Legacy of Slavery Lingers in Britain

Legacy of Slavery Lingers in Britain

Henry Ridgwell | Liverpool30 August 2010

Britain, along with many other countries, has been marking UNESCO Slavery Remembrance Day. It commemorates the uprising of enslaved Africans in 1791 in what is modern day Haiti.

The docks in Liverpool are among the most desirable addresses in the city. The gentrified warehouse apartments and riverside cafes make it a popular place to live for Premier League soccer players.

Dark past

But the pleasant atmosphere hides a dark past.

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, ships lined the quaysides ready to be loaded with goods from across Europe to be sold in Africa in return for slaves.

On the same docks now lies the International Slavery Museum. Curator Claire Benjamin says it is vital that this dark part of the city’s history is remembered.

“Liverpool was the first city to apologize formally for its role in the transatlantic slave trade,” Benjamin said. “The wealth of the city was built on that. The docks, the port, the river, the city was built on the legacies and the business of the transatlantic slave trade.”

What was it like?

Visitors to the museum are confronted with stark reconstructions of the conditions the slaves were forced to endure.

The slave ships packed in their human cargo so tightly that an estimated 15 percent of those enslaved died on the crossing from disease or starvation.

Maps show how the wealth of Europe and its colonies depended on the triangular trade of goods from Europe to Africa, the transfer of an estimated 11 million slaves across the Atlantic, and the return of raw materials like sugar and cotton back to Europe.

Apology request

The British government has yet to formally apologize for its role in the trade. Fernne Brennan, an expert in the legacy of the slavery at the University of Essex, says an apology is the first step - and a lot more needs to follow.

“When we look at retention in schools, when we look at access to public services and so on, there is still a distinct disproportionate problem for black people in the Diaspora, i.e. in the West, and obviously in Africa and the Caribbean,” Brennan said.

Financial compensation

Some anti-slavery campaigners want financial compensation for the countries affected. Britain’s Minister for Communities, Andrew Stunell, says paying money is not the right approach.

“We just do not feel that that is an appropriate way forward for events of 200 years ago,” Stunell said. “What we have to do now is to make sure that those who were the victims of slavery, their descendants and of course migrants of many sorts, not all of whom were victims of slavery, are treated with respect and given the opportunities they need to flourish.”

Daily reminders

Across Liverpool you can see reminders of the city’s history in the slave trade. Jamaica Street, named after the destination of many of Liverpool’s slave ships. Lime Street railway station, built on slavery profits and used to transport cotton and other goods.

The city itself has moved on. But more than 200 years after the abolition of the slave trade, campaigners say the scars on society have yet to fully heal in communities around the world that suffered through slavery.

Find this article at:
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Legacy-of-Slavery-Lingers-in-Britain-101795598.html

South Africa Seeks Value-added China Investment

South Africa seeks value-added China investment

South African President Jacob Zuma has asked for more China investment in infrastructure, which would create new jobs amid 25 percent unemployment
————————————————————————————————–
South African President Jacob Zuma spoke during a press conference at South African Pavilion, Aug. 26, at the Shanghai Expo site in Shanghai, China. Zuma ended a three-day trip to China in late August with a raft of trade deals intended to shore up South Africa’s status as a ‘gateway to China’ for the natural resources that fuel the Asian giant’s rapid growth.
—————————————————————————————————-

By Scott Baldauf, Staff writer
posted September 3, 2010 at 10:55 am EDT

Johannesburg, South Africa — South African President Jacob Zuma ended a three-day trip to China last week with a raft of trade deals intended to shore up South Africa’s status as a “gateway to China” for the natural resources that fuel the Asian giant’s rapid growth.

South Africa is China’s No. 1 source of African iron, copper, manganese, chrome, and diamonds. But President Zuma stressed that South Africa wants more out of the relationship, saying that his government would like China to invest more toward infrastructure that would aid his country in the “beneficiation of minerals.” And during his trip to Beijing, the mining term – which refers to the refining and processing of raw minerals – emerged as part of a new thrust for Africa’s largest economy, one heavily reliant on commodity exports.

Building refineries would not only create new streams of revenue for the South African government and perhaps save China some money in freighting raw materials to Chinese refineries, but it would also create new jobs, something that is desperately needed in South Africa, which has an official jobless rate of 25 percent.

