No more jobs for Americans

Employers add no net jobs in Aug.; rate unchanged
"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Employers stopped adding jobs in August, an alarming setback for an economy that has struggled to grow and might be at risk of another recession.

The government also reported that the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent. It was the weakest jobs report since September 2010."

No more jobs. Blunt and to the point. Inflation and rising living costs. And the "analysts" say there is a RISK of ANOTHER recession?

The previous recession never left! We are, and have been, wallowing in the same economic sinkhole that started three years ago. It didn't end. It still recedes. And now, with no more jobs, things can and will get worse. Frightening, but yes, things can and will get worse.

Even those lucky enough to be holding jobs are suffering. Wages are DOWN, inflation is UP. The working folks' income simply is not growing at the same pace, which means their salaries are buying less and less, day after day.

Part of the rising costs appears to be a desparate last-ditch effort by State and Fed tax collectors. Higher costs means higher tax revenue which is a percentage of the selling cost, ergo it is in their best interest to allow inflation and rising costs. A short sighted and foolish economic choice.

Analysis: Jobs matter, unemployment rate doesn't

Analysis: Jobs matter, unemployment rate doesn't – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs:
"Ignore the unemployment rate, and ignore anything you read that highlights the fact that it increased from 8.8% in March to 9% in April. It doesn't matter. It's an irrelevant number. There are so many long-term unemployed in this country, that the unemployment rate would actually be much higher if all of them were counted– more like 16% or 17%."

Hear, hear! Finally an article that makes some sense and has at least a modicum of reality.

The number juggling that comes out of Washington is really useless. The fact of the matter is - there are not enough GOOD jobs out there! Yes, "x" hundreds of thousands of jobs were added, but the figures dodge the issue of WHAT jobs were created. Engineering jobs that pay $50K vs janitorial jobs that pay $25K - big difference.

Q1 GDP report: Economic growth slows

Q1 GDP report: Economic growth slows - Apr. 28, 2011:
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Economic growth slowed to a crawl in the first three months of the year as a spike in gasoline, higher overall inflation and continued weakness in the housing market all took a toll on the recovery.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic health, rose at an annual rate of 1.8%, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That's a significant slowdown from the 3.1% growth rate in the final quarter of 2010.
[...]
``Undoubtedly, consumers are cutting discretionary spending to compensate for rising food and energy prices,`` said Jim Baird, chief investment strategist for Plante Moran Financial Advisors. ``The risk of recession in the near-term remains slim, but an extended period of slow growth isn't likely to encourage an enthusiastic mood any time soon.``"

What an astute observation from Jim who has such an important sounding title. Obviously, food is more important than a new pair of shoes. I doesn't take a Moran'ic genius to spell it out for us common folks.

Ironically, the article also mentions that Government spending is down which is contributing to the drop in GDP. Trimming the Federal deficit is well and good, but the idea is trim and reduce WASTE first. Not reduce spending that boosts domestic industry and creates (or in this day and age, maintains) jobs in the US.

Wastage as in all the time and money to look at Obama's birth certificate. No matter that it is, and has always been, public record - and was always available to anyone (ergo the term, public record) to see, and most of the press already had already seen it. Yet all it takes is one rich and noisy twit with a weird hairdo to make it into a national debate. If Uncle Sam wants to raise some quick cash, come up with a "publicity hound tax", and Trump'et-ing buffoons can have all the press air-time they want.

Senior Democrat Conyers criticizes Obama

Senior Democrat Conyers criticizes Obama - CNN.com:
"Washington (CNN) -- Senior Democrat John Conyers of Michigan criticized Barack Obama Monday, hoping, Conyers said, to 'make him a better president.'
Citing the troubled job market, rising energy costs, and turmoil in the Middle East, Conyers told reporters at the National Press Club: 'We keep getting a longer and longer list of things he wanted to do, wished he could do more about, and is of course having a big problem.'"

How's that socialism experiment working out for ya, Conyers?

3M CEO: Obama is "anti-business"

3M CEO: Obama is "anti-business" - Feb. 28, 2011:
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The head of industrial conglomerate 3M (MMM, Fortune 500) blasted the president as being 'anti-business,' claiming Obama has not done anything to improve the White House's relationship with Corporate America.
3M CEO George Buckley called Obama's policies 'Robin Hood-esque' and told the Financial Times that manufacturers like 3M may have to shift production to other countries in order to stay competitive. 'We know what his instincts are ... he is anti business,' Buckley said in an interview that ran late Sunday."

