Friday, December 07, 2012

Jobs Report


U.S. adds 146,000 jobs in Nov.; unemployment 7.7%


By Jeffry Bartash

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7%, the lowest level since December 2008, the Labor Department said Friday. Hurricane Sandy appeared to have little effect on hiring and employment last month, the government said. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected an increase of just 80,000 jobs because of the disruption caused by the storm. The unemployment rate was projected to hold steady at 7.9%. It fell mainly because 350,000 people dropped out of the labor force. Employment gains for October and September, meanwhile, were revised somewhat lower. The number of new jobs created in October was revised down to 138,000 from 171,000, while September's figure was revised down to 132,000 from 148,000. The biggest increase in hiring in November occurred in retail, professional services and leisure and hospitality. The construction and manufacturing sectors reduced employment. Average hourly wages rose 4 cents to $23.63 in November while the average workweek was unchanged at 34.4 hours. 

57 comments:

  1. No matter how many Burger King jobs that are created....

    it still sucks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. 540,000 people drop from labor force as U.S. rate falls to 7.7%...

      Drudge

      Delete
    2. December 7, 2012
      Phony cheer in unemployment numbers
      Thomas Lifson

      Obama partisans are hailing the "surprising" fall in unemployment as a sign that a recovery is showing strength. But the official metric for unemployment, U-3, counts only people actively looking for jobs, and that is the figure which has declined to 7.7%. Neil Irwin in the Washington Post explains:

      The jobless rate dropped in large part because the labor force fell by 350,000, suggesting that people gave up looking for work. The number of people saying they had a job actually fell by 122,000. And the Labor Department revised downward its estimates of job creation in September and October by a combined 49,000.

      So as 122k more people became unemployed, we celebrate a decline in unemployment. Welcome to the fantasy world of government statistics.

      It is even worse. Guess who's been hiring? Terrey Jeffrey knows:

      The unemployment rate for government workers plunged from 4.2 percent in October to 3.8 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as government added 35,000 to its taxpayer-funded payrolls during the month.

      In October, federal, state and local governments in the United States employed 20,524,000 people. In November, that climbed to20,559,000.

      As recently as July, the unemployment rate for government workers was as high as 5.7 percent, according to the BLS. That month, government employed only 20,015,000.



      There, that takes care of today's topic.

      Delete
  2. Boobie has no faith in the Federal's unemployment statistics, but ....

    Is ready to invade Syria because the Federals say ...

    If ...
    ... may ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well a Good Morning again, crapper! And a Merry Christmas to you.

      Invade Syria? Naw, I haven't said that. If we do I think we ought to divide the god-forsaken place up. But Barky seems to be a kind of MB type of guy.

      My intelligence boys do tell me there is a real chance Assad may use those weapons. What happens if he does they have no idea.

      I thought today's topic was unemployment.





      Delete
    2. And Merry Christmas to you Deuce!

      What are you smirking for?

      :)

      Delete

    3. NYT: Barky retreating on “red line” for Syrian chemical weapons


      http://hotair.com/archives/2012/12/07/nyt-obama-retreating-on-red-line-for-syrian-chemical-weapons/

      Red line turns into green light?

      Delete
    4. A Relatively Rational Iran?

      http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/weekend-opinions/a-relatively-rational-iran-1.483314

      Delete
    5. It's all in the realm of hunch, and no one can win this argument. Until after the fact of course.

      Delete
    6. I've been more concerned about nailing Barky on Benghazi and gun running and dead ambassadors and giving an order to stand down than worrying about Syria overall, though they are entwined. It's hard to keep up.

      Delete
    7. By the way, rather than supporting an invasion of Syria, I once said in my little world I was almost starting to back Assad, the reason being the Christians might have a better outlook.

      Delete
  3. It looks to me like quite a few people retired this month. The number in the labor force, and the number of "unemployed" dropped at the same time. It's not a "gangbusters" report, but it's not a bad report, either.

    Report

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Retired' or dropped out of the labor force?

    Good month for government employment though.

    It sucks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. According to the actual report, Government Employment FELL by 1,000.

      Lifson needs to recheck his numbers.

      Delete
    2. The government needs to recheck its numbers.

      Delete
    3. Great days for Smith and Wesson though -


      SMITH & WESSON Announces Record Gun Sales -- 48% Increase...

      Delete
  5. Decent jobs added: Business, and Wholesale Services; Healthcare; Wholesale Trade; Information Technology.

    Not a large increase in Retail.

    Medium increase in Leisure, and Hospitality.

    Part-time (this would cover most of your McDonals, etc) Down significantly.

    Like I said, a Decent Report.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Construction, of course, is still blowing wind.

    We need to get busy on those ethanol refineries. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Eight-State Solution

    From Barry Shaw:, this is also known as the “eight-state solution”:

    Dr. Mordechai Kedar of Bar-Ilan University, a Middle East expert…calls his alternative “the Palestinian Emirates.”