“China is indeed a key strategic partner for South Africa, and South Africa is open for business in a big way,” Zuma told reporters on Aug. 24. “We envisage meaningful future cooperation in infrastructure, the beneficiation of minerals, engineering, energy, information and communications technology, and electronics. There are also opportunities to be explored in manufacturing.”

China’s potential to South Africa

Zuma’s trip came days after the official news that China surpassed Japan as the world’s second-largest economy. China also last year surpassed the United States as South Africa’s lar­gest trading partner.

The Asian power buys raw materials from South Africa, but does its manufacturing at home, giving its own citizens all the plum jobs. In return, China sends its finished goods – mostly clothing, electronics, and cheap tools – back to Africa for sale.

It is this one-sided benefit to China – measured by a $2.7 billion trade deficit – that South Africa would like to correct. And South Africa is hoping that its status as Africa’s largest economy will give it more leverage.

Yet Martyn Davies, head of Fron­tier Advisory, a research firm, says South Africa still is not enacting the pro-business policies that would make it a more attractive location for foreign investment.

“We overemphasize the politics,” says Mr. Davies. “South Africa is trying to leverage its relations with China by saying, ’someone has to represent the voice of Africa.’ It wants to elevate itself into the new arena of BRIC [the economic grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, and China], because it is the largest economy in Africa. But we could have done more to project South Africa’s presence.”

During Zuma’s visit to Beijing, China’s Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said China will increase its investments in South Africa and import more “high-value-added products.” What shape that will actually take remains to be seen.

Aid and fairer trade crucial to boost Africa's poverty reduction efforts – Ban

Africans need both foreign aid and fairer trading terms with other regions to achieve the poverty reduction and social development targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their 2015 deadline, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed today.

Third Day of Food Rebellions in Mozambique While United Nations RevealsPlans to Discuss Global Crisis

3 September 2010 Last updated at 14:23 ET

Mozambique police fire rubber bullets at Maputo rioters

Ministers urged protesters to end the violence

Police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in parts of the Mozambique capital on the third day of riots over rising food prices.

Elsewhere, Maputo was calm, with shops and businesses reopening and long queues of people waiting to buy bread and petrol.

Ten people have been killed and 443 injured since the riots began, Health Minister Ivo Garrido said on Friday.

There have also been clashes in the central city of Chimoio.

Six people were shot by police there after protesters tried to stop markets opening, Lusa news agency says.

The latest violence in Maputo was in the suburbs of Benfica and Hulene on the city’s outskirts.

However, the BBC’s Jose Tembe in the city says Friday’s clashes were relatively minor and the police say they have restored order.

The protests began after the price of bread rose by at least 20% in one of the world’s poorest countries.

Trade and Industry Minister Antonio Fernando told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme that the government was striving to make the country less dependent on imported food.

‘Irreversible’

On Thursday, government spokesman Alberto Nkutumula condemned the violence on the streets of the capital and appealed for people to remain calm, but said the government would not reconsider increasing the price of bread.

“The price hikes are irreversible,” he told reporters.

Troops were deployed on the streets of the capital on Thursday to clear barricades, debris and burning tyres left by protesters. Sporadic gunfire was heard during the day.

Many witnesses say police have used live bullets to break up the crowds but this has been denied by officials.

Home Affairs Minister Jose Pacheco said the government was trying to trace the source of text messages circulating among the city’s residents, urging them to continue protests on Friday.

“I received an SMS saying the strike must continue for three more days,” Abel Salvador Bild, a street vendor in the capital, told AFP news agency.

The violence has been the worst in Mozambique since 2008, when clashes between police and rioters over rising prices left at least four people dead.

3 September 2010

Last updated at 12:40 ET

UN calls meeting on food price concerns

The summer heatwave destroyed crops in many parts of Russia
The United Nations’ food agency has called a special meeting of policy makers to discuss the recent rise in global food prices.

The announcement came after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin extended the country’s ban on grain exports on Thursday.

This added to fears that prices of food staples would continue to rise.

The meeting will take place on 24 September, probably in Rome, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said.

Continue reading the main story Related storiesQ&A: World food pricesStockpiling as food prices soarShould we fear high wheat prices?

