Global economy's pulse

Business Daily enters the hospital ward and takes the pulse of the global economy. We see the mercury rising in the thermometer - as unemployment goes up, especially among the young - and watch levels of remittances fluctuate, as migrants struggle to send money home.

This week the BBC is coming together to take the pulse of the global economy, with reports from around the world. Here on Business Daily, we're looking at unemployment, especially among younger people. The economic downturn which has swept across most of the rich world and infected large parts of the developing world is souring the hopes of millions of people in their teens and twenties, among them students and graduates. On a global scale, it leads to increasing poverty, crime and social disruption.

Our first destination is China, where often families save for years to afford higher education courses. But is it worth it? The BBC's Michael Bristow reports from Beijing.

The International Labour Organisation has predicted that the youth unemployment rate worldwide, will rise from twelve per cent in 2008, to (up to) 15 per cent in 2009. So where does the answer lie - should young people try to stay in education, start up a business, or lower their horizons for pay and conditions? Business Daily turned to Christine Evans-Klock, who's the Director of Skills and Employability at the International Labour Organisation, and I asked for her reaction to the plight of those graduates who are young, eager and yet unable to get work.

The global downturn, and the worsening employment market is affecting the lives of the hard-working people who cross oceans to make better money to feed their families. Let's look at one example - Many Latin Americans, especially Bolivians, have been working in Spain. But recently the amount of money sent home by Bolivians there has been falling, and contributions from women workers have been making up a much bigger share of the financial flows. The BBC's Gabriela Torres reports from Barcelona.