Bonds were steady after a recent sell-off, though the 10-year Treasury yield was a bit lower as the yield inched back toward 2.28% after a sharp rise earlier this week.

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Germany's Federal Labor Agency predicts a sharp rise in unemployment this fall, with the number of people on the dole climbing to 4.5 million next year from about 3.4 million now.

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There was a sharp rise in grumbling this month as the final business of the presidency was being whipped through the councils, and national representatives found themselves trapped at table for 12 and 13 hours at a stretch.

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This latter concern showed up in the sharp rise in the gold price, through last year.

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If an unsustainable rise in asset prices goes into sharp reverse, this can trigger financial instability.

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Combine this with a sharp increase in the premium for September VIX futures, and the rise in the market from the lows achieved on July 1st appears to have been more attributable to the correction of an oversold market than a rejuvenation of the rally.

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This was a decline of 49.4%, and was accompanied by a sharp rise in unemployment and plunging commodity prices.

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In this recession there has been a sharp fall for the first time in financial sector employment and a rapid rise in unemployment in London and the Southeast.

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