VANCOUVER, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The high level of unemployment in the United States will be a major headwind for an economy that is still struggling to recover, the chief executive of top bond manager Pimco said on Monday.
'Don't underestimate how difficult this will be,' Mohamed El-Erian said of the challenge of creating new jobs. He was speaking at the Government of Canada and Financial Times Global Business Leaders Day conference.
The U.S. unemployment rate in January was 9.7 percent, after hitting a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October. And corporate chief executives remain wary of hiring, according to the latest semiannaul survey of the Business Council, whose members include the top executives of over 100 companies.
El-Erian, who helps oversee more than $1 trillion in assets, said financial markets do not know what will happen when governments unwind emergency programs at a time when economic growth remains soft. He called 2010 the first year of a multi-year reset of the global economy landscape.
'There is no orderly reset of the global economy without China playing a role,' he said.
(Reporting by Nicole Mordant, writing by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Leslie Adler) Keywords: PIMCO ECONOMY/ELERIAN (jennifer.ablan@thomsonreuters.com; +1-646-223-6297; Reuters Messaging: jennifer.ablan.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'Don't underestimate how difficult this will be,' Mohamed El-Erian said of the challenge of creating new jobs. He was speaking at the Government of Canada and Financial Times Global Business Leaders Day conference.
The U.S. unemployment rate in January was 9.7 percent, after hitting a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October. And corporate chief executives remain wary of hiring, according to the latest semiannaul survey of the Business Council, whose members include the top executives of over 100 companies.
El-Erian, who helps oversee more than $1 trillion in assets, said financial markets do not know what will happen when governments unwind emergency programs at a time when economic growth remains soft. He called 2010 the first year of a multi-year reset of the global economy landscape.
'There is no orderly reset of the global economy without China playing a role,' he said.
(Reporting by Nicole Mordant, writing by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Leslie Adler) Keywords: PIMCO ECONOMY/ELERIAN (jennifer.ablan@thomsonreuters.com; +1-646-223-6297; Reuters Messaging: jennifer.ablan.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.