Brazil

Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said the government will help build 1 million new homes by 2010 to revive economic growth as the global financial crisis leads to layoffs in Latin America's largest economy. A record 655,000 Brazilians lost their jobs in December as companies lowered output by 14.5 percent, the most in 17 years, to adjust to falling demand. Lula's government is increasing outlays on construction, which accounted for a fifth of new jobs last year, and on infrastructure in response to the global slowdown. Lula said he's discussing with state and municipal governments how to best use federal resources for the building drive. (Bloomberg)