France Should Have This Employment Stat

[Annie]

But they would have to change their whole econ./social structure to get it. Seems the model of 3/4 work day combined with a nation with more vacation time than US teachers, is not working too well. Their unemployment level is now over 10%.

I wonder, do they ever wonder how in the US we can, (not Should) have so many illegals here, employed? :shocked: We do need to tighten up immigration, but perhaps some European nations even moreso.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051104/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy

Economists Predict Increase in Jobs

23 minutes ago

Economists are forecasting a rise of 102,000 non-farm jobs when the Labor Department releases its unemployment data for October this morning. The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 5.1 percent.

The economy lost jobs in September for the first time in over two years as the convulsions of Hurricane Katrina across the Gulf Coast landscape rattled labor markets, pushing the unemployment rate up to 5.1 percent.

The September report provided the most extensive picture of the jobs climate in the aftermath of the deadly and destructive Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. The impact of the next hurricane, Rita, was "negligible" on the latest figures, the department said.

Payrolls fell by 35,000 in September. That marked the first decline since May 2003, when the labor market was struggling to get back on its feet after being set back by the 2001 recession. The drop in September was the largest since a decline of 54,000 jobs in April 2003.

But there are signs the economy is shaking off the effects of the devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes.

The nation's retailers reported solid sales gains for October, a key gauge of activity in service industries posted a big rebound and productivity advanced at the strongest pace in more than a year, according to reports issued Thursday.

And analysts managed to find a silver lining in reports that were less positive, noting that while storm-related job losses kept rising and are now at 514,000, the increases are slowing. They viewed a bigger-than-expected drop in factory orders for September as a temporary setback rather than an indication of more serious problems in manufacturing.

Many of the nation's big retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp., reported stronger-than-expected sales as the arrival of cold weather boosted demand for winter clothes and falling gasoline prices put shoppers in more of a spending mood. The gains boosted prospects for the holiday shopping season.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management said the service sector of the economy, where most Americans work, grew at a faster pace in October.

The institute's non-manufacturing index rose to 60 last month, significantly higher than September, when the impact of the hurricanes and surging energy costs had helped push the index down to a reading of 53.3.

"Whatever impacts Katrina had in September were wiped out in October and the nation's service and construction industries are moving ahead smartly," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors of Holland, Pa.

Wall Street focused more on the positive economic news rather than a worrisome $2.03 surge in oil prices which pushed a barrel of crude up to $61.78. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 49.86 points to close at 10,522.59.

The Labor Department said that productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, grew at an annual rate of 4.1 percent in the July-September quarter, the best showing since the spring of 2004 and much better than the 2.6 percent rate economists had been expecting.

Rising productivity means that workers can be paid more without boosting inflation pressures. The report found that unit labor costs declined at a rate of 0.5 percent, the first decline since the second quarter of 2004, and a hopeful sign that rising labor costs will not force the Federal Reserve to more aggressively fight inflation pressures.

The Fed boosted interest rates by a quarter-point for a 12th time on Tuesday and many economists believe that gradual pace of rate increases will continue for Chairman Alan Greenspan's last two meetings in December and January.

Greenspan delivered an upbeat assessment of the economy on Thursday in congressional testimony, saying "the economic fundamentals remain firm" in spite of the adverse effects of the hurricanes.

The Labor Department counted an additional 18,000 layoffs linked to hurricanes Katrina and Rita last week and 1,400 layoffs tied to Hurricane Wilma, which hit south Florida on Oct. 24.

Analysts predicted that storm related job losses could rise further in coming weeks as more people displaced by Wilma make it to unemployment offices to file claims. But at the same time, they took hope from the fact that the total of 19,400 storm-related claims last week was the smallest number in the nine weeks since the government began tracking the impact of the hurricanes.

"Katrina and Rita effects still linger, though they are fading," said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, N.Y. "Claims will likely rise next week as the full effects of Wilma hit, but the downward trend is very clear."

The 19,400 claims linked to the hurricanes were part of total applications for jobless benefits of 323,000, the lowest level since the week before Katrina struck in late August.

The Commerce Department reported that orders to U.S. factories fell by a bigger-than-expected 1.7 percent in September. Durable goods, items expected to last three or more years, were down 2.4 percent, while orders for nondurable products fell by 0.9 percent.

But analysts said the weakness was likely to be temporary, influenced by a big drop in orders in the highly volatile category of commercial aircraft and hurricane disruptions at chemical plants and other factories along the Gulf Coast.

 

[Toro]

Economy Grows 3.8% in 3rd Quarter

Unemployment at 5% in October.

Productivity rises 4.1%

Personal Income up 5.8% annually in the third quarter.

 

[Annie]

Economy Grows 3.8% in 3rd Quarter

Unemployment at 5% in October.

Productivity rises 4.1%

Personal Income up 5.8% annually in the third quarter.

Ya, what I said.