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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Jan 1 It is an uncertain forecast for the year 2008.

According to a survey conducted by global market insight and information company, TNS and Gallup International only 33 per cent of people globally and 32 per cent in Asia Pacific feel positively about the year ahead.

Despite this increased pessimism, the Asia Pacific region is still more upbeat than most and once again is home to nearly half of the world’s top 10 most optimistic countries when it comes to outlook for 2008.

However, Indian sentiment was better for the next year – 51 per cent of people predicted that the coming year will be better than 2007. At least 45 per cent felt 2008 will be economically prosperous as compared with 25 per cent who foresaw difficulty.

But that was not the case for other parameters. The survey showed that 63 per cent Indians believed 2008 will see a rise in the number of unemployed – much higher than the 22 per cent holding out for an improvement in the country’s jobless rate.

The survey, carried out among over 50,000 people in 54 countries, highlighted a gloomier outlook for 2008 than seen in previous years with the number of people forecasting economic difficulties and increase in unemployment around the Asia Pacific region (34 per cent and 50 per cent respectively) outnumbering those feeling positively on economic prosperity (22 per cent) and an improvement in unemployment levels (19 per cent).

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