The latest compilation of reports
The United States once again shed jobs in July, the Labor Department said today,
and a host of economic data is dampening hopes for a turnaround in hiring
anytime soon.
Nonfarm payrolls shrank by 131,000 last month in an economy that lost more
than 8.5 million jobs in the recent recession but started to generate job growth
earlier this year. While most of the losses reflected the dismissal of temporary
U.S. census workers, private-sector payroll growth was an anemic 71,000 jobs.
And the government revised its reading on job losses in June to 221,000 from the
initially reported 125,000.
"Climbing out of any recession, much less a hole as deep as this one, takes some
time," President Barack Obama acknowledged in a speech at a sign-
manufacturing plant in Washington, D.C. "The road to recovery doesn't follow a
straight line."ugg boots sale
With unemployment looming as one of the most important issues for the
midterm elections this fall, Obama tried to draw out the positive, saying, "We've
now added private-sector jobs every month this year, instead of losing them, as
we did for the first seven months of last year."
But as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted in a speech to financially
beleaguered state government officials last week, even faster employment
expansion, which averaged about 100,000 jobs per month in the first six months
of the year, isn't enough to materially reduce unemployment rates, since
graduates, immigrants and others are constantly expanding the ranks of
American workers.ugg cardy
The Fed has lowered its forecasts for economic growth and predicts it could be the
end of 2012 before unemployment falls from the current 9.5 percent to between 7
and 7.5 percent.
In presenting the forecasts to Congress, Bernanke said the Fed "viewed
uncertainty about the outlook for growth and unemployment as greater than
normal."
Indeed, even that 9.5 percent unemployment rate is misleading.
Essentially unchanged from June, the rate doesn't mean the same number of
people have jobs; in fact, the number of employed workers fell by 159,000. But
381,000 people were dropped from the official tally of the work force, mostly
because they stopped looking for work. So the official unemployment rate was
calculated from a smaller base of potential workers.
The percentage of the overall population that is working edged lower, and the
number of discouraged workers -- people who stopped looking for work because
they believe no jobs are available for them -- was at 1.2 million.
A broader survey of employers produced an even darker picture. State and local
governments continued to cut jobs, the construction sector lost another 11,000
posts and even temporary help services got rid of a net 6,000 figures.
Most of the gains were in manufacturing -- a net increase of 36,000, reflecting
fewer seasonal layoffs in the auto industry -- and in the health care industry,
which added 27,000 jobs. Shipping and warehousing companies were also hiring.
But the growth of manufacturing jobs -- also highlighted by Obama -- itself may
not be sustainable.buy ugg
A good portion of the economic growth earlier this year came from businesses
replenishing their inventories, and demand for new products could be slowing.
The Fed's latest take on manufacturers' capacity utilization -- a measurement of
how much industry is producing as a share of its maximum sustainable output --
slipped three-tenths of a percentage point to 71.4 percent, suggesting that they
have more workers than they can use.
Other recent economic reports suggest that American employers neither need
more workers nor are they confident enough of their own prospects to think they
can afford to hire.
The latest compilation of reports from the business and banking contacts of the
regional Federal Reserve banks indicates executives are getting more cautious as
the U.S. economic recovery slows. The Commerce Department on July 30
estimated that the economy grew at an annual rate of just 2.4 percent in the
second quarter, down sharply from a 3.7 percent pace in the first three months of
the year.
Consumers, too, are increasingly wary. The government on Tuesday said
consumer spending -- the biggest engine of U.S. economic growth -- declined in
June and that people were socking away more of their disposable income.
At the same time, the housing market is tottering again, the commercial real
estate market continues to implode, personal bankruptcies are up sharply and
banks are still not lending enough to supply many businesses with the operating
cash they need.billig ugg cardy Stiefel
The economic momentum behind the recovery earlier this year seems to have
petered out before it could generate enough job creation to sustain itself. And
now it could be awhile before consumer demand and hiring pick up enough speed
to make that happen.
and a host of economic data is dampening hopes for a turnaround in hiring
anytime soon.
