008, ie) it is 29% higher than that observed in France: 43.14 EUR (per hour) against 33 , 38 euros. "

Across the industry, labor costs were substantially similar in both countries, around 33 euros per hour on average, although it was higher Germany (33.37 euros) and France (33.16 euros).

REPORT OF FORCE?

However, the trend reversed in services where France four years ago recorded an hourly labor costs of 32.08 euros against 26.81 euros in Germany. 

Especially, unit labor costs as a whole rose a much stronger in France than in Germany between 2002 and 2012 (1.9% per year against 0.1%) and lower gains productivity (+0.8% against +1.2%), as calculated by the Credit Agricole, a cause for concern for Paris.

The budget minister Valérie Pécresse has reiterated Tuesday that lower labor costs in the name of "price competitiveness" French would create between 75,000 and 120,000 jobs, provided that businesses play the game and favor the recovery of productive investment to increase their margins.

Sweden, Denmark and Belgium are the three countries of the European Union where, in 2008, the labor cost was highest in the industry as in services. Portugal, Greece and Spain are where it was lowest.

Therefore, improving the "competitiveness" could have effects far less positive than expected if it would only cover costs without concern more widely in productivity, quality ;, innovation and training.

Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pierre Lellouche logically touted the creation of social VAT in early February and found that France could balance its trade with by 2017, after showing a record trade deficit in 2011. 

In the hope of improving the productivity of French companies, the government gives one month to the social partners to agree a framework for agreements "majority" in companies on issues relating to working time, organization or overtime.

Nicolas Sarkozy stressed that such agreements would be binding on the law, which bury the de facto 35 hours. Without compromise, a bill would be tabled in Parliament at risk to engage the executive in a tense power struggle on the eve of presidential and parliamentary elections.

PagesJaunes intends to forego the dividend in 2012 as a precaution in order to give maximum flexibility to consider options to refinance its debt, said Wednesday its director gen ; eral Jean-Pierre Remy.

Heavily in debt, the publisher of printed directories and online, announced Wednesday he will propose to the unusually next general meeting of shareholders to pass the dividend for in 2011.

"The current market conditions are not particularly favorable (…) and therefore we consider that we must maintain maximum flexibility in the short term in our choice of financing options," said Jean-Pierre Remy. 

The shareholder of PagesJaunes, Mediannuaire, supports "full" this initiative is in no way representative of the political future of the group's dividend, he said ;.

The leader of the French group said he was "serene" about the group's ability to refinance the last installment of its debt, which matures in November 2013, while pre , specifying that the formal process had not yet been committed.

"The scenarios are very wide, very open. We want to give it time," said Jean-Pierre Remy, adding that the refinancing would likely over the next 12 months.

French banks, which issue from their annual results on Wednesday, this year will count on a surprise guest, Francois Hollande, who plans to tighten regulations in the banking sector, threatening at the same time the potential rebound in banking stocks on the stock market.

In its program for the presidential election, the Socialist candidate proposes to separate the activities of deposits and capital market activities of French banks, like of what was decided at the end of last year the UK to reform its banking system after the crisis. 

If the authorities and French banks reject outright the idea of ​​separating banking, financial analysts have begun to incorporate this assumption into their projections of results banks, and taking note of polls giving the favorite Socialist candidate in the polls for the presidential election.

Francois Hollande, who poses as "adversary" of finance, also plans to increase 15% taxation on the profits of banks and create a tax on all financial transactions. 

The financial intermediary KBW estimated for example that, cumulatively, the three reforms envisaged by Francois Hollande could reduce 10% average annual results for French banking groups, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Natixis and Societe Generale, or a total cost of 1.7 billion euros.

"These measures are a little confused from our point of view and with such worries, if the rally continues, I doubt that French banks is the preferred choice of investors," said Marco Bruzzo, Chief Operating Officer of Mirabaud Gestion. 

"The banks say that the separation of no use, it's stupid, but it would be interesting to know their real arguments against this reform," said an analyst based in Paris who did not want to be named.

