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Human Times
North America
Analysts question U.S. jobs data after unexpected hospitality employment decline

A growing number of Wall Street economists and analysts are questioning the reliability of the latest U.S. employment report after the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Thursday that the leisure and hospitality sector lost 61,000 jobs in June, despite the economic boost expected from the FIFA World Cup. Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group, described the data as "misleading" and said it should be disregarded, arguing there was "zero chance" the hospitality industry shed jobs while the U.S. hosted one of the world's largest sporting events. Similar concerns were raised by economists at Pimco, RSM, UBS, and EY-Parthenon, who pointed to the sector's reported losses as inconsistent with broader economic activity. Bank of America data showed card spending increased 5.4% year over year during the tournament's group stage, with spending by visitors rising 17.4%, suggesting stronger demand for hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. Analysts said the broader labor market still appears to reflect cautious hiring rather than widespread layoffs, and some suggested that, excluding the unexpected hospitality decline, the employment data would have indicated a steadier trend in job growth.

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Human Times
UK
Three in four London jobs are 'under threat' from AI

Workers in London are most at risk of job losses due to AI, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The study reveals that three-quarters of jobs in the capital are "highly exposed" to AI, meaning that more than half of the daily tasks involved can be performed by the technology. The report also found the UK is lagging behind the EU, US, Canada and Australia in growth of AI hiring, while vacancies in AI-exposed occupations have fallen since the pandemic. Although AI's impact on young workers currently appears limited, the OECD said graduates face growing pressure from automation and offshoring. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: "AI presents real opportunities - from driving economic growth to improving public services - but also brings with it new challenges, including the potential impact on London's labour market." He warned earlier this year that AI could become a "weapon of mass destruction of jobs" if not properly controlled or used for "positive transformation."

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Human Times
Europe
Fears that 'EU Inc' could erode labour rights

Unions and lawmakers fear that the European Union's new proposal, "EU Inc", a rulebook which aims to streamline business registration across member states, allowing companies to set up online in under 48 hours, could undermine labour rights and worker protections. "On the surface it looks like a technical company law proposal," Marcus Meyer-Erdmann, a researcher at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), said. "But underneath there are a lot of core elements like pay, worker protection, individual workers' rights, also dismissal protection . . . that would be rendered obsolete in a sense." Finnish radical left EU lawmaker Li Andersson said the proposal "clearly opens up the possibility" for companies to register where labour rights are the weakest. But centrist French EU lawmaker Pascal Canfin is offering reassurances that workers' rights will be protected. "The proposal must not have loopholes that allow abuses," he said. Canfin is to take part in negotiations on behalf of the parliament, 

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Human Times
Middle East
Women returning to Afghanistan seek rare private sector jobs

More than 6m Afghans have been pushed back to their home country from neighbours such as Iran and Pakistan in what the United Nations has called one of the largest population repatriation movements globally. Job opportunities are rare, particularly for women who also face restrictions from Taliban authorities. Projects backed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offer an economic lifeline for Afghan women who have found work weaving carpets or in other factories. Both agencies are partnering with businesses in what could be a launching pad for finding longer term solutions. "The approach we have here is really . . . going immediately into the logic of a longer-term perspective and going outside of the immediate short-term," said UNDP head Alexander De Croo.

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