Nonfarm payrolls shrank by 131,000 last month in an economy that lost more
than 8.5 million jobs in the recent recession but started to generate job growth
earlier this year. While most of the losses reflected the dismissal of temporary
U.S. census workers, private-sector payroll growth was an anemic 71,000 jobs.
And the government revised its reading on job losses in June to 221,000 from the
initially reported 125,000.
"Climbing out of any recession, much less a hole as deep as this one, takes some
time," President Barack Obama acknowledged in a speech at a sign-
manufacturing plant in Washington, D.C. "The road to recovery doesn't follow a
straight line."ugg boots sale
With unemployment looming as one of the most important issues for the
midterm elections this fall, Obama tried to draw out the positive, saying, "We've
now added private-sector jobs every month this year, instead of losing them, as
we did for the first seven months of last year."
But as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted in a speech to financially
beleaguered state government officials last week, even faster employment
expansion, which averaged about 100,000 jobs per month in the first six months
of the year, isn't enough to materially reduce unemployment rates, since
graduates, immigrants and others are constantly expanding the ranks of
American workers.ugg cardy
The Fed has lowered its forecasts for economic growth and predicts it could be the
end of 2012 before unemployment falls from the current 9.5 percent to between 7
and 7.5 percent.
In presenting the forecasts to Congress, Bernanke said the Fed "viewed
uncertainty about the outlook for growth and unemployment as greater than
normal."
Indeed, even that 9.5 percent unemployment rate is misleading.
Essentially unchanged from June, the rate doesn't mean the same number of
people have jobs; in fact, the number of employed workers fell by 159,000. But
381,000 people were dropped from the official tally of the work force, mostly
because they stopped looking for work. So the official unemployment rate was
calculated from a smaller base of potential workers.
The percentage of the overall population that is working edged lower, and the
number of discouraged workers -- people who stopped looking for work because
they believe no jobs are available for them -- was at 1.2 million.
A broader survey of employers produced an even darker picture. State and local
governments continued to cut jobs, the construction sector lost another 11,000
posts and even temporary help services got rid of a net 6,000 figures.
Most of the gains were in manufacturing -- a net increase of 36,000, reflecting
fewer seasonal layoffs in the auto industry -- and in the health care industry,
which added 27,000 jobs. Shipping and warehousing companies were also hiring.
But the growth of manufacturing jobs -- also highlighted by Obama -- itself may
not be sustainable.buy ugg
A good portion of the economic growth earlier this year came from businesses
replenishing their inventories, and demand for new products could be slowing.
The Fed's latest take on manufacturers' capacity utilization -- a measurement of
how much industry is producing as a share of its maximum sustainable output --
slipped three-tenths of a percentage point to 71.4 percent, suggesting that they
have more workers than they can use.
Other recent economic reports suggest that American employers neither need
more workers nor are they confident enough of their own prospects to think they
can afford to hire.
The latest compilation of reports from the business and banking contacts of the
regional Federal Reserve banks indicates executives are getting more cautious as
the U.S. economic recovery slows. The Commerce Department on July 30
estimated that the economy grew at an annual rate of just 2.4 percent in the
second quarter, down sharply from a 3.7 percent pace in the first three months of
the year.
Consumers, too, are increasingly wary. The government on Tuesday said
consumer spending -- the biggest engine of U.S. economic growth -- declined in
June and that people were socking away more of their disposable income.
At the same time, the housing market is tottering again, the commercial real
estate market continues to implode, personal bankruptcies are up sharply and
banks are still not lending enough to supply many businesses with the operating
cash they need.billig ugg cardy Stiefel
The economic momentum behind the recovery earlier this year seems to have
petered out before it could generate enough job creation to sustain itself. And
now it could be awhile before consumer demand and hiring pick up enough speed
to make that happen.