Continue reading Stock Futures Higher Ahead of ADP Employment Data

Stock Futures Higher Ahead of ADP Employment Data originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading U.S. Stock Futures Up as Investors Await Jobs Report

U.S. Stock Futures Up as Investors Await Jobs Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The dismal jobs front got a bit more good news, following the release of a report showing the nation's employers last year cut the fewest number of workers in more than a decade. Further, the findings showed 2010 ended on a high note, with December recording the lowest number of monthly cuts since 2000.

The slowdown in cuts follows an uptick in activity in 2009 when downsizing reached a seven-year high, according to the 2010 year-end job-cut report, released Wednesday by job-services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Last year, employers announced plans to eliminate 529,973 positions, the lowest number since 1997.

Continue reading Job Cuts in 2010 Tumble to Lowest Level in More Than a Decade

Job Cuts in 2010 Tumble to Lowest Level in More Than a Decade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has an indicator that tracks the number of people who simply quit their jobs. CNBC.com reported that the indicator, which they dubbed "Take This Job and Shove It," climbed in October with 2 million people quitting their jobs, up from 1.7 million in the same month a year ago. The last time this pattern occurred was in 2003 when the economy started a long upward trend.

The "Shove It" indicator tends to turn up when people are confident enough that they will find another job if they quit their present one.

Continue reading More People Are Quitting Their Jobs

More People Are Quitting Their Jobs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Labor Department issued its Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) today, as reported by CNBC.com. Here are some available stats:

• Business and government advertised 3.4 million jobs at the end of October, up 12% from the previous month.
• The number of available jobs increased by about 1 million or 44% since July 2009. This was well below the 4.4 million advertised in December 2007.
• There were on average 4.4 workers for each available job in October, down slightly from the 4.9 the previous month.
• In 2007 the number stood at 1.8 workers for each available job.

Continue reading Job Openings Climb to a Two-Year High

Job Openings Climb to a Two-Year High originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Jobs Report Falls Short, Pushing Stocks Lower

Jobs Report Falls Short, Pushing Stocks Lower originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In a breakthrough on the jobs front, the U.S. added 93,000 private sector jobs from October to November, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report released today. The previous month's report was revised upward to 82,000 from 43,000.

November's gain was the largest private sector rise in three years. It is also the tenth month in which job growth has exceeded 47,000.

By sectors, gains were as follows:

Continue reading U.S. Adds 93,000 Private Sector Jobs in November

U.S. Adds 93,000 Private Sector Jobs in November originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Fewer business start-ups are being launched, reports the the Wall Street Journal. The Labor Department said that the number of companies with at least one employee fell by 100,000, or 2%, in the year ended March 31. That was the second worst performance in 18 years -- the worst one was a drop of 3.4% the previous year.

Why are these numbers important? In past recessions small business start-ups were the key to spurring the economy. In the three quarters that ended in March, newly formed companies created only 2.6 million jobs, 15% fewer than in the first three quarters of the last recovery.

Continue reading Fewer Small Business Start-Ups Mean Fewer Jobs

Fewer Small Business Start-Ups Mean Fewer Jobs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 21 Nov 2010 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Alcoa (AA), Marriott (MAR) and Yum! Brands (YUM) kick off the new earnings season this week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for moderate year-over-year earnings and revenue growth in the third quarter from each of these dividend payers.

Note that Marriott and Yum! Brands have exceeded consensus estimates in recent quarters and have First Call consensus buy recommendations as well. They are also trading near their 52-week highs, while Alcoa shares are closer to the 52-week low despite a 22% rise in the past three months.

Continue reading Week in Preview: New Earnings Season, Employment Data and More

Week in Preview: New Earnings Season, Employment Data and More originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Conference Board issues a monthly employment trends index. In August, seven of the index components contributed negatively to the overall index, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The August index stood at 96.7, down from July's 97.4. "Employment growth has been slow lately, and the employment trends index suggests that it may slow even further this fall," said Gad, Levanon, associate director.

Continue reading Conference Board Index Indicates a Slowdown in Hiring

Conference Board Index Indicates a Slowdown in Hiring originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading ADP Reports a Drop in Private Sector Jobs, but Markets Continue to Rally

ADP Reports a Drop in Private Sector Jobs, but Markets Continue to Rally originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Many were expecting good news out of the Labor Department when it released the nonfarm payroll report for July. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case -- and the morning has taken a decidedly bearish tone.

