Japan's unemployment rate has risen to a three-year high as companies continue to slash jobs.

An estimated 2,000 people attended the job expo hosted by the Richmond Times-Dispatch at its Hanover County production plant. The event was held from 9am to 1pm. Many described a job market that is becoming more competitive as the economic recession continues.

The US economy shrank at its fastest pace in nearly 27 years in the fourth quarter, government data showed on Friday, sinking deeper into a recession that the White House said demands urgent action.

China's economic growth slumped to 6.8% last quarter, dragging down the pace of expansion for all of 2008 to a seven-year low of 9% as the full force of the global financial crisis struck home.

China faces surging protests and riots in 2009 as rising unemployment stokes discontent, a state-run magazine said in a blunt warning of the hazards to Communist Party control from a sharp economic downturn.