"Jobless rate steady for 3d month"
"by Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press | December 8, 2007
WASHINGTON - Employers hired at a moderate pace in November and the unemployment rate held steady at a relatively low 4.7 percent, reassuring signs for an economy that is fighting to avoid a recession.
The Labor Department's report yesterday showed companies are still adding to their ranks - albeit at a slower pace - even as deepening troubles in the housing and credit markets are weighing heavily on national economic activity.
Employers added a net 94,000 new jobs to payrolls last month. That was down from a surprisingly strong gain of 170,000 jobs in October, but still sufficient to prevent the unemployment rate from rising. The jobless rate has held at 4.7 percent for three months.
Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Bank of America's Investment Strategies Group:
"The economy has been hit by some large juggernauts, but the labor market is holding together reasonably well. Today's report would suggest there is no need to panic about the economy."
Still, fallout from the housing collapse was painfully evident. Construction companies slashed jobs last month. So did mortgage companies, banks, real estate firms, and manufacturers. Those losses, however, were more than offset by hiring gains elsewhere, including in healthcare, retail, hotels and motels, temporary help firms, computer services, and the government.
Nigel Gault, economist at Global Insight:
"Jobs growth near 100,000 combined with a steady unemployment rate does not signal an economy dipping into recession, and provides important support for consumer incomes."
The health of the nation's job market is a critical factor in determining whether the economy will weather the stresses from the housing collapse and credit crunch. Job and wage growth have been shock absorbers, helping individuals cope with negative forces in the economy. The employment climate has helped to support spending by individuals, a major shaper of overall economic activity.
Still, a lingering fear among economists is that consumers will cut back on spending, throwing the economy into a tailspin."
Feels good, huh?
"Slowing Job Growth Seen as Ominous Sign for Economy"
"The nation gained a modest 94,000 jobs in November, the Labor Department reported yesterday, pulling back considerably from the previous month in the clearest sign yet that the American economy was headed for a substantial slowdown.But the jobs report, a much-anticipated indicator of the health of the economy, also provided some comfort that the United States had not slipped into a recession and might not be weakening as rapidly as some experts feared. With business leaders expressing uncertainty about the prospects for further growth, analysts said, a better view of the direction of the economy was not likely to emerge until next year.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com:
“The expansion is intact, but increasingly frayed. [The job creation numbers are] indicative of a very fragile economy that will come undone unless conditions improve soon.”
So is the picture good or bad?
And why do the MSM and government keep lying about it?
The unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent for the third consecutive month, as a survey of households found strong growth in the number of people saying they found new jobs last month. On Wall Street, markets barely moved yesterday, absorbing the jobs data with ambivalence.
The employment picture offered assurance that the economy was not plummeting and might continue to expand, sustaining corporate profits."
And THAT is the IMPORTANT thing!
Ellen Zentner, United States macroeconomist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York:
"Financial markets can kiss goodbye any chance of a half-point cut. The kind of average jobs growth we’ve been getting, in the neighborhood of 100,000 per month, is like butter to the Fed, which looks to keep job creation going, but not so much so that wage inflation becomes a concern."
Oh, so the Fed controls the economy! Full employment my ass!
While many Americans at the top of the income ladder have done well, wage gains in the current economic expansion have been generally weak.
All the figures are adjusted to take account of seasonal variations and include the Labor Department’s best estimate of jobs created by new firms, which makes them subject to potentially large revisions next year.Translation: BULLSHIT NUMBERS!
In Tucson, Sue Foust was sifting through options for new jobs yesterday, having been laid off from an AOL software testing site, where she worked for the last decade.
Ms. Foust, 41, had been making about $65,000 a year as a software quality assurance engineer, said comparable prospects seemed poor, and she was growing resigned to finding secretarial work:
“There’s plenty of jobs if you want to make $10 an hour. I’ll probably wind up taking something that pays half of what I used to.”
Tell me about it!
Consumer spending makes up 70 percent of the American economy. Economists worry that a weakening job market will translate into less spending, which could deliver a downward spiral: weaker investment as sales dry up, and less hiring.
Manufacturing jobs continued to shrink in November, down by 11,000.Visteon, the auto parts maker, has been shifting work to Mexico. Yesterday, at a factory in Connersville, Ind., 195 workers clocked out for the last time, bringing to about 800 the number of people who have lost their jobs there this year. The last 100 workers are to be eliminated on Dec. 21, as Visteon shuts the plant down for good.
Yeah, Merry Fucking Christmas!
Over all, the report reinforced a general downward slide in the labor market that has been unfolding for two years."
Then why does the AP tell me everything is great, readers?
Are you tired of being lied to like me?
"The Markets: Jobs Report Chills Wall Street’s Big Rally"
"Wall Street paused from its big rally yesterday, with shares closing narrowly mixed after the government’s November labor report showed tepid job growth as well as a pickup in inflation. The major indexes ended the week higher, with the Dow Jones industrials having gained nearly 900 points over nine trading days."
WTF?!?! AP is LYING to ITSELF, too?
If that doesn't discredit the AP, I don't know what will.
Conclusion: The financial flaks don't even know WTF is going on!
Wanna make it in this world, reader?
Then you need to suck richer cock!!!
"Market Values: Maybe a Way to Get Rich Off the Rich"
"WHEN times get tough, people with an abundance of disposable income are inclined to keep disposing of it while the rest of us are forced to keep our thinner wallets in our pockets.
With that in mind, Tobias Levkovich, Citigroup's chief United States equity strategist, has created the Living Large Index, comprising stocks of businesses that cater to affluent consumers. Profits and share prices of luxury-goods makers, higher-end retailers and travel and entertainment companies should hold up even if businesses serving them suffer from difficult economic conditions, he said.
His index includes names like American Express, Tiffany, Saks, Nordstrom, Royal Carribean Cruises, the casino operator Wynn Resorts and Callaway Golf.
Mr. Levkovich could have chosen companies with a more exclusive clientele but decided to focus less on the superrich than on modestly well-off people. There are far more members of the second group than the first, making the companies that cater to them a greater piece of the economic and investment pie.
Mr. Levkovich: “These are upper-income people, but not people who are buying business jets or Picassos.”
Charles L. Norton, manager of the Vice fund, which invests in companies like tobacco makers, gambling emporiums and purveyors of alcohol:
“Usually in a recession, people at the lower end of the food chain are hurt most and so those catering to the luxury end tend to be relatively insulated.”
So the richers are never hurt! Whole system is RIGGED for THEM!
What a SHIT ECONOMIC SYSTEM America has!
Mr. Norton holds one index constituent, Wynn, the owner of casinos, including one in Macao that has become a popular destination for Asian gamblers. Asia is expected to be a source of tremendous growth for the gambling industry.
This guy making big bucks off SIN!
If catering to well-heeled Americans is profitable, doing the same for wealthy people around the globe may be even more so. As economies develop, the number of rich people soars, and they have the same expensive tastes as Americans do.
Yeah, but a GLOBAL GOVERNMENT and ECONOMIC SYSTEM isn't being created or anything!
Andrew Peck, manager of the Baron Asset fund:
“The next big frontier for many of these luxury retailers is emerging countries, where growth is faster and the number of affluent people is growing even faster. There are opportunities ahead for them in markets like China and India, where many new millionaires are being created every day.”
Not here, and not in America, though!
