BRASIL : Trade Surplus Hits 4 Year High $30 Billion; Auto Sales Up Almost 3%; 'Dirty List' Of Slave Employers Grows To 294.

                                           AFP

     In 2011...Brasil's trade surplus y/y soared 47.8%...to nearly $30bn...the highest since 2007.
     In December...Brasil officially surpassed Britain as the world's sixth largest economy...thanks to China's hunger for its commodities.


ALSO (NO LINK):  In 2011...Brasil's auto sales grew by 2.9% y/y...to a record 3.4 million units.
     Italy's Fiat brands led the sales...with 22%...followed by Volkswagen's 20.4%.
     Brasil is the world's 4th largest car market.


AND: AP: The government claims that 294 employers are on its 'dirty list'... businesses that keep workers in slave like conditions.
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/03/3350558/brazil-employers-accused-of-slave.html