Tough austerity measures and harsh labour reforms are hurting employment markets globally, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Unemployment figures are forecast to increase at a rate of 6.1 percent to 202 million during 2012. The organisation found that employment levels are not expected to return to pre-crisis levels until the end of 2016. The report said that fiscal austerity had “devastating consequences” for employment and warned that unless governments combined their austerity schemes with job creation they were taking the risk of fuelling public unrest. This was confirmed by the World of Work Report 2012, which showed that an estimated 196 million people were out of work globally at the end of 2011.

Standard & Poor’s late on Thursday cut Spain’s sovereign credit rating by two notches due to “a challenging fiscal outlook” for the nation. The ratings agency downgraded the country from A to BBB+. The drop reflects the agency’s views on “the mounting risks to Spain’s net general government debt as a share of GDP in light of the contracting economy, in particular due to the deterioration in the budget deficit trajectory for 2011-2015,” S&P said. S&P cited concerns about the implementation of Spain’s €27bn austerity programme and the likeliness of its government having to provide “further fiscal support” to bail out the country’s troubled banking sector.

South Korea’s GDP grew 2.8 percent year-on-year for the first quarter 2012, slipping to its weakest level in two and a half years, according to figures published by the central bank on Thursday. The country’s economy expanded in the quarter by 0.9 percent thanks to gains in exports and improved domestic demand. The consumer confidence index climbed to 104 in April, the highest since May last year. GDP results come just a month after the central bank reduced the country’s growth forecast from the previous 3.7 percent to 3.5 percent for 2012.

Europe’s largest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, on Tuesday said it has come to an agreement to buy Mozambique-focused Cove Energy for £1.12bn, according to a company statement. Shell secured the deal after it increased its offer for Cove Energy buy levitra online from a previous 195 pence to 220 pence a share to match a competing offer from Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production. Cove put itself up for sale in January following a large natural gas discovery off the coast of Mozambique. It now owns a 8.5 percent stake in the Rovuma Area 1 natural gas block, which may hold an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of fuel. Shares in Cove rose 2.5 percent, to 226.7, following the news.

Dutch finance minister Jan Kees de Jager cut short US-based IMF austerity talks to return home after the governing coalition in The Hague failed to reach an agreement on deficit limits which were imposed by the EU. De Jager will attempt to reassure ratings agencies that he is able to put the country’s budget back on track after Geert Wilders withdrew his party’s support for the minority government in parliament. The country is in danger of losing its AAA rating if no agreement is reached. Wilders rejected budget cuts, saying he “will not bow to dictators and Brussels’ bureaucrats.” The move has brought the nation’s government to near collapse and is likely to precipitate early elections. The Dutch government is due to submit its 2013 budget to the EU by April 30.