"My feeling is that banks do not have that much," he says.

THREAT ON THE STOCK MARKET REBOUND

The European Commission has now put in place in November a working group on the structure of banks. This group will discuss in particular the question of the separation of banking activities and its report is expected later this year.

To justify their opposition to separation, the French bankers and the Bank of France to retreat behind the recent failures of the British bank Northern Rock and Lehman Brothers.

Analysts agree the coup use conferences to present the results of the banks to question their leaders on the issue and the consequences of a separation of banking activities already undertaken e across the Channel where the impact is estimated between 3.5 and 5 billion pounds (about 4 to 9.5 billion euros). 

"A movement towards this type of system (UK Ed) would certainly have a significant impact on profitability," said Marie-Pierre Peillon, director of financial analysis and non-financial at Groupama Asset Management .

Analysts also believe that the context of presidential campaign and uncertainty about the election's outcome will affect the share price of French banks, already engaged in strengthening their plans capital to meet new prudential standards and restructure their operations in the banking and investment banking.

"I think the performance (market, Ed) French banks will be capped as we will not know the outcome of presidential elections," remarked one analyst in Paris. "To go higher, you need better visibility."

Slaughtered on the stock market last year due to the exacerbation of the financial crisis, which forced the bank Dexia to dismantling, the French bank stocks have benefited from spurts of hope on the rescue of Greece and exceptional liquidity provided by the European Central Bank to bounce.

SocGen shows a gain of over 30% since the beginning of the year after losing nearly 60% of its value in 2011.

BNP Paribas will open Wednesday the ball bank results in France, followed the next day by Societe Generale.

Analysts polled by Reuters expect the drafting of an average 63% drop in net income for the BNP in the fourth quarter and 78% for SocGen. 

Credit Agricole and Natixis publish their results on Feb. 23. Credit Agricole SA warned in December that it would be a loss for the year 2011 and he would come to 2.5 billion euros of writedowns in its accounts of the fourth quarter.

In Europe, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse have surprised markets by posting accounts into the red in the fourth quarter. and

Industrial production in France fell 1.4% in December, after rising 1.1% in November, according to data published by INSEE Friday.

Production of manufacturing industry also falls down 1.4% after 1.4% last month.

All 20 economists polled by Reuters on average expected industrial production down 0.8% in December, with estimates ranging from -1.5% to 0.5%.

The number of manufacturing output in November was revised, INSEE has announced a 1.3% increase in first.

Over the last three months of 2011, production decreased in manufacturing by 0.5% over the previous quarter and the entire industry fell by 0.8 %. 

Production is declining in other industrial products (-0.9%) and in electrical, electronic, computer, machinery (-1.1%).

It increases by 1.6% in transport equipment.

Production increased even more in the coking and refining (+4.6%).

Over one year, manufacturing output for the last three months is up 2.1%.

Over the same period, production increases in other industrial products (1.3%), in electrical, electronic, computer, machinery (+1.1%) and transport equipment (+3.1%).

In the coking and refining, the increase is much higher (20.2%), INSEE noting that production was unusually low in October 2010 because of strikes in the sector.