“In the past few weeks, global cereal markets experienced a sudden surge in international wheat prices on concerns over wheat shortages,” the agency said.

“The purpose of holding the meeting is for exporting and importing countries to engage in constructive discussions on appropriate reactions to the current market situation.”

Heatwave

Mr Putin did not say when exactly the Russian grain export ban, originally to run from 15 August to 31 December, would be lifted, but said that it would not be before next year’s harvest had been reaped.

Food prices, and wheat in particular, are so important for food security and even the political stability of countries”

Russia is one of the world’s biggest producers of wheat, barley and rye and was hit hard by a drought this summer.

The heatwave destroyed crops in many parts of the country, pushing food prices up.

This year’s crop could be as low as 60 million tonnes, but Russia needs almost 80 million just to cover domestic consumption, analysts say.

Other key grain producers have also reported shortages, causing the price of wheat on international commodities exchanges to rise more than 50% since the beginning of July.

Supplies

Grain prices on commodity markets shot to near two-year highs last month as investors digested worsening news of the Russian harvests.

Bread queues form in Maputo, where price rises have sparked unrest
The FAO is concerned at the speed at which prices have increased over the last two months.

Its economist, Abdolreza Abbassian, said the latest Russian move to extend the ban would prolong the “volatility and anxiety” already on the markets.

But the UN agency has stressed throughout that the situation is very different to the food crisis two years ago.

Prices are currently lower, production levels higher and stocks more abundant than during the 2007-8 period, when shortages sparked riots across the world.

“It still does not mean that we are going to have a crisis,” Mr Abbassian said.

“It does highlight a very big problem here: a very large exporting country with a great influence on the market can make unilateral decisions like that. It causes disturbances of the market.”

Impact on consumers

The effect of rising wheat prices is reflected in the FAO’s global food price index, which covers 55 food commodities. This week’s report said it had hit its highest level for two years in August, largely driven by higher wheat prices.

More data on this commodity

Last month’s 5% rise was the biggest month-on-month increase since November 2009, the FAO said.

Higher grain prices could feed through to products such as bread and beer. But as they are also used as animal feed, they could also drive up the prices of dairy products, eggs and meat.

Analysts suggest that competition could soften the impact on consumers, with retailers and producers unwilling or unable to pass on in full higher raw material costs to shoppers.

Some big food companies have also already signed future supply contracts at prices that are lower than on international commodity exchanges.

Unrest

Rises will be felt more keenly in developing countries, where food makes up a bigger proportion of household spending.

Higher prices caused people to take to the streets in the Mozambique capital Maputo this week, resulting in violence in which seven people were killed.

Pressures such as a weakening currency have caused bread prices in the southern African country to rise 30% so far this year.

“There are other issues at play there - which is not uncommon in poorer countries,” Mr Abbassian told BBC World News.

“Even a small increase in the price of food, which is so important to them… can spark a problem.

“Food prices, and wheat in particular, are so important for food security and even the political stability of countries.”

From the Inbox: Who does clean air belong to?

If one law helped shrink the hole in the ozone layer, most people would think it was good. If the same law helped save our forests from acid rain, removed toxic lead from our gasoline and lowered the number of our children developing asthma, most people would consider it great. And if that same exact law saved our country nearly $22 trillion over 20 years, most people would call it a landmark piece of legislation and a model of American leadership. That law exists — it’s called the Clean Air Act. But right now, lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry are trying to gut this crucial law and roll back decades of progress for our economy, our health and our environment. Tell big polluters that clean air belongs to us — and it isn’t for sale. Join Alec Baldwin, Kris Kristofferson and Gloria Reuben by adding your picture or video to Repower America’s Clean Air Act video today. The Clean Air Act has received overwhelming bipartisan support over the years. In fact, one of the biggest updates to the law was signed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. Yet the fossil fuel industry is targeting one of the provisions that makes this law so successful — the section that empowers the EPA to limit greenhouse gas pollution threatening our public health and welfare. They’re trying to weaken the law that’s given us cleaner cars, lower rates of cancer and a huge increase in air quality. Add your voice to the new video and take a stand for clean air by midnight on Friday, September 10: www.RepowerAmerica.org/MyCleanAir We’ll select the best submissions to be in our final video. The Clean Air Act is our last, best line of defense against the fossil fuel industry. Supporters like us need to take action today and save this vitally important law. Thanks for getting involved at this critical moment, Dave Boundy Campaign Manager The Climate Protection Action Fund’s Repower America campaign

