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Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
US Unemployment Rate Hits four-Year Low, Business Community Overjoyed By Re-Election Of President Obama
Posted by:
Mittens Having Kittens
()
Date: December 07, 2012 10:13AM
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.
The Labor Department's report on Friday offered a mixed picture for the economy.
Hiring remained steady during the storm and in the face of looming tax increases. But the government said employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated.
And the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.
There were signs that the storm disrupted economic activity. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work – the most in almost two years. They were still counted as employed.
Stock futures jumped after the report. Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 20 points in the minutes before the report came out at 8:30 a.m., and just after were up 70 points.
As money moved into stocks, it moved out of safer bonds. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which moves opposite the price, rose to 1.63 percent from 1.58 percent just before the report.
Since July, the economy has added an average of 158,000 jobs a month. That's a modest pickup from 146,000 in the first six months of the year.
The increase suggests employers are not yet delaying hiring decisions because of the "fiscal cliff." That's the combination of sharp tax increases and spending cuts that are set to take effect next year without a budget deal.
Retailers added 53,000 positions while temporary help companies added 18,000 and education and health care also gained 18,000.
Auto manufacturers added nearly 10,000 jobs.
Still, overall manufacturing jobs fell 7,000. That was pushed down by a loss of 12,000 jobs in food manufacturing that likely reflects the layoff of workers at Hostess.
Sandy forced restaurants, retailers and other businesses to close in late October and early November in 24 states, particularly in the Northeast.
The U.S. grew at a solid 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But many economists say growth is slowing to a 1.5 percent rate in the October-December quarter, largely because of the storm and threat of the fiscal cliff. That's not enough growth to lower the unemployment rate.
The storm held back consumer spending and income, which drive economic growth. Consumer spending declined in October and work interruptions caused by Sandy reduced wages and salaries that month by about $18 billion at an annual rate, the government said.
Still, many say economic growth could accelerate next year if the fiscal cliff is avoided. The economy is also expected to get a boost from efforts to rebuild in the Northeast after the storm.
The Labor Department's report on Friday offered a mixed picture for the economy.
Hiring remained steady during the storm and in the face of looming tax increases. But the government said employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated.
And the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.
There were signs that the storm disrupted economic activity. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work – the most in almost two years. They were still counted as employed.
Stock futures jumped after the report. Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 20 points in the minutes before the report came out at 8:30 a.m., and just after were up 70 points.
As money moved into stocks, it moved out of safer bonds. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which moves opposite the price, rose to 1.63 percent from 1.58 percent just before the report.
Since July, the economy has added an average of 158,000 jobs a month. That's a modest pickup from 146,000 in the first six months of the year.
The increase suggests employers are not yet delaying hiring decisions because of the "fiscal cliff." That's the combination of sharp tax increases and spending cuts that are set to take effect next year without a budget deal.
Retailers added 53,000 positions while temporary help companies added 18,000 and education and health care also gained 18,000.
Auto manufacturers added nearly 10,000 jobs.
Still, overall manufacturing jobs fell 7,000. That was pushed down by a loss of 12,000 jobs in food manufacturing that likely reflects the layoff of workers at Hostess.
Sandy forced restaurants, retailers and other businesses to close in late October and early November in 24 states, particularly in the Northeast.
The U.S. grew at a solid 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But many economists say growth is slowing to a 1.5 percent rate in the October-December quarter, largely because of the storm and threat of the fiscal cliff. That's not enough growth to lower the unemployment rate.
The storm held back consumer spending and income, which drive economic growth. Consumer spending declined in October and work interruptions caused by Sandy reduced wages and salaries that month by about $18 billion at an annual rate, the government said.
Still, many say economic growth could accelerate next year if the fiscal cliff is avoided. The economy is also expected to get a boost from efforts to rebuild in the Northeast after the storm.
Re: US Unemployment Rate Hits four-Year Low, Business Community Overjoyed By Re-Election Of President Obama
Posted by:
EXLX
()
Date: December 07, 2012 10:15AM
Don't feed the trolls.
Re: US Unemployment Rate Hits four-Year Low, Business Community Overjoyed By Re-Election Of President Obama
Posted by:
Rednecked
()
Date: December 07, 2012 10:20AM
Fucking Obama making this country great again! Damn that Muslim gun stealing Kenyan! I'd sleep in pig mud before I'd like him.
Come on republicans let's get together on this. There must be some way we can ruin this country and make Obama look bad.
Come on republicans let's get together on this. There must be some way we can ruin this country and make Obama look bad.
Re: US Unemployment Rate Hits four-Year Low, Business Community Overjoyed By Re-Election Of President Obama
Posted by:
Not so fast
()
Date: December 07, 2012 10:46AM
While the GETCO algos care only about one thing: the headline NFP number derived by the establishment survey, the reality is that in November this number was strictly a divination of seasonal adjustments (which resulted in the typical for November 1.2 million "gain" in jobs), as well as who knows what other Sandy-related adjustments which the BLS has not broken down, the reality is that a more granular dig through the jobs data reveals a far uglier picture, especially for those in the prime working demographic between 25-54. This has been a sensitive issue for the pundits as ever since the arrival of the Obama administration, all the job gains have gone in the 55 and older job category as we now see age outsourcing, while jobs in the 55 and lower age group have imploded. Sure enough, the November data, when seen through the prism of the Household Survey's age distribution, is frankly horrendous.
First, what that granular data shows is that instead of a 146K gain in November, there was actually a drop of 114K jobs when broken down by worker "vintage." But where it gets simply stupid, is that of the 4 age group buckets (16-19, 20-24, 25-54, and 55-69), the biggest gainer continued to be America geriatric work force, which added 177 jobs. As for that key segment of the workforce, the 25-54? Jobs here declined by a whopping 359K in November. And this is good news?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-07/chart-day-jobs-additions-age-group-reveals-scariest-picture
First, what that granular data shows is that instead of a 146K gain in November, there was actually a drop of 114K jobs when broken down by worker "vintage." But where it gets simply stupid, is that of the 4 age group buckets (16-19, 20-24, 25-54, and 55-69), the biggest gainer continued to be America geriatric work force, which added 177 jobs. As for that key segment of the workforce, the 25-54? Jobs here declined by a whopping 359K in November. And this is good news?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-07/chart-day-jobs-additions-age-group-reveals-scariest-picture
Re: US Unemployment Rate Hits four-Year Low, Business Community Overjoyed By Re-Election Of President Obama
Posted by:
Not so fast
()
Date: December 07, 2012 10:48AM
Not good...
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Re: US Unemployment Rate Hits four-Year Low, Business Community Overjoyed By Re-Election Of President Obama
Posted by:
Not so fast
()
Date: December 07, 2012 10:50AM
And the really scary charts: cumulative jobs gained or lost in the 55 and under, versus 55 and over age groups. In case it is confusing, since Obama became president, 4 million jobs have been added in the 55-69 age group. Everyone else? Down 3 million!
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Re: US Unemployment Rate Hits four-Year Low, Business Community Overjoyed By Re-Election Of President Obama
Posted by:
Not so fast
()
Date: December 07, 2012 10:54AM
Confused why the unemployment rate dropped? The same, favorite BLS adjustment - a drop in the labor force participation rate which declined by 0.2% to 63.6% once again, as the number of people out of the labor increased by over 540K to 88,883,000.
Attachments:
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