Chrysler saw its car sales in the U.S. jump 44% in January, thanks to his Jeep, while his great rival General Motors has lost ground. Chrysler sales have far exceeded the expectations of some analysts who had forecast an increase of 35%, confirming the return unlikely the smallest U.S. automaker, three years after depo t balance. By contrast GM, the largest U.S. carmaker, has announced a 6% drop in sales in its home market last month, while Ford Motor saw sales increase by 7% over the same period, supported by the success of its Focus small cars, whose sales rose 60%. So far, January sales are part of an annual rate of 13.7 million for the entire market, exceeding the target of 13.5 million some analysts. These sales are increasing, even as automakers limit the financial incentives, which was their primary strategy before the restructuring of 2009. "The days when we were looking at any price to gain market share is over and most manufacturers are focusing on what is really important, ie on profitability," TrueCare says analyst Jesse Toprak. 11 years average age for GM, which sold 167,962 vehicles, the market was expecting a decline of 9% compared to January 2011, when the group had made offers. The group expects a car market in the United States between 13.5 and 14 million units in 2012, while the American branch of Volkswagen, for its part provides a market of 13.7 million over the year. Aging cars, which are now reaching a record average age of 11, promote the increase of new car sales, U.S. households back on the market after having postponed their purchases during the crisis. Ford, No. 2 in the U.S., sold 136,710 cars, up slightly behind the expectations of some analysts polled by Reuters. VW and Nissan Motor Co also announced an increase in sales in the U.S. market. VW's sales rose 48% to 27,209 vehicles, supported by the arrival of its Passat sedan, and Nissan rose 10.4% to 79,313 units. During a conference call, Jonathan Browning, director of VW in America, estimated that U.S. consumer confidence improved, but not at a steady pace. Chrysler released Wednesday its first annual profit since 1997. The group was No. 4 in sales in the U.S., behind GM, Ford and Toyota. Sales of Toyota in the U.S. rose 7.5% in January to 124,540 units. By 1900 GMT, the GM shares gained 1.54% to 24.39 dollars while Ford lost 0.64% to 12.34 dollars while the S & P 500 advanced 1.15%.

European shares rebound in early trade Tuesday, pending the announcement at 14:30 (Paris time) revised figures for U.S. growth in the third quarter after heavy fall the previous day, but concerns about the financial position Europe and the U.S. remain strong.

At 9:03, the CAC 40 index advance 1.37% to 2935.01 points after falling 3.41% yesterday.

The Milan Stock Exchange gained 1.35% (-4.74% Monday), the London 0.83% (-2.62% yesterday) and the place of Frankfurt 1.1% (-3.35% Monday ).

The Franco-Belgian bank Dexia said Wednesday it has decided to increase the capital of its French subsidiary Dexia Credit Local (DCL) after write-downs that the group had to save his Greek government bonds.

Dexia had to spend a total depreciation of 2.3 billion euros 2.9 billion exposure to Greece following the Greek debt restructuring agreed by the European Union with the private sector.

In total, Dexia said in the first nine months of the year, the impact of disposals, depreciation and provisions on its books reached 10.513 billion euros.

INTERIM STATEMENT

Dexia has not released financial results Wednesday, strictly speaking, but "an interim statement" taking stock of its financial position following the split of the current group.

First victim of bank scale of the crisis of European sovereign debt, Dexia should remain ultimately in the form of a holding company listed in Brussels which will combine the activities of financial services to the public sector in France, Spain, Italy and Germany.

EU leaders welcomed the pledges made rigorous by Silvio Berlusconi. But in Brussels, we expect that the Italian promises with deeds. The Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi at the European Summit of October 23, 2011

The commitments offered by Italy Wednesday to clean up its finances were judged "satisfactory" with its partners in the euro area, provided they are implemented, but this success was overshadowed by a controversy with Germany. "The EU summit welcomed the commitment of Italy. These ambitious measures to liberalize the economy must be applied," said the President of the European Union Herman Van Rompuy, after a summit of the area euro in Brussels.

"Yes we are happy," confirmed the Head of French State Nicolas Sarkozy during his press conference. "But we expect their achievement," he warned.Silvio Berlusconi has assured of his intention to run. "If we do not respect our commitments, we will no longer credible," he admitted leaving the summit. He promised to present a timetable for the adoption of the measures announced by the Italian Parliament. The head of the Italian government has incurred the wrath of Chancellor Angela Merkel ensuring obtaining apologized for his behavior at the EU summit last Sunday, what curtly denied the spokesman of the Chancellor.

"There was no excuse because there were no grounds to apologize," said Steffen Seibert on his twitter account. When asked about confidence in Silvio Berlusconi, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkorzy had exchanged amused smiles before answering. The film of this scene of 19 seconds was repeatedly broadcast in the media and Italian Silvio Berlusconi had felt humiliated.The conclusions of the detail a series of measures to be implemented in two years to reduce the huge debt of 1,900 billion euros, or 120% of GDP currently to an amount representing 113% of GDP in 2014.

