The Labor Department just released its latest statistics on the job market. Here’s a look at the August numbers:
* The economy shed 216,000 jobs last month. That was slightly below the -230,000 estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. However, July’s number was revised upward to -276,000 from -247,000. June’s job loss figure was also revised up by 20,000.
* The unemployment rate jumped to 9.7% from 9.4% a month earlier. That handily topped estimates for a reading of 9.5%.
* Average hourly earnings rose 0.3%, a bigger gain than the 0.1% rise that was expecting. Average weekly hours held steady at 33.1.
* Among sectors, construction lost 65,000, down from -73,000 a month prior. Manufacturing lost 63,000, up from -43,000 in July. Retail and transport jobs shrunk by 28,000, down from -85,000. The only sector to show job growth among the major categories was education/health at +52,000, up from +21,000 a month earlier.
Market reaction, as usual, is volatile. Stock futures initially tanked, and bond prices rose off their lows. Now, bond prices are dropping and stock futures are jumping. You gotta love employment report Friday!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Being in the employment business, we see a different side. Not that what you say isn’t true. For many it is. However, a large number of people unemployed are quite happy to live on their unemployment checks. There are good jobs open than are difficult to fill. We regularly hear, “Well… my unemployment ran out, so I need to go to work.” We have people come by regularly to see if work is available. They sometimes beg you to put them to work. When they come by and you do have work available, they make some excuse to leave, promising to come back. You don’t see them again for months.
Some have a spouse working, some work for cash, most have some government benefits, some live with relatives, while others get by with no visible means of support.
A group of well meaning community leaders formed a committee recently to assist people looking for work. It consisted of an hour and a half class a week on Monday mornings for 5 weeks on different facets of looking for work. It was staffed by volunteers and was offered for free. It included writing resumes, networking, computer searches, interviewing, resources, job training, etc. Preparation was made to handle 100 people. It was well advertised on TV, newspapers, and other sources. The most that ever attended were 18 people. Only about 10 attended all 5 classes. Plans for follow-up classes for new groups were dropped as reality set in for these well meaning community leaders.
A Human Investment Tax Credit program was designed to create 3 to 6 million new jobs and encourage between 1 to 4 million men and women to become entrepreneurs.
The 2009 Report can be downloaded at http://www.aesopinstitute.org
The 1977 job tax credit program, which adopted a few of the incentives recommended in an earlier Report, generated almost a million private-sector jobs; twenty percent of all new jobs created that year. It resulted in more jobs in less time than any prior legislation.
There are now two versions. The full 52 page document contains a new economic analysis. A shorter version contains the Summary and a total of 15 pages. The tax incentives in the Human Investment Tax Credit program have been updated and can be debated and voted into law.
Urge your Representative as well as the House Ways and Means Committee to debate and discuss this important legislation without delay.
Another path to millions of new jobs is described in the article: 4 Steps to Revive the Auto Industry and the Economy. It will be found on the same Aesop Institute website.
It reflects little known breakthrough technology that opens paths to cars that need no fossil fuel or recharge.
Later, advanced versions can turn cars into power plants, wirelessly able to sell power to the local utility when parked.
Imagine the impact of cars and trucks that can pay for themselves!
Here in the UK we are experiencing the same thing. We also had a “cash for clunkers” scheme here, which has shifted cars, provided that people bought a new one. Cars made before 1999 we eligible for this, but there are still fears at Vauxhall (the UK arm of GM) which is up in the air since the demise of GM. Fears are that jobs will go to Germany instead of here in England, where their Governmet has put £4 billion of investment on the table, whereas the British government hasn’t. Taking cars as an example, it’s all very well having a clunkers scheme to persuade folk to buy new cars, but in the long run to get car production going again, a clunker scheme won’t work. What the car market relies on is people buying the new models yearly, which hasn’t been achieved. As Mike says, folks need jobs, and well paid ones at that, so they can function in the econonmy and get it going again. Here, I’ve heard stories of agencies offering “zero hour” contracts. Work zero hours, get zero pay! Who on earth would sign such a thing? I myself am unemployed. I refuse to sign one of these contracts due to me being unemployed, I am already working zero hours anyway, so why should I bother signing a piece of paper stating that I am? The things mentioned in Allen’s posting above is contracted out to “training” organisations (costing the taxpayer £700 million), where individuals like myself are “advised” to do it as it will help me find emplyment. I have been doing these courses for almost 20 years off and on, and only found myself a job once. Folk get disheartened as school leavers and university graduates filter into the job market, they blame immigrants, but as Allen hints, people get used to not working. I’ve applied for several jobs, most of the time I don’t get a reply, when I do it’s just a thank you for applying better luck next time. The irony being that the same jobs are often re-advertised. To keep my welfare payments coming in I have to prove that I am “actively seeking work”, i.e. I have to apply for the jobs again. So I do. Welfare is paid continuously until I gain employment; this issue is now a political hot potato. Here welfare payments are made to people that are ill and at the moment they don’t have to seek work. However, this is set to change so that they do have to seek work. This also means that the government saves money, as unemployment benefit is less than sickness benefit. It is a huge gamble that could increase unemployment in the UK by an extra million. With all the debt amassed by government, this could backfire spectacularly on them. Both the US and the UK simply cannot afford the welfare payments, and now the welfare bill here is bigger than the amount of taxes collected. Looks like weedkiller on the green shoots. One last thing, do politicians understand how it all works? I don’t think so.
* All numbers from UK media organisations
Where do you live, Allen? Maybe I can move there. I live in Phoenix, and while there a few good jobs (very few if compared to the boom years), competition for them is fierce. There are so many out of work accountants, with Big Four experience, and not enough jobs for them. I have an MBA and a BS in accounting, and I am grossly underemployed now. I am working for a major bank call center for a little less than $15/hr, and I’m not the only grossly over qualified person here in Phoenix doing the same thing. And I was one of the lucky ones who was able to finally land a job, but I’m certainly not going out and spending money in the stores on my disgusting wage. I have been talking to finance and accounting recruiters in the area, and some have never seen it this bad. You could always find an accounting job. BTW, I am older, and I have had my share of crappy jobs (like the one I’m working in now), so I don’t want to hear that people don’t want to work. I feel I have paid my dues, and I’m praying this is not a permanent situation. I also got off unemployment long before I exhausted my benefits, but had I not been in the right place at the right time, I would not have even landed this job. I know former accounting managers who are still sitting on unemployment benefits because competition for $15/hr jobs is also fierce. The job market is bad, and not everyone who is unemployed wants to sit around and live off the government (some do, but not everyone). Restaurants here in Scottsdale, that have been in business for 60+ years, are closing, even one last week. So let me know if there is a better place to move. I’m willing to relocate.
Real value is sliding down and Future price is going up,
without single evidence of future bottom.
This is really a strange move .
How about considering about a lure.
A Big Big LURE which catches millions of folks.
Even passed stock charts (Dow 1929 to 1937) can be used as a lure.
Old time … it was manipulated by people.
But present … it can be … by Evil.