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  • Let the good times roll again?

    212,000 new jobs were announced this month.

    All signs are pointing to an economy that is at or near full employment, averaging 160,000+ new jobs per month over the last year. The unemployment rate stands at 4.4%, a 5-year low. The employment-to-population ratio is now back to 1997 levels. Hourly wages are increasing at a 4% per annum rate.

    There are still some soft areas. Ohio and Michigan are getting hit hard because of the rollback of the auto industry, f.e.

    From the FT...

    US unemployment falls to five-year low

    By Eoin Callan

    Published: April 6 2007 14:22 | Last updated: April 6 2007 14:54

    The US unemployment rate fell to a five-year low last month as employers created jobs at a steady pace in a sign of continued economic expansion, according to government figures on Friday.

    The economy added more jobs than anticipated in March as 180,000 staff were added to the payrolls of non-farm employers, according to the Labor Department. The figures also showed 32,000 more jobs than initially estimated. were created in prior months, with 162,000 staff added to payrolls in January and 113,000 in February.

    The steady pace of hiring will ease investor concerns about a sudden slowdown in the economy but add to alarm at the Federal Reserve about inflation pressures.

    The central bank views the risks to the economy as finely balanced between a slowdown in growth and stubbornly high price increases.

    The fall in the unemployment rate to 4.4 per cent from 4.5 per cent suggests the labour market remains tight and is likely to make the Fed more concerned about the pressure on companies to increase wages and prices.

    Investors priced in a lower likelihood that the Fed would cut interest rates, as the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasuries rose to 4.73 per cent from 4.68 per cent.

    Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

  • #2
    Re: Let the good times roll again?

    Originally posted by DanS
    212,000 new jobs were announced this month.
    55000 in Canada last month.



    12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
    Stadtluft Macht Frei
    Killing it is the new killing it
    Ultima Ratio Regum

    Comment


    • #3
      Good job.
      I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

      Comment


      • #4
        A more detailed article from the WaPo...

        Unemployment Rate Drops to 4.4 Percent

        By Howard Schneider
        Washington Post Staff Writer
        Friday, April 6, 2007; 10:00 AM

        Unemployment fell in March to 4.4 percent as a rebound in construction hiring helped the economy add 180,000 jobs over the month, a better showing than expected, the government reported today.

        Hiring in the education, health care and retail sectors was also strong, amid signs that the country's labor market remained tight.

        Despite concerns that the economy was losing steam, the March unemployment data mark the second consecutive monthly decline, pushing the jobless rate to a level touched briefly last fall but not seen before that since 2001. Average hourly wages increased by six cents over the previous month, to $17.22, a 4 percent increase from the year before.

        The new report is consistent with the stance taken by the Federal Reserve at its last meeting. Interest rates were held steady at that session, with the Fed concluding that the economy was in generally solid shape and the risk of inflation remaining its central focus.

        A downturn in the housing and automotive industries had prompted concern that the economy was slowing, leading some analysts to predict that the Fed would lower interest rates sometime this year to spur growth.

        But today's job report makes that outcome less likely. The rise in wages should help keep consumer spending on track -- an important element in economic growth that makes up for about two-thirds of economic activity. And the drop in unemployment is just one sign that the demand for labor remains firm.

        When the unemployment rate fell in February, for example, some analysts noted that the decrease stemmed in part from the fact that 190,000 people had stopped looking for work -- and therefore were not counted in the unemployment rate because they are not considered part of the labor force.

        In March, however, the labor force grew by 195,000 people, numbers absorbed into the economy through hiring that was strong almost across the board.

        Estimates of the number of jobs added in January and February were also increased, from 146,000 to 162,0000, and from 97,000 to 113,000.

        "It substantiates what we were thinking, that the job market continues to be good," said Roy Krause, president and chief executive of Spherion Corp., a staffing and recruiting firm. "It's a good business environment."

        The country's longstanding slide in manufacturing employment continued. That sector lost another 16,000 jobs. Hiring among professional and business services firms also declined by around 7,000 jobs.

        But the construction trades rebounded from a dismal February in which bad weather and a weak housing market led to a decline in employment of 61,000. In March, the sector added 56,000 jobs,

        Education and health services firms added 54,000 jobs, while retail companies added 36,000 jobs.
        I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by DanS
          Good job.
          Thanks. I had to work hard to get it that high, but the payoff was worth it.
          12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
          Stadtluft Macht Frei
          Killing it is the new killing it
          Ultima Ratio Regum

          Comment


          • #6
            I was using you as the Canadian everyman.
            I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

            Comment


            • #7
              Parasites sponging off the US good times.
              "Just puttin on the foil" - Jeff Hanson

              “In a democracy, I realize you don’t need to talk to the top leader to know how the country feels. When I go to a dictatorship, I only have to talk to one person and that’s the dictator, because he speaks for all the people.” - Jimmy Carter

              Comment


              • #8
                Given that we didn't slip into recession in 2001/2002 I think your perception is misplaced.

                If anything, we're carrying your asses.

                12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                Stadtluft Macht Frei
                Killing it is the new killing it
                Ultima Ratio Regum

                Comment


                • #9
                  Turns out resource prices aren't getting any cheaper, and we're a primary-production country.

                  Good times for the next few decades, it looks like.

                  12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                  Stadtluft Macht Frei
                  Killing it is the new killing it
                  Ultima Ratio Regum

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by KrazyHorse
                    Given that we didn't slip into recession in 2001/2002 I think your perception is misplaced.

                    If anything, we're carrying your asses.

                    I still say 9/11 was a cannuckian plot to wreck our economy. no one suspects teh Cannucks.
                    "Just puttin on the foil" - Jeff Hanson

                    “In a democracy, I realize you don’t need to talk to the top leader to know how the country feels. When I go to a dictatorship, I only have to talk to one person and that’s the dictator, because he speaks for all the people.” - Jimmy Carter

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Let the good times roll again?

                      Originally posted by DanS
                      212,000 new jobs were announced this month
                      Jobs or McJobs?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Some of both. Like usual.
                        I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Let the good times roll again?

                          Originally posted by DanS
                          There are still some soft areas. Ohio and Michigan are getting hit hard because of the rollback of the auto industry, f.e.
                          Poor Michigan
                          Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012

                          When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Michigan is 2nd worst in unemployment at 6.6%. The worst is Mississippi at 6.7%.
                            I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe


                              I still say 9/11 was a cannuckian plot to wreck our economy. no one suspects teh Cannucks.
                              You were already going into a slowdown. Terrorism is just an excuse.
                              12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
                              Stadtluft Macht Frei
                              Killing it is the new killing it
                              Ultima Ratio Regum

                              Comment

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