Fears Grow Over Global Food Supply

Fears grow over global food supply

By Javier Blas and Jack Farchy in London, Courtney Weaver in Moscow and Simon Mundy in Johannesburg
September 3 2010 12:22

Two days of unrest in Maputo, Mozambique, left seven people dead and 280 injured after the government decided to raise bread prices by 30%

Wheat prices rose further on Friday in the wake of Russia’s decision to extend its grain export ban by 12 months, raising fears about a return to the food shortages and riots of 2007-08.

In Mozambique, where a 30 per cent rise in bread prices triggered riots on Wednesday and Thursday, the government said seven people had been killed and 288 wounded.

Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Thursday extended an export ban first introduced last month until late December 2011, sending wheat and other cereals prices to a near two-year high. It came as the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation called an emergency meeting to discuss the wheat shortage.

Wheat prices

Find out what is behind the recent spike in wheat prices in our interactive graphic. Plus: video analysis and country-by-country data
..
In Maputo, trade and industry minister Antonio Fernandes told a national radio station on Friday that the riots had caused 122m meticais ($3.3m) of damage. Police opened fire on demonstrators after thousands turned out to protest against the price hikes, burning tyres and looting food warehouses.

Although agricultural officials and traders insist that wheat and other crop supplies are more abundant than in 2007-08, officials fear the food riots could spread.

Wheat prices remained high on Friday morning. Futures in Chicago were up 1.5 per cent at $6.91 a bushel, while European wheat futures remained at historically high levels above €230 a tonne, just shy of last month’s two-year high of €236. Wheat prices have surged nearly 70 per cent since January, and analysts forecast further rises after Russia’s decision and concerns about weather damage to Australia’s crop.

The crop problems in Russia, which suffered its worst drought on record this summer, and elsewhere, have heaped pressure on US farmers to supply the world’s wheat. The US Department of Agriculture has increased its estimates for US wheat exports to $8bn for the current crop year.

The 2007-08 food shortages, the most severe in 30 years, set off riots in countries from Bangladesh to Mexico, and helped to trigger the collapse of governments in Haiti and Madagascar.

The FAO said that “the concern about a possible repeat of the 2007-08 food crisis” had resulted in “an enormous number” of inquiries from member countries. “The purpose of holding this meeting is for exporting and importing countries to engage.”

Russia is traditionally the world’s fourth-largest wheat exporter, and the export ban has already forced importers in the Middle East and North Africa, the biggest buyers, to seek supplies in Europe and the US.

Mr Putin said Moscow could “only consider lifting the export ban after next year’s crop has been harvested and we have clarity on the grain balances”. He added that the decision to extend the ban was intended to “end unnecessary anxiety and to ensure a stable and predict-able business environment for market participants”.

“This is quite serious,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, of the FAO in Rome. “Two years in a row without Russian exports creates quite a disturbance.” Dan Manternach, chief wheat economist at Doane Agricultural Services in St Louis, added: “This is a wake-up call for importing nations about the reliability of Russia.”

Jakkie Cilliers, director of South Africa’s Institute of Security Studies, said there was concern over a repeat of the protests of 2008: “That certainly strengthened a return of the military in politics in Africa.”

Protesters board Cairn oil rig off Greenland

Protesters from environmental group Greenpeace boarded a drilling rig operated by UK oil explorer Cairn Energy on Monday to try to stall development of what the oil industry hopes will become a major new producing center.

Greenpeace said four expert climbers climbed aboard the Stena Don, a semi-submersible rig, which has been drilling the Alpha prospect in the Sigguk block, 175 km offshore Disko Island, West Greenland (right).

The Greenpeace activists suspended themselves in tents from the Stena Don rig 15m above the icy Arctic ocean said spokesman Ben Stewart, on Greenpeace ship the Esperanza.

The campaigners, who are protesting against the ”huge risks” energy companies are taking with the environment by drilling for oil in deep Arctic water, say they have enough supplies to occupy the tents for several days.