The Italian leader is now under surveillance by the European Union. The Commission is invited "to monitor in detail the measures and monitor their implementation," said Merkel, adding that Rome had committed to provide "all information in detail." A balanced budget will be achieved in 2013 due to austerity measures totaling 60 billion euros by 2014. Italy has pledged to outline a plan to revive growth by 15 November.The retirement age as part of "old age" will be raised to 67 years from 2026 and a plan for disposal of public assets for at least five billion per year will be conducted over three years.

The growth plan aims to liberalize the Italian economy by opening markets to competition and to support business and innovation through tax deductions. The labor market will be reformed including "new rules of dismissals for economic reasons in the employment contracts of indefinite duration." All these commitments are recorded in the summit conclusions.The head of the Italian Government had been put up against the wall Sunday by its European partners, which required firm commitments on reform and a clear timetable for implementation in order to reassure the markets and to ensure that Italy is the next victim of the debt crisis, which would jeopardize the entire euro area.

The first results of union elections in the State civil service reflects a surge of reformist organizations (FOR, UNSA and CFDT). Three million will elect officers on October 20 their union representatives.

The first results of union elections in the State Civil Service, made public Friday, reflect a surge of reformist organizations according to experts, that link including the growth of FO and UNSA and erosion of the CGT. The day after the election for which about two million state employees were called to elect their representatives in the equivalent bodies in the private councils, the Minister of Public Service, François Sauvadet unveiled interim results.

According to these results do not include the votes of Finance (165,000 subscribers) and Justice (75,000 subscribers), the FSU continues to lead with 19.1%, followed by FP that collects 16.2% of the vote. The latest results placed the two organizations, respectively 20.6% and 15.4%. For Anne Baltazar (FP), "if the results are logical, it holds the rope for first place in the State Civil Service", the FSU is not present in Finance.

A participation rate of 51%

"So far so good, the results are good," has carried out its Groison Bernadette (FSU), noting that the organization consolidated his first place in Education. The UNSA, who was fourth and climbed into third position (15.3%), greets his part "satisfactory results" show that "the strong commitment to our agents and reformist humanist values."Then come the CFDT (14.5%), a "uphill" as one of its representatives Brigitte Jumel, the CGT (12.8%), Partners (6.2%), GSC (5.8 %) and CFTC (3.9%).

In presenting these results, François Sauvadet said the turnout of all elections was 51.2%, which is affected by the worst score in Education (40.4%). Apart from this rate "not extraordinary", Guy Groux, a researcher at Sciences-Po, points out that these initial results should be treated with caution as they fail Finance, nearly 15% of registered voters.He noted, however, that "unions are not necessarily favored in the private, such as FSU, UNSA, or FOR, take their game completely," pointing in particular a "sharp increase in Unsa".

The CFTC under the carpet

Bernard Briere, Institute of Economic and Social Research (IRES), for its part is a "rise of the reformist pole" (Unsa, CFDT and FOR) and a hypothesis: "a call for negotiations." For Bernard Vivier, the Higher Institute of Labour, "the surprise is for FOR, CGT while eroding a bit", the result of Finance, however, may change the situation. For unions, which defend their right to negotiate but also their means, the stakes of this election is crucial because the rules of representation have changed the law of 5 July 2010 on the renovation of social dialogue.

Representative to stay, organizations must obtain seats in the various bodies, forcing them to cross thresholds ranging from 3% to 7.5% (against 10% in the private sector). Based on preliminary results, Mr. Vivier, believes that the CFTC passes "certainly at the door," while it should be checked for the GSC. Mr. Briere notes that "small unions have a little progress, but have not achieved what it takes to be representative." Hacquin Vincent, head CGC, however, ensures that the organization was representative, noting that "no one goes so far."

The results of the economic ministries are expected in the evening on Friday. The officers of the Department of Justice that will vote Nov. 22 due to quirks in the preparation.The results for the public hospital where a million workers were also asked to vote Thursday, are expected in early next week.