This morning, the White House reported that President Obama's stimulus package has created or saved 650,000 jobs -- of course, this time the Obama Administration promises that the new figures will be "more accurate" than in the past. As for the jobs saved or created, the administration based its finds on roughly $150 billion in spending from the $787 billion stimulus package. These "more accurate" numbers are taken from state reports and private companies. The White House did note that the actual number of jobs created thus far is "likely closer to 1 million" because this report looked at only $150 billion of the $339 billion invested in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds spent.JobCreation posts
FeedWhite House claims 650,000 jobs saved by stimulus: are these numbers really accurate?
This morning, the White House reported that President Obama's stimulus package has created or saved 650,000 jobs -- of course, this time the Obama Administration promises that the new figures will be "more accurate" than in the past. As for the jobs saved or created, the administration based its finds on roughly $150 billion in spending from the $787 billion stimulus package. These "more accurate" numbers are taken from state reports and private companies. The White House did note that the actual number of jobs created thus far is "likely closer to 1 million" because this report looked at only $150 billion of the $339 billion invested in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds spent.President Obama says that financial crisis is not over
President Obama was in Cincinnati yesterday, where he spoke to a group of union members at a picnic. While he was on his way here, the White House released a statement noting that "working Americans will help our nation emerge from this crisis." Nevertheless, the President believes that the country still faces a "vast and complex" economic crisis. Here is the problem, with a dwindling American workforce, President Obama says that it will be the working Americans that pull the nation out of the economic crisis. Last time we checked (and that was last week), the jobless rate was 9.7%.Continue reading President Obama says that financial crisis is not over
An economic wish-list for the United States for the second half of 2009
The first half of 2009 has whizzed by in what seems like a macroeconomic eye-blink. Wasn't President Obama inaugurated just a few weeks ago? It's a cliché but it's true: time flies. The nation has made strides to recover from its near-decade of policy errors, but much work remains. Accordingly, then, here are three economic wishes for the United States for the second half of the year:
Continue reading An economic wish-list for the United States for the second half of 2009
Wal-Mart promises plenty of new jobs
Mega-retailer Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) announced today that it will add more than 22,000 jobs this year. The firm will add these jobs by adding positions to its current stores, building, or expanding. The 22,000 jobs will be in store management, pharmacies, human resources, customer service, cashiers, and sales staff. WMT says that its customer base is expanding thanks to the economic downturn, as shoppers are looking for lower prices during tough economic times. That said, the company has jettisoned 1,800 employees since the year began -- with 700 to 800 positions cut at its corporate headquarters, 400 when it closed a regional return center in Georgia, and 650 cut when WMT closed an eyewear facility in Ohio.
3% unemployment rate, anyone?
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With baby boomers getting older and Generation X being a slower population growth demographic, expect tight labor markets for a long time.
Friday's unemployment report demonstrates this trend -- the U.S. economy, once again, created less jobs and the unemployment rate continued to drop. One would expect as job creation slowed, unemployment would pick up, that is not the case anymore. The U.S. created a paltry 97,000 for February. Monthly job creation is averaging 122,000 so far in 2007, down from 190,000 last year. However, despite this weak showing, the unemployment rate actually dropped, from 4.6% to 4.5%. This means less people are coming into the job market.
This is going to be a big dilemma for Fed policy makers. NAIRU and the Phillips Curve, the two big labor inflation theories, will be put to the test. If you have open markets, and China and India each possess populations over 1 billion, who cares about these labor inflation theories.
In much of the late 1990s, monthly job creation exceeded 200,000 for many months in a row. Even with February's paltry job growth,we could see unemployment drop way below 4.0%. I read an economist report years ago which said this population disparity between boomers and Generation X would drive the unemployment to 2.5%. It looks like we might be headed in that direction.
Google's plan for netbook PCs moves higher into the clouds
Closing Bell: Stock bulls and dollar death (DDRX,GMCR, PEET, SBUX, EBAY, CI, TECD)
So long peak oil, here comes peak uranium