    He visualizes eight emirate-type city states with designated borders that will incorporate the Arabs within them. The rest of the land can be populated by the inhabitants, whether they be Jews or Arabs, living and behaving with respect and deference to the inhabitants of the various city-states. The states shall be granted sovereignty. They shall be granted surrounding land for expansion and development. Road systems in vacant lands shall be developed for transport of people and commerce, both Jewish and Arab.

    If Palestinians could “vote with their feet” across these various Emirates, it would be interesting to see what kind of policies would evolve, relative to what is produced by currently existing forms of political participation.

    There's a punch line in there somewhere.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

      Delete
  8. "Do you think Hurricane Sandy Response should be left to the Private Sector?"

    Jon Stewart and Chris Christie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These kinds of things should be "layered" as you noted in a previous thread re the Israeli defense system. State governments should assume primary responsibility for emergency preparedness plans. These plans should articulate the Fed role as a function of severity and exhaustion of state resources etc. Any number of filters are available to assist in developing a "layered" plan. None of it is rocket science. The states can contract this under competitive bidding (without the usual winks) to the private sector. Many if not most states are able to functionally divide the work so the load gets fairly evenly distributed among private competitors.

      But the Residential (and commercial/industrial) rebuilding in floodplains is goofy. New Orleans is a special case - major hub cultural history really no way around rebuilding.

      Delete
    2. Stewart was making reference to Christie vetoing the "State" Affordable Care Exchange on the same day that he was in Washington lobbying for "Sandy Relief."

      He was making the case that Cancer is a Disaster for a poor, uninsured person just as Sandy was a disaster for someone living on the coast of NJ.

      It was a good interview.

      Delete
    3. As a general rule I don't listen to many direct interviews with politicians. Newt Gingrich gives a good interview, Ron Paul, Bob Corker, Judd Gregg, and a handful of others (Barney Frank when he wasn't smokin' hot.)

      I enjoyed the discussion about the finer points of the man hug.

      As well as the "entitlement" vs "empathy" exchange.

      I have also noticed and this just drives people nuts when I share my "observation," that the O-man seems to gravitate towards "nice" people which, in my mind explains the short tenure of Larry Summers.

      At any rate, health care delivery would also benefit from a more "layered" approach, which is happening in fits and starts, (hangnails and hemorrhoids can be treated by paraprofessionals,) but hampered by legal constraints.

      Delete


  9. THE A-HED
    Updated December 6, 2012, 10:10 p.m. ET

    To Quote Thomas Jefferson, 'I Never Actually Said That'
    Librarian Tracks Sayings Misattributed to Founding Father; 'A Fine Spiced Pickle'


    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323717004578155302814623978.html

    WSJ “How can you prove someone never said something?”

    ReplyDelete
  10. Supreme Court is going to take up two gay marriage cases. A California case, and one other.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Watch CJ Roberts find a hidden tax in the DOMA stating that all single people have to pay a tax for not being married.

      Good and Plenty Clause!

      /

      CurtZHP on December 7, 2012 at 4:34 PM

      Delete
  11. And this is really delightful -

    Reid vs Reid

    http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2012/12/07/video-harry-reid-vs-harry-reid-on-the-filibuster/

    There are great videos of Hillary and other democrats speaking along the exact same line as well.

    ReplyDelete


  12. (Newser) – Jim DeMint has figured out something important, writes Steve Kornacki on Salon: In today's GOP, you don't need to hold an office in order to have power. When he leaves the Senate and starts running the conservative Heritage Foundation, his "power won't wane at all—and, in fact, might even grow," Kornacki writes. DeMint hasn't had any big legislative projects in the works for a while; his main concern has been building a reputation as an "ideological purist" and influencing Republican primary races, backing many a Tea Party favorite. He can still do that, because he's made himself "a huge player in the insular Republican universe," Kornacki writes. Nowadays, "Republican members of Congress, by and large, take their cues from conservative media, rather than shaping it." Fox News will still be happy to have him on, and his endorsement will still be just as important for "fellow true believers."

    On Slate, David Weigel agrees. "DeMint-ism was never about legislating," he writes. "It was about blocking legislation and unwinding current laws. DeMint figured out, correctly, that he could do more good playing the outside game as his acolytes in the Senate played the inside game." None of the 35 bills DeMint introduced became law; "he was a marketer, a recruiter—not a legislator. He never pretended otherwise." And now "the Tea Party, as represented by DeMint, has taken over a tea-and-cookies conservative institution and readied it for guerrilla warfare." Read Weigel's full column here, or Kornacki's here.

    http://www.newser.com/story/158969/jim-demint-was-never-a-legislator.html

    Ahem Huffington Post also had a (quite funny) write-up of the "legislator that was not," which I almost posted but decided against because the immediate question was how the overt contempt for public service fed into whatever caused the 911 terrorist attack. This country is not capable of aiding and abetting a terrorist attack but it is capable of putting people like Jim DeMint into public office. That's a pretty fine distinction. As Noam Chomsky noted, the "sentimental bias" for one's home country has not been a noticeable driver in corporate America for some time.

    (No I won't be lighting any firecrackers or picketing on the corner, but these Masters of Ooze are starting to piss me off.)

