Posts
Employment Situation Summary
The unemployment rate (6.1 percent) was unchanged in September, following a 0.4 percentage point rise in August.
The rate was 6.05% in August. The rate is now 6.12%. Behold the power of rounding.
The number of unemployed persons was little changed at 9.5 million.
The number of unemployed persons was 9.376 million in August.
The number of unemployed persons is 9.477 million in September.
That little change is over one hundred thousand people. Should the trend continue that little change will add up to an extra million people in ten months.
Manufacturing employment fell by 51,000 over the month, bringing the decline in factory jobs to 442,000 over the past 12 months.
Construction lost 35,000 jobs over the month.
Employment in retail trade dropped by 40,000 in September and by 250,000 over the last 12 months. Department stores lost 11,000 jobs in September and 70,000 over the last 12 months.
Employment in transportation and warehousing declined by 16,000 in September and by 57,000 since its peak 12 months earlier.
In September, employment in financial activities fell by 17,000, with nearly half of the decline occurring in securities and investment firms. The financial activities industry has lost 172,000 jobs since its employment peak in December 2006.
Employment in professional and business services continued to trend down over the month (-27,000), largely reflecting further job cuts in employment services.
Health care and government both expanded though. Too bad we can't figure out a way to pay for either of them.
Ten Economic Questions for 2025
-
Here is a review of the Ten Economic Questions for 2024.
Below are my ten questions for 2025 (I've been doing this online every year
for 20 years!). These...
2 hours ago
5 comments:
Stag,
Regarding employment. I don't think there is such a thing as a jobless recovery. Especially when those with jobs are experiencing real wage losses and mounting debts.
Jobless recovery seems oxymoronic to me.
Have you heard the one about the economy with too much money?
Stag,
I'm brainstorming here. Nothin concrete yet, but I feel I'm gettin close.
Yes. I've got it. What if we just spin off CA, FL & NV. That would solve most of our housing problems. Heck, lets shed OH & MI while were at it.
Or better yet, drop AIG & C from the DOW and add SKF and SRS.
MAB,
Have you heard the one about the economy with too much money
This crisis is nothing that can't be solved using trigonometry. Well, assuming our government stops playing all the angles, balance sheets aren't off on a tangent, and banks are once again willing to accept a cosiner. Nevermind. Bad assumptions (puns).
Please forgive my excessive hyperbole.
Or better yet, drop AIG & C from the DOW and add SKF and SRS.
Why don't we just permanently drop all the stocks from the Dow that were in the red today? Surely there can't be more than 30. That's sure to stabilize the index.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cp?s=%5EDJI
Whoops. My bad. I think we need at least one company in the index.
How about GE? It's "still" triple-A rated.
Don't let the doomsayers win. I'm sure GE loves paying 10% dividends to Warren Buffett when three month treasury bills yield just 0.5%. There's probably a perfectly good explanation that doesn't involve systemic capital market shocks and/or panic.
The Importance of Being Triple-A
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/the-importance-of-being-triple-a/
Moody’s noted that GE Capital’s “wholesale funding model exposes it to systemic capital market shocks because of its large and continuous funding requirements.” But despite the risks, Moody’s believes that its outlook is “stable” for now.
Ah yes, good old Professor Alastor 'MadEye' Moody always sees things as they are meant to be seen.
When it comes to the Dark Arts I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are? - Professor Alastor 'MadEye' Moody, Goblet of Fire, 2005
Wouldn't we all love to know the answer to that question. If the last bailout is any indicator, there probably aren't any "unforgivable" curses though. It is therefore most likely a trick question.
Have you heard the one about the economy with too much money?
It drowned in its own liquidity. (Ba DUMB ching!)
GS & GE can only get money at 10% with warrants thrown in as a deal sweetner. Corporate bond rates have been rising for over a year - 10 to 20% so far.
The cost of money is rising. Except the cost to the gubbmint - so far anyway.
MAB,
The cost of money is rising. Except the cost to the gubbmint - so far anyway.
Bernanke: More economic pain ahead
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5joK4P_nvF6Vu-uMti54KN0C1G_owD93LQ8C80
Inflation numbers are "very ugly right now," Bernanke acknowledged. Even so, he believed slowing growth in the United States and overseas will continue to damp prices for energy, food and other commodities, meaning a better inflation outlook ahead. Inflation will moderate "pretty significantly" over the next few quarters, he predicted.
Based on recent commodity price moves to the downside, tanking stock prices, a systemic banking crisis, and a rising unemployment rate amidst, one could easily imagine Great Depression style inflation moderation.
Investors in TIPS seems to be imagining that anyway, and perhaps rightly so. My TIP fund is down another 1% today whereas the non-inflation protected equivalent is mostly unchanged. Few think the inflation insurance is needed at this time.
Bernanke faces reputation as inflation 'dove'
October 25, 2005
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9817877/
Chip Hanlon, president of Delta Global Advisors, also worries about the implications of Bernanke’s 2002 speech, which included the observation that the government “has a technology, called a printing press,” that can be used to manufacture inflation if needed.
Hanlon said Bernanke “should actively work to distance himself” from that statement.
It seems Bernanke is "pretty significantly" working to distance himself from that statement. The stock market found his inflation concerns "very ugly right now."
Post a Comment