As Joe Lazzaro posted earlier, the unemployment rate rose to 5.5% last month. And for the fifth straight month, payrolls fell.

Specifically, in May employers shed 49,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rose significantly from the April rate of 5% -- far higher than economists had expected. The Wall Street Journal reports that Wall Street economists had expected a 60,000 decline in payrolls last month and only a 5.1% unemployment rate

What's also of concern is that workers' income shrank in relation to booming inflation. Although workers' wages grew nominally at 0.3% in May to $604.58 a week, and for the 12-month period posted a 3.4% gain, inflation is running at 4% officially. So on an inflation-adjusted basis, workers' wages are dropping.

With gasoline prices up 100% in the last year, a worker who fills up a 20 gallon tank twice a week now pays $160 -- 26% of that paycheck -- compared to 13% last year. And if that worker gets fired, it will be awfully expensive to drive around looking for a job.

With 70% of GDP growth coming from those workers and gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon, those deficit enhancing rescue checks from the government don't seem to be doing their job all that well. What will the government cook up next?

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

Unemployment rate spikes to 5.5% as income tumbles originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Despite Fed Chair Ben Bernanke's comments this week about inflation, the dollar is dropping -- which is fueling higher oil prices. And the reason for that relates to the different strategies of the Fed and European central banks for fighting inflation.

The difference? The Fed talks about inflation but keeps its interest rate at 2%. If Bernanke was serious about fighting inflation, he'd raise rates. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that two European central banks -- which set their rates at 4% (European Central Bank (ECB)) and 5% (Bank of England) -- are talking about raising the rates further because they're "alarmed by soaring prices for food and fuel." The ECB thinks May inflation was 3.6% and it expects a 3.4% price rise for all of 2008.

The dollar has lost 70% of its value since January 2001 -- it's dropped from 92 cents to the Euro down to $1.56. Now if you're an investor, would you rather get a 4% return or a 2% one? That's the simple choice faced by people trying to decide whether to buy Euros or Dollars. And with the ECB on track to raise interest rates next month, the dollar is likely to fall further behind unless Bernanke puts the Fed Funds rate where his mouth is.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

Why the dollar is dropping originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I have insurance today (thanks to my wonderful employer, oh how I adore you), but for three years my family went without. I was laid off, and we did the math: it was far cheaper to pay out-of-pocket for our two boys' well-baby visits to the pediatrician and the occasional prescription than to pay the $400 monthly it would have cost for insurance for our young, healthy, non-smoking family.

And we're not the only ones. Every year, millions more families are going without health insurance. The reason? Health insurance rates are growing at a startling pace double that of inflation. It's not just the unemployed, or workers whose employers don't provide benefits, who are feeling the burn; as employers' rates rise, the contribution paid by the employee inches up, as well -- and the average annual raise won't cover it.

Every year, then, take-home pay goes down for me, for millions like me; for the rank and file at the 61% (in fact) of employers who offer health benefits.

Even so, the DJIA is nearing all-time highs, the market seems to be buoyed by an unknown giddiness. What's going on? Is the fat-and-happiness of the health insurance industry spilling over into consumer confidence? Is it just that we're really happy this is an election year? That doesn't satisfy me, and our Canadian friends can only look on in mystified horror as they watch our paychecks get frittered away into the insurance company's pockets.

As I see it, we have a couple of options: (a) buy insurance stocks and hope that some of the profit will end up in my retirement account instead of in the companies' executive pockets; (b) elect officials who'll effect some real change and democratize healthcare; or (c) move to Canada. Which will it be for you?

Too broke for health care: why you can't afford insurance originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Sep 2006 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.