Its about time someone called out the current administration. Destroying businesses is NOT the way to create jobs. The big boys will simply move their factories and offices overseas, where labor is cheap and governments actually, ahem, help businesses to succeed. Smaller businesses don't stand a chance, and since small businesses are (were) the largest employers - say goodbye to whatever hopes are left of an economic recovery.

But our government does everything in its power, from over-regulation to over-taxation, to shut down any and every kind of business within the US. What kind of fiscal genius would even think of taxing a company out of business? Isn't it commonsense to realize that shutting down a business also shuts down the tax revenue stream? Commonsense, apparently, is uncommon in D.C.

Survey of business economists shows improved jobs outlook

Survey of business economists shows improved jobs outlook - Jan. 24, 2011:
"Economists see more hiring on the way
By Charles Riley, staff reporter
January 24, 2011: 11:16 AM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- In another sign of a strengthening economy, U.S. companies say they are planning to hire more workers, and expect economic growth to pick up in the first months of 2011, according to a survey released Monday.
The National Association for Business Economics said the hiring outlook for the next six months is at a 12-year high."

How about that! Will the sun peep out over the job market horizon, at long last? With a new Congress in D.C. and the promises of supporting small businesses in the coming year(s), is this really a turning point for the jobs market in the US?

Were there 445,000 layoffs around Christmas 2010?

Initial claims jump 35,000 to 445,000 in latest week - Jan. 13, 2011:
"Jobless claims climb by 35,000
By Blake Ellis
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits jumped sharply last week, two weeks after hitting a 2-1/2 year low below 400,000.
There were 445,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Jan. 8, the Labor Department said in a weekly report Thursday.
That's up 35,000 from a revised 410,000 the previous week -- when jobless claims climbed back above 400,000 after falling below that mark for the first time in more than two years."

Misleading title on the original article. If I'm reading this correctly, in the first week of January '11, nearly a half million workers filed their INITIAL (as in, just fired) jobless claims. A half million pink slips over the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza season? Corporate grinches, with bells on!

This is just more terrible news, not the ideal way to ring in the New Year. Apparently some didn't have much of a problem over the holidays ...

Wealthy treated themselves during the holidays

"By MAE ANDERSON and ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

NEW YORK (AP) -- The rich treated themselves like royalty this holiday season. That spun the holidays into gold for Tiffany & Co. and other high-end retailers.
Wealthier shoppers traded up to more expensive gold and diamond jewelry from silver charms. Designer clothing and purses were back.


The splurges are good news for the economy, because the richest 5 percent of Americans, those making at least $207,000 annually, account for about 14 percent of all spending. And consumer spending makes up about 70 percent of the economy." 

Does that mean the top 5% wealthiest individuals or is that a joint or family income qualifier? Because $207K a year for a well educated and professionally employed Mr & Mrs is pretty common these days, and still falls into "middle class" status (ain't much left after taxes). If such a low income makes up the richest 5% of our economy, I'm terrified. It just means things are worse than I imagined (and if you've read these postings, I have imagined pretty bad numbers).

December 2010 jobs report: Payrolls up, unemployment rates falls

December jobs report: Payrolls up, unemployment rates falls - Jan. 7, 2011:
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- High hopes for December's employment numbers were dashed Friday, when the Labor Department reported disappointing job gains for the month. But the unemployment rate took a surprising dive.

The economy added 103,000 jobs in December -- falling short of most expectations. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate sunk to 9.4%, its lowest level since May 2009, confusing some economists. While a sharply lower unemployment rate was a welcome surprise, some experts said that drop was mostly due to a shrinking workforce."

and

"About 260,000 adults dropped out of the labor force for various reasons, and were no longer counted as unemployed by the government. The overall participation rate in the U.S. labor force fell to a new recession low of 64.3%. "Incredibly, the U.S. labor force is now smaller than it was before the recession started, though it should have grown by over 4 million workers to keep up with working-age population growth over this period," said economist Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute."

The news just gets worse and worse. As small businesses collapse, with literally hundreds shutting down daily, the job market is rapidly shrinking. The last 2 years have taken a toll on the backbone of our economy, the small business, with the Federal, State and City Governments taxing or regulating most out of business in such a short time.

With a new Congress seated in D.C. to greet a New Year, one can only hope this new batch has a better understanding of what is wrong with our economy, and that taxing businesses out of business results in collection of NO tax once they shut down.