Sim McKenna, from the US, who is one of the climbers, said: ”We’ve got to keep the energy companies out of the Arctic and kick our addiction to oil, that’s why we’re going to stop this rig from drilling for as long as we can.

”The BP Gulf oil disaster showed us it’s time to go beyond oil.”

Cairn has said Greenland could have billions of barrels of reserves but the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has raised fears about the risks of offshore drilling. Greenland’s harsh climate and remoteness would make capping a leak and cleaning up spilled oil especially difficult should one occur.

Greenpeace’s vessel Esperanza has been in the area for over a week planning activities to prevent Cairn from completing its objectives before the end of the narrow summer drilling season. The Esperanza set sail from London last month with a pledge to target what the environmental group described as one of the 10 most dangerous deep water drilling sites in the world.

Greenpeace said it wanted to highlight problems with oil that went “far beyond” the disaster at BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and pledged to confront the industry head-on over its “reckless” pursuit of oil.

The campaigners are concerned that a discovery of oil could prompt an oil rush by major companies in the Arctic, threatening the fragile environment of the region and providing a new source of a fossil fuel which contributes to climate change. In fact, Chervon and Exxon Mobil have already obtained exploration licenses.

The environmental group had targeted the Cairn exploration rig in the Arctic because the region “is really symbolic of the state of crisis the world is in”, a spokeswoman for Greenpeace said.

“We’re facing catastrophic climate change, yet the oil companies drill for the last drop of oil.”

“It brings it all home to see tugs pulling icebergs away from the rig - it shows how far we’ve gone to keep our addiction to fossil fuels going.” (Right)

The Greenpeace representative went on to say that the exploration of the virtually untouched region, where seals, humpback whales and sea lions could be seen, showed what was wrong with the oil industry and the world’s addiction to oil.

She also said it highlighted the impact of fossil fuels on climate change, with Greenland glaciers melting and icebergs falling into the sea as a result of warming temperatures.

At the height of the BP oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, marine pollution experts warned the “nightmare” oil spill would be one that stemmed from drilling in the Arctic.

Marine scientists warned that, in an Arctic spill, oil would only evaporate and break down slowly and would affect the “albedo”, or reflective (right), effect of the region which helps maintain its climate. This would speed up the melting of the polar ice.

Greenpeace activists board rig despite warship protection

Commandos from a Danish warship which has been trailing the Esperanza failed to stop campaigners from boarding the Stena Don rig, Greenpeace said.

“We caught them napping,” Ben Stewart of Greenpeace said.

Greenland deputy police chief Nielsen said that police could have stopped the activists before they reached the rig, but chose not to intercept them because of the risks involved, both to the activists and police officers, in such cold waters.

He said the police were supported by the Danish navy but that maintaining law and order in the area was a police matter. Cairn declined comment.

Greenland police said that the activists remained suspended by their climbing gear below the rig in the late afternoon.

“Like any criminal, they can be expected to arrested and prosecuted,” Morten Nielsen, deputy chief of police in Greenland, stated.

The Stena Don has been drilling the Alpha-1 well since late June. It was expected to hit target depth in 55 days and Cairn investors are expecting to hear whether it has been successful in the coming weeks.

Edinburgh-based Cairn last week completed drilling of its nearby T8 prospect. Although the T8 well failed to hit oil, the company said the results proved the existence of a hydrocarbon formation.

The Stena Forth drill ship, which drilled the T8 prospect, is scheduled to commence drilling another prospect soon.

Greenpeace declined to say if it might try and disrupt that vessel’s operations next.

Source:
Reuters, “Protesters board Cairn oil rig off Greenland“, accessed September 2, 2010
The Telegraph, “Greenpeace claims to have shut down Greenland oil well“, accessed September 2, 2010

From the Inbox: Thank you for help on National Parks conservation

Thank you so much for everything you’ve done to help us put our national parks front and center in the debate over our country’s conservation future. All month, NPCA activists like you have been telling the Obama Administration that protecting and enhancing our national parks must be a central part of their “America’s Great Outdoors” strategy. Your response has been tremendous. Six NPCA ideas are currently among the top 10 vote getters on the AGO initiative’s IdeaJam website. Two more of our ideas are in the top 20. You absolutely flooded the AGO Facebook page with a pro-national parks message. All of this activity is critically important because the administration is actively seeking input as they map out conservation policy for the next generation. The work we do now to make national parks a national priority will pay big dividends down the road and keep America’s outdoors great for our children and grandchildren. Protecting our national parks is a big and important job, and I am so grateful to know I can count on you to help us do it. Thanks again for all you’ve done. Sincerely, Thomas C. Kiernan President

Michigan Anti-War Activist Targeted by the FBI

Anti-war student targeted by FBI

By Megan Spencer
East Lansing, Mich.