According to the Labor Department, 131,000 jobs were lost during the month. The drop was attributed to the fact that 143,000 Census-related jobs were cut. Analysts expected overall employment to absorb the number of temporary jobs cut and show a drop of 65,000. When revising payrolls for May and June the picture turned even bleaker. The Labor Department revised the reading for those two months lower by 97,000, meaning fewer jobs than originally thought were created.

Continue reading Payroll Data Sets Bearish Tone for the Trading Day

Payroll Data Sets Bearish Tone for the Trading Day originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Investors and economists received a rather nasty surprise this morning when the Labor Department released its weekly data on initial claims for jobless benefits. According to the Labor Department, new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 19,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 479,000.

The government did note that some of the surprise increase (a small decrease was expected) may be attributed to difficulties the government has in adjusting for seasonal factors. The four-week average of initial claims increased by 5,250 to 452,250.

Continue reading Jobless Claims Data Cast a Bearish Tone

Jobless Claims Data Cast a Bearish Tone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to the ADP employment payroll report released Wednesday morning, private-sector employment in the United States increased by 42,000. This data is a precursor to Friday's nonfarm payroll report, which is expected to show a decline of 60,000. July's increase was the sixth straight increase.

With experts predicting a drop of 60,000 jobs, I have one major concern. According to the article, analysts are expecting an increase of 96,000 jobs in the private sector. But the private sector (while it did report an increase) reported far fewer than 96,000 added jobs.

Continue reading U.S. Private Sector Jobs Increase During July

U.S. Private Sector Jobs Increase During July originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Walmart Finally Coming to Chicago?

Walmart Finally Coming to Chicago? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to ADP, U.S. companies hired 55,000 additional workers in May, which marked the fourth straight increase in private-sector jobs. According to the data, service-producing industries added 78,000 jobs and goods-producing industries lost 23,000 jobs.

The ADP report is bolstering bulls on the Street a day ahead of the release of nonfarm payroll data and the unemployment rate. My concern is that expectations called for an increase of 100,000 jobs added in May. By my University of Cincinnati math, the data came in worse than expected by some 45,000 jobs.

Continue reading ADP Data Shows 55,000 Jobs Added

ADP Data Shows 55,000 Jobs Added originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Job openings fell 131,000, or 4.6%, to 2.72 million in February.

Maxwell Clarke of IDEA Global said: "Conditions in the labor market will continue to be tenuous as firms look for a pickup in sales activity before increasing employment opportunities."

With 14.9 million Americans who were unemployed in February, the statistics indicate that more than five people were vying for every opening.

Continue reading Job Openings Fall for First Time in Three Months

Job Openings Fall for First Time in Three Months originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

To those taking time off for Good Friday: "May the Force Be with You!" To those working half days, enjoy your time with your families. The U.S. stock markets are closed today and that might be best so that we all can take a breather.

Given that stock markets all around the world were up yesterday, including ours -- again ... April Fool's Day! -- even day traders expressed confidence because they obviously were willing to hold stocks knowing the long weekend left plenty of time for unforeseen bad news to to slam their positions.

Continue reading Serious Money: Dow Top Ten -- If Only the Market Was Open

Serious Money: Dow Top Ten -- If Only the Market Was Open originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Just when it seemed it was going so well, the ADP employment report demonstrated this morning that we have perhaps allowed our hopes to get too high. Expectations called for a gain of 40,000 jobs when the March ADP data was released, that was not the case. Rather than the gain, we were treated to the rather sour surprise of a drop of 23,000 jobs. In reaction to this news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 40 points lower in the first hour of trading.

That said, this may just be a temporary glitch in the jobs picture (I stress the term temporary). The ADP does not take government jobs into account, nor does it effectively "capture changes in the weather." Experts note that a surge in employees thanks to the 2010 Census should help the March payroll data. For this reason, the nonfarm payroll data released on Friday is expected to reflect a gain of 189,000 jobs.

Continue reading ADP Jobs Data Casts a Bearish Shadow

ADP Jobs Data Casts a Bearish Shadow originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Most of this past week the stock market was erratic. News from Asian and American Markets was generally positive, sending the indexes higher, until unsettling news from the European Union let the air out of the tires, resulting in 100 point swings of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which ended Friday up about 50 points for the week at 10,850.36.

Each day started upbeat and then we would hear about Greek debt, bonds coming due, Germany pushing for IMF participation in any plan to help Greece. Finally when this looked to be settled, we then got news of economic turmoil in Portugal. This activity stimulated me to write the following recent commentary:

Continue reading Sunday Funnies: Retail Sales and Investors

Sunday Funnies: Retail Sales and Investors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.