Stimulus price tag: $2.8 trillion

Stimulus price tag: $2.8 trillion - Dec. 20, 2010:
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Since the recession began three years ago, Congress has poured a total of $2.8 trillion into the economy in an effort to spur hiring, get people spending again and prop up industries struggling to stay afloat.

While the $858 billion package of tax cuts passed last week was the biggest slice of stimulus yet, it accounts for less than a third of all the money spent since the start of 2008, according to multiple cost estimates prepared by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office over the last three years."
 ...
"Public works projects like road and school repair or efforts to develop clean energy and high speed rail, along with help for state and local governments, was a relatively small part of the total stimulus -- just over $250 billion, or about 9% of the spending, most of it found in the stimulus act passed at the start of the Obama administration."


All right, this year is just about over. Lets face facts, this nearly 3 trillion dollars was wasted. The economy still isn't "fixed", jobs are still not being created, small businesses are still crashing and burning. Bankers and automakers are snickering all the way to the proverbial bank, everyone else (and their children) are and will be paying for this debacle for decades to come.

Come January a new Congress will have to figure out a way, not just to fix the economy, but also to undo the ravages of "bailouts" that have made things worse. Lets wish them luck, common sense, and basic math skills. And remind them of the next Congressional elections in 2012, aka the Mayan calendar's final year.

If only we had all the gold those Mayans had back then!

Structural unemployment? What nonsense.

Why structural unemployment isn't the job market's problem - Oct. 11, 2010:
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- An increasingly fierce debate is raging over the reason why unemployment is still so stubbornly high.
While most people think businesses simply aren't hiring enough to absorb the millions of unemployed workers, a rising tide of prominent economists dispute that. They claim that there are jobs out there, just not the right candidates to fill them."

I guess its a slow news day for this Columbus Day holiday, but for any media outlet to publish such a nonsense story is atrocious. Of course there are "jobs" out there, but would you really expect an engineer, say, to flip burgers at the local fast-food joint ... or would he/she look for a job as, say, an engineer perhaps?

"With more than 3 million job openings reported by the Labor Department, the unemployment rate should be close to 6.5%, said Kocherlatokta, not the 9.6% where it stands now.

He said that one of the reasons for the worsening imbalance is that so many underwater homeowners who can't sell their houses are unable to move in search of job opportunities."

Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Perhaps his Presidentshipness would like to fill one of the job openings in his own agency, say, as a janitor? And this clown is in charge of a Federal Reserve Bank, no wonder we are wallowing in the fiscal doldrums.


Its quite simple. Employers employ employees. Duh. Less employers, less openings for employees, ergo higher unemployment. The current tax and regulatory environment coupled with the lack of any available funding from banks is killing our small businesses, whose owners are packing it up and looking for jobs themselves. Bailing out banks, car makers and health insurance companies is NOT creating jobs - because it is NOT helping small businesses to survive, forget about growth. Small businesses form the bulk of "employers", not mega-corporations, who are gleefully slicing and dicing at their employee salaries and benefits while the current Congress is blindly stumbling around throwing wads of taxpayer money into every trough they can find.
 
The trillions that have been wasted on these foolish bailouts should have been routed to small business as tax credits. It would not cost as much, since no taxpayer money would be paid out up front. As businesses prosper, they will increase tax revenues in the long run by increasing hiring and thus consumer spending from the happily employed, who will no doubt run out and buy High Definition 3D televisions with every paycheck. And if any business fails, it didn't cost the government a dime - since the failed business is not going to be taking that tax credit. I'm no economist, but this is straightforward common sense. In the immortal words of Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet), "Common sense is not so common". Especially in Congress.

Job losses return for first time in 2010 (the first time???)

Job losses return for first time in 2010 - Jul. 2, 2010:
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The U.S. economy lost jobs in June, for the first time this year, as modest hiring by businesses only partly offset the end of census jobs.
The Labor Department on Friday reported a net loss of 125,000 jobs in the month. That was due primarily to the loss of 225,000 census jobs that had swelled payrolls by 433,000 net jobs in May. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a loss of 100,000 jobs in June."

And there goes the "census jobs bubble", a clever hyperbole to skew the true (and sad) state of the economy and the job market. We didn't lose jobs for "the first time" this year, the bogus census jobs don't count, we've been steadily losing jobs for a while now.

If only the Feds put in as much effort in helping small businesses to CREATE jobs, rather than waste time juggling numbers to protect their OWN jobs.

