The company plans to cut its capital investment by one half and suspend shareholder dividends. Nissan, Japan's second largest auto company, is expected to announce sales projections lower than previous estimates. Since the beginning of the year four of Japan's five largest auto companies have announced production cuts ranging from 5 to 20 percent. Job insecurity has led to an increase in suicides, particularly among white collar workers. One analyst predicted that 10 percent of the country's 65 million workers could be out of work by the year 2000.
Unemployment continues to rise in Europe.
In Germany joblessness is at its highest level since the 1930s, sparking protest demonstrations of unemployed workers similar to recent demonstrations in France. January's official unemployment figure stood at 4.8 million, an increase of 301,600 over December. Unemployment now stands at 21.1 percent in eastern Germany, double the 10.5 percent rate in the west. AAB, the engineering and power station building firm, plans to eliminate 10,000 jobs across Europe this year, including 1,000 in Germany. Other layoff announcements are expected.