There are still around 750,000 fewer full-time workers than before the recession began in December 2007.
Category Archives: Economics/Business
US homebuilding falls 2.5 percent in March from year ago amid sluggish housing market
US homebuilding falls 2.5 percent in March from year ago amid sluggish housing market.
via US homebuilding falls 2.5 percent in March from year ago amid sluggish housing market – Yahoo News.
JOE PISCOPO: Presidential candidates should support U.S. manufacturing
There’s one key issue, though, which both candidates and the press haven’t paid nearly enough attention to and, in my view, could be the determining issue for who sits in the White House in January of 2017: restoring manufacturing jobs.
During the past 20 years, it’s estimated that America has lost more than 6 million manufacturing jobs. Think about that. These were real jobs with real wages. These weren’t jobs flipping burgers or stacking shelves at a department store. These were jobs that allowed you to feed your kids, save for retirement and maybe go out to dinner occasionally.
via JOE PISCOPO: Presidential candidates should support U.S. manufacturing – Washington Times.
The Most Expensive Cities in the World (Chart)
THE WORLD’s ten most expensive cities are all found in Australia, Asia and Western Europe, according to the bi-annual cost of living index from the Economist Intelligence Unit, our corporate sibling. Singapore retains the top spot, while weak inflation and the yen’s devaluation have pushed Tokyo and Osaka to 11th and 16th place respectively. Seoul has risen from 50th place five years ago to joint ninth at the end of 2014. Asia is also home to many of the world’s cheapest cities: Karachi and Bangalore are the joint cheapest locations among the 133 cities in the survey, and five of the six cheapest cities surveyed are in Pakistan and India. Caracas’s descent from top ten to bottom five is due to the survey’s use of an alternative exchange rate. The cost of living in New York has risen by about 23% over the past five years.
These Are the American Cities With the Highest (and Lowest) Unemployment
Approximately 8.7 million U.S. jobs were lost during the Great Recession between 2007 and 2009. While all those jobs have been recovered, the nation’s unemployment rate remains above the level at the onset of the Recession and the recovery has not been consistent across the nation.
24/7 Wall St. examined the 25 lowest and 25 highest unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Lincoln, Nebraska led the nation with an unemployment rate of just 2.1% in November, while the Yuma, Arizona metro area had the nation’s highest unemployment rate at 23.1%.
via These Are the American Cities With the Highest (and Lowest) Unemployment | TIME.
Health Spending Growth Picks Up
Inflation-adjusted spending on health services increased 4.1 percent in 2014, after having increased just 1.9 percent in 2013, according to the most recent release of the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Services Survey (QSS). Spending stepped across a wide variety of categories, including hospitals, nursing homes, home health, and physician and other clinical services. Spending on pharmaceuticals and other medical goods rose even more sharply, rising over 9 percent in 2014, according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in February.
The Giants of Global Finance are in Trouble
Only a matter of time before the whole corrupt system comes crashing down…again. The next time, though, there will be no rescue. Are you ready for that? Because the politicians aren’t doing a damn thing about. And the press isn’t covering the threat. But then again they didn’t warn us in 2007–with a few exceptions. This article is an exception:
The panic about global banks reflects their weak recent results: in aggregate the five firms mentioned above reported a return on equity of just 6% last year. Only JPMorgan Chase did passably well (see chart). Investors worry these figures betray a deeper strategic problem. There is a growing fear that the costs of global reach—in terms of regulation and complexity—exceed the potential benefits.
Jobrny's Rant 