Unemployment claims (supposedly) fall in latest week

Unemployment claims fall in latest week - Jun. 24, 2010: "NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance fell last week, according to a government report released Thursday.
There were 457,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended June 19, down 19,000 from a revised 476,000 in the previous week, the Labor Department said."

And yet more dismal news, but presented as always with a positive spin, "claims fall". When one actually reads the article, it says "initial jobless claims" - these are 457 THOUSAND newly unemployed that are filing their INITIAL benefits claims. 19,000 less out of 476,000 the previous period is barely, what, a 3% drop? Hardly a "fall", a drop in the bucket, more likely.

And the article further clarifies the scope of the economic disaster we are wallowing in:
"Continuing claims: The government said 4,548,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended June 12, the most recent data available. That's down 45,000 from the previous week.

...
The figures do not include those who have moved to state or federal extensions, or people who have exhausted their benefits."

So there we have it, over 4.5 MILLION workers are still out of work filing "continuing claims", not including those who have gone onto extensions, or run out of benefits altogether, and are therefore not considered "unemployed"? The Labor Dept. dare not mention the "real" unemployment numbers, lest the populace grasp the scope of the fiscal hole they have dropped us into and demand that, heaven forbid, the Labor Dept. fulfill its mandate and Congress actually does something about the jobs situation.

Job openings rise?

Job openings rise to highest level in 16 months - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON – Job openings jumped in April to the highest level in 16 months, a sign that hiring by private employers is healthy despite last week's disappointing jobs report.
The number of jobs advertised at the end of April rose to 3.1 million from 2.8 million in March, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That's the most openings since December 2008.
Private employers accounted for the entire net gain. The government's advertising for jobs decreased, despite the hiring of hundreds of thousands of census workers in May.
Job openings have risen by about 740,000 since bottoming out at 2.3 million in July. But they remain far below pre-recession levels of about 4.5 million openings per month.
...
The report comes after the Labor Department said Friday that the economy generated 431,000 jobs in May. But almost all were census hires. Only 41,000 of the new jobs were in the private sector."

I guess the May jobs report was a classic case of putting the cart before the horse. If the April job situation was good, but the May report was bad - which one are we supposed to believe in?

May jobs report: statistical skulldugery

May jobs report: Unemployment lower - Jun. 4, 2010:
"May jobs report: Census boosts payrolls
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A flood of temporary Census workers in May led to the biggest jump in jobs in ten years, the government reported Friday.
Employers added 431,000 jobs in the month, up from 290,000 jobs added in April. It was the biggest gain in jobs since March 2000.
Census hiring was responsible for 411,000 of May's increase in employment, but private sector employers also added 41,000 jobs in the period. Government payrolls other than Census declined by 21,000 jobs in May."


More statistical juggling from Washington. Census "jobs" are NOT jobs. They are extremely temporary situations. Real "jobs" are full-time, long term, paying at least the industry average, and offer benefits.

The last sentence it that article says it all:
"But the problem of long-term unemployment continued to worsen as those out of work more than six months rose to a record 6.8 million, or nearly half of all unemployed workers."

And even those jobs that qualify as "jobs" have problems:

Say goodbye to full-time jobs with benefits
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Jobs may be coming back, but they aren't the same ones workers were used to.
Many of the jobs employers are adding are temporary or contract positions, rather than traditional full-time jobs with benefits. With unemployment remaining near 10%, employers have their pick of workers willing to accept less secure positions.
In 2005, the government estimated that 31% of U.S. workers were already so-called contingent workers. Experts say that number could increase to 40% or more in the next 10 years."

The situation is obviously bad, unfortunately the one Government agency that is supposed to understand the issue, the Dept. of Labor, obviously does not.

glimmers-of-hope-for-grads: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

"Glimmers-of-hope-for-grads: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance:
This spring's college graduates face better job prospects than the dismal environment encountered by last year's grads. But that doesn't mean the job market is thriving.

Average starting salaries are down, and employers plan to make only 5 percent more job offers to new graduates this spring compared to last spring, when job offers were down 20 percent from 2008 levels, according to a study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which tracks recruitment data."

It's hard for newcomers into the workforce to compete with the long line of currently unemployed, especially since those out of work will already have years of experience padding their resumes.

Financial Times article on unemployment

"American monumental job losses
By Clive Crook
Published: May 24 2010 03:00
Last updated: May 24 2010 03:00
Unemployment in the US is high not just by its own past standards but by international standards, too, which is doubly strange. Figures also show a startling rise in long-term unemployment, to levels previously associated with Europe's broken labour markets.