    Not just the Republicans - Sallie Krawcheck of Citigroup, BoA, etc. being considered for Treasury; and the Obama senior health care negotiator leaving for Johnson & Johnson. Not to mention Judd Gregg (R) now employed by Goldman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The revolving door between government and business has been rampant for many a year.

      The US system is corrupt.

      Delete
    2. Yup and Canada is pure as northern new fallen snow. You are asking too much. And, it's legal. If you are a worn out politician you can become a lobbyist too. It's the case everywhere. And is nothing new.

      Delete
    3. I can pull the wise old grey beard routine too. I remember a time during my adult life when people of principle worked in Washington. Twern't easy but they did their best. I date the turning point back to Reagan. The end of The Cold War excused and disguised incompetence on the domestic front.

      Delete
    4. What do you propose to do? Draw up a code that says anyone that has been in politics or government can't go back to the private sector? Then you really would have a permanent political class.

      Delete
    5. The rumble in the streets is new. The blowout bash of 2008 was not exactly the picture of well-planned discretion; Grand Areas morphing into Grand Arenas.

      As well as what Bob said. Canada is one tenth the population and one tenth the GDP of USA. Everything scales.

      Delete
    6. Canada's political class is hardly pure but there are differences in law requiring blind trusts for holdings and time limits restricting time between revolving through gov service, lobbying and related business dealings.

      Being on a phone at the moment I can't go further into detailing the differences but money also plays a lesser role political outcomes.

      Delete
  13. I remember a time during my adult life when people of principle worked in Washington.

    I can't. Excluding the Eisenhower era, maybe. But I wasn't really an adult then.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh come on - Bradley Mansfield Schroeder O'Neill ............ get your graduate students to compile a list.

      Delete
    2. heh, I remember Eisenhower's Secretary of State it might have been getting in deep do-do over the gift of a fur coat from some private source. Was a big deal. Maybe only the scale has changed. But, I don't think things were so swell in the Grant Administration, for instance, either.

      We should try to do better however.

      Delete
    3. Udall, Warner, Lugar, Snowe

      Delete
    4. And I didn't say anything about Boy Scouts or Camp Fire Girls.

      But the bar was higher.

      Delete
    5. I'll go along with Bradley.

      To cheer us up, when he left he said "The system is broken."

      I saw him play in Portland in the Final Four one time.

      Delete
    6. Disrespect Mike Mansfield and I'm driving out to Moscow.

      Delete
  14. The contempt of people like Chomsky and Ash runs deep.

    Vibrant critique is critical to a healthy society.

    The rest of it not so much.

    USA has "housecleaning" and some "hard work" ahead (as Rufus would say.)

    The rest of the world ... is facing a much tougher future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You still sport the rose colored glasses that scream America is the bestest place ever.

      Delete
    2. Yes it is @sshole. Yes it is.

      Delete
    3. Who so you think will do the house cleaning? Are people of principle lining up to do the hard work without snagging any of that filthy lucre? It is like thinking Wall Street will self-regulate.

      Delete
    4. Yes it is @sshole.

      I like the sounds of that.

      Delete
    5. I have a tenant from Mumbai, India. She didn't drive, until she came here. Finally got a license. Really likes it here. Was afraid to even try to drive in Mumbai. Father goes on spiritual retreats up in the Himalayas somewhere. Also had a girl who father is in the Chinese Red Army. She wants to move here permanently. I could name many others that think "USA OK".

      Delete
  15. Well Wall Street would be happy to self-regulate but the rest of us won't benefit. The conflicts ate built into the US political system but you seem to think it is a feature. Grid-lock, earmarks, superPACs, revolving doors, etc. All features.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Got a little distracted, yesterday, and forgot to mention it was Pearl Harbor Day. RIP, unk.

    Also, overlooked what I think was a significant story, in that Apple is going to start assembling one of their Mac lines in the U.S. As I stated the other day, manufacturing in China is really more of a "Tax Dodge," nowadays, than it is a "labor cost" equation (at least, in the high-tech sector.)

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  17. Israel successfully tests the 3rd layer (intermediate stage) of its layered defense.

    David's Sling successful

    A joint effort of Rafael, and Raytheon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course, I'm sure this is totally nonconnected:

      Deep inside the factory where Patriot defense systems are made, Ken Arruda stopped beside a rolling cart and pointed to a white card sprinkled with what looked like grains of sand. They were computer chips for the Patriot's radar system - parts that since 2006 have shrunk to one-eighth their previous size.

      "Now they're as small as a speck of pepper," said Arruda, operations director for Raytheon's air defense programs. "That's how far Patriot has come in the last few years."

      And tiny chips are just the start. From the tip of its nose cone to the base of its radar, designers have invested more than $400 million in the last four years as part of a program aimed at making the legendary air and missile defense system faster, smarter and tougher.


      Raytheon to the Rescue

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    2. The first rudimentary "computing machines" were used to . . . . . . . . direct Artillery Fire, of course.

      Delete
  18. Oh, and congratulations to that Great "American Car Guy," Mitt Romney on the purchase of his new AUDI (made in Slovakia.)

    Waytago, Mitto.

    You sleazy motherfucker.

    ReplyDelete