Published Sep 2, 2010 9:12 PM
Ahlam Mohsen, the 22-year-old Michigan State University student and anti-war activist arrested for throwing a pie at U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, is now the subject of an FBI investigation and faces possible federal charges of assaulting a member of Congress.

On Aug. 16, during a Mecosta County Democrats meeting in Big Rapids, Mich., Mohsen threw an apple pie at Levin after anti-war activist Max Kantar read a statement accusing the senator of war crimes as chair of the Armed Services Committee. Levin was targeted for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as continued U.S. funding of Israel’s war against the Palestinian people.

Mohsen was arrested and held on a quarter-million-dollar bond at the Mecosta County Jail, where she faced felony charges of stalking and assault. She reportedly was the victim of racist epithets at the jail because of her Arab background and was also denied food that met her dietary requirements as a vegan.

The Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice organized a protest Aug. 20 in Detroit that received widespread media coverage around the state, including Big Rapids, where Mohsen was incarcerated. A Facebook support page quickly grew to include hundreds of people, many of whom called Levin’s office and the Mecosta County prosecutor to demand that all charges be dropped and that Mohsen be freed from jail.

After pressure from her supporters, Mohsen was released Aug. 24 on a reduced bail, after a Mecosta County district judge decided to suspend the state charges against her while the FBI investigates and decides whether to charge her with a federal crime of assaulting a member of Congress. (Detroit Free Press, Aug. 25)

Mohsen’s supporters have noted that no FBI investigation was commenced nor charges ever brought upon racist right-wing zealots who spat on members of the Congressional Black Caucus during the health care reform debate. Apparently a federal criminal charge like the one facing Mohsen only occurs when it’s done as a form of anti-war protest.

The potential charges Mohsen faces indicate a significant attack by both the state and the federal government on free speech and the right of the people to protest injustices. The state is trying to use fear and intimidation to prevent the people from holding elected officials accountable for the consequences of their deeds regarding war.

Mohsen’s brave actions have drawn attention to the fact that the U.S. continues to inflict violent injustices upon the people of the Middle East and other oppressed groups throughout the world. It is imperative that the people stand with her and insist that all charges against her be dropped immediately.

Supporters are urgently encouraged to take action to ensure that justice is won for Ahlam Mohsen:

Contact Sen. Carl Levin’s office and demand that all charges and the federal investigation against Mohsen be dropped immediately. Phone Levin at 313-226-6020; fax 313-226-6948; or e-mail by going to http://levin.senate.giv/contact/.

Call the Mecosta Country Prosecutor’s Office directly at 231-592-0141 and demand that all charges against Mohsen be dropped in full.
——————————————————————————–
Articles copyright 1995-2010 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news DONATE
Page printed from:
http://www.workers.org/2010/us/anti-war_student_0909/

United States Companies Cut 10,000 Jobs in August

US companies cut 10,000 jobs in August

By Alan Rappeport in New York
September 1 2010 15:37

Private-sector employment in the US fell for the first time this year in August, underscoring fears that a recovery in the labour market is faltering, but a surprise rise in manufacturing activity offered a glimmer of hope for the sputtering economy.

Businesses shed 10,000 workers last month, according to ADP Employer Services. That was the first monthly decline since last December and failed to meet economists’ projections that hiring would edge higher.

The US private sector added a revised 37,000 jobs in July.

“The decline in private employment in August confirms a pause in the recovery already evident in other economic data,” ADP said in its report.

In August, the manufacturing sector was hit the hardest, with businesses that produce goods cutting 40,000 workers. Construction workers felt the brunt of that decline, with 33,000 losing their jobs as the housing market stalled.

The troubles facing the housing market were highlighted by a separate commerce department report on Wednesday that showed construction spending falling by 1 per cent to an annual rate of $805.2bn in July. T