In April the number of Americans looking for work for more than six months rose to 6.7m, roughly half of all those unemployed. Such a high proportion is unprecedented: the long-term share has previously reached a quarter at most. Terms for the stickiness of high unemployment such as hysteresis and sclerosis have preoccupied students of Europe's economies. They have not come up so much in discussions of US joblessness, but this may change.

Are these just signs that this recession has been exceptionally severe, or is something even worse going on? Can the US expect the rapid recovery in employment it has experienced coming out of previous recessions? On closer examination, US labour-market exceptionalism has not disappeared - but it is not what it used to be."

Comparing ourselves to Europe is hardly a valid yardstick to measure results by. Europeans don't buy overpriced SUVs and truck-like vehicles - US consumers do. The economy in the US is largely driven by the consumer, producing the product keeps the money "in the family". Importing Chinese made junk and Mexican automobiles is contrary to common sense, since you're paying someone else to do it - and they are NOT buying your products.

Another corporation abandons US workers

"Polaris Adds to US Unemployment, Takes Manufacturing Jobs to Mexico


Sunday May 23, 2010
Polaris Industries will be adding to the already out-of-control unemployment rate in the United States by shipping American manufacturing jobs to Mexico. The move will result in the sale or closure of the Osceola, Wisconsin manufacturing facility."

When are these companies going to realize that moving jobs out of the US results in less money in the pockets of their US customer base, and therefore less sales for their own products! I really don't envision Mexico purchasing any volume of snowmobiles, this is just short sighted corporate greed that will inflate stock profits only for the short term. As soon as the directors and top shareholders "cash out" their soon-to-be-inflated stock options, they are likely to abandon the company and employees.

Ironically, their corporate site is advertising 39 open positions at their company
"https://prod.fadvhms.com/polaris/jobboard/ListJobs.aspx?&__VT=ExtCan
To apply for a position, click on a job title below, or to update your resume only, click here.
Showing Records: 1 - 10
Total Records: 39"

New York City’s Jobless Rate Drops Below 10% - NYTimes.com

New York City’s Jobless Rate Drops Below 10% - NYTimes.com:
"City’s Jobless Rate Drops Below U.S. Rate
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Published: May 20, 2010
The number of private-sector jobs in the city rose by 21,000 in April, nearly triple the average increase for that month in the last 10 years, said Colleen C. Gardner, the state’s labor commissioner.
The growth was widespread, with increases in all industries, but was especially strong in professional and business services and in leisure and hospitality, Ms. Gardner said.
For the city, the unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in April, down from 10 percent in March and a recent high of 10.5 percent at the end of 2009.
It is now lower than the national unemployment rate, which was 9.9 percent in April, for the first time since late summer 2009.
New York State’s unemployment rate also fell in April, declining to 8.4 percent, from the March rate of 8.6 percent.
...
Those employers that are hiring still have the leverage in negotiations over pay. According to data compiled by James A. Parrott, chief economist for the nonprofit Fiscal Policy Institute, the average wage of workers in the city, outside of the financial sector, declined almost 5 percent last year. Wages declined in 7 of the 10 biggest sectors of the city’s economy, he said. "


These numbers appear to be nothing more than statistical juggling. New York has "created" jobs that pay less than the jobs that it "lost" a few months ago, a swap over time, with a net decrease in salary. That's not growth, it's substituting pay scales, downwards.

The Associated Press: Jobless claims rise by largest amount in 3 months

The Associated Press: Jobless claims rise by largest amount in 3 months:
"Jobless claims rise by largest amount in 3 months
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER (AP) – 18 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week by the largest amount in three months. The surge is evidence of how volatile the job market remains, even as the economy grows.
Applications for unemployment benefits rose to 471,000 last week, up by 25,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the first increase in five weeks and the biggest jump since a gain of 40,000 in February.
The total was the highest since new claims reached 480,000 on April 10. It also pushed the average for the last four weeks to 453,500."

Unemployment benefits rose "unexpectedly"? What was the DoL expecting, flying pigs?

Job hunting and the economy

Jobs. A simple four letter word, easy to pronounce. But a NOT so simple matter to obtain one.

Today's economy can best be described as ... a shambles. As employers fold up, employees get laid off. As employees turn into the un-employed, they spend less money. As the unemployed spend less money, more employers fold up. And more employees become unemployees. And the cycle goes on.

Here is what is going on with jobs in the US these days. Read 'em and weep.