Shutdown slowdown? Job creation soars in October

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Forget the shutdown: Job creation surged in October despite dimmed expectations from the impasse in Washington.

There were a net 204,000 new jobs created for the month, though the unemployment rate rose to 7.3 percent and households reported a huge drop in employment. A separate measure that includes the underemployed and those who have quit looking also moved higher, from 13.6 percent to 13.8 percent.

The numbers easily topped economist expectations of 120,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs for the month, though it matched estimates for a slightly increase in the headline jobless rate.

"I find this bizarre," Moody's economist Mark Zandi told CNBC. "I wouldn't be surprised if this gets revised to some degree...down."

The data gave markets a jolt: Stock market futures that had indicated a higher opening turned lower, while interest rates spiked.

Leisure and hospitality led the way in job creation with 53,000 new positions, 29,000 of which came from bars and restaurants.

Though the jobs creation number jumped, there was a mixed bag of news. The civilian labor force tumbled by 720,000 and the labor force participation rate fell to its lowest since March 1978.

Via: CNBC

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A Tale of Two States, CA and NV: Part II

In September, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval delivered the Republican Party’s weekly address. In the video, which lasted less than six minutes, Sandoval blasted the Obama administration’s handling of the economic recovery and touted Nevada’s approach.

Sandoval, elaborating on how dire the economic situation in Nevada was when he took office in early 2011, said that “mere survival” was not good enough for his state. He said that he ordered all new regulations be frozen until they could be reviewed; cut spending by hundreds of millions of dollars; balanced Nevada’s budget; merged and eliminated state agencies; and extended tax exemptions for businesses. (Sandoval, working with a Democrat-controlled state legislature, later agreed to extend some taxes that had been set to expire.)

In the video, Sandoval pointed out that Nevada had experienced 31 months of economic growth and had the second strongest decline in unemployment in the nation. He also claimed that a wide array of businesses now had plans to move to Nevada.

“When it comes to growing jobs, it is my responsibility to leave no stone unturned when it comes to getting Nevada working again,” he added.

So what exactly are those plans?

Selling Nevada

Nevada’s pitch to firms interested in expanding or relocating to the state is simple. The state has some of the lowest taxes in America. California’s top income tax rate is 13.3 percent; Nevada has no state income tax.

Nevada’s regulations are limited. Given the state’s size, working with government is quick and easy (California businesses often complain about how long routine approvals take). Some firms — though certainly not all — are coaxed with even more tax incentives. And Las Vegas — known for its tourism, as well as the benefits that come with being a large metropolitan area — has always been a major selling point.

A patchwork assortment of agencies remains tasked with selling that message to firms that might want to expand or grow in Nevada.

At the top is the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Historically, the lieutenant governor was tasked with running economic development in Nevada, but 2011 legislation centralized power in the governor’s office by creating the OED.

Sandoval has aggressively courted major companies since. In early 2012, he announced the state would attempt to create 50,000 jobs by 2014. Apple and Starbucks have both moved parts of their business to Nevada as a result of negotiations handled primarily through the OED. (Apple received a large tax break.)

In addition to attracting outside states, the OED focuses on attracting workers to some of Nevada’s core industries like gaming and tourism, as well as mining. The office is also pushing to expand the small tech industry in southern Nevada, along with logistics and transportation industries.

Via: California Political Review

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How Obamacare Hurts You If You’re Looking for a Job

America is hurting for jobs. And if you’re looking for one, here’s how Obamacare is hurting you.

Obamacare is keeping businesses from hiring.

We already knew that many employers plan to cut workers’ hours to stay under the threshold of Obamacare mandates. This makes full-time jobs—much less full-time jobs with health benefits—harder to come by.

It’s more difficult to track the phantom jobs that just don’t exist today because of Obamacare’s strain on employers. But the latest report from the Federal Reserve confirms that they are all too real.

The Federal Reserve collects feedback from businesses and issues reports about the economic outlook. Its latest report directly links Obamacare to a lack of hiring. In fact, it cites Obamacare’s mandates and regulations 10 times.

Examples from the report (emphasis added):

“Many contacts also commented on reluctance to expand due to uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Act; some employers cut hours or employees.”

“A number of contacts voiced concern about the uncertainty surrounding future employer and employee healthcare costs.”

“There is anxiety about rising health insurance premiums [among manufacturers], which was attributed to the Affordable Care Act.”

This lines up with a recent Gallup survey reporting two-fifths of small business owners have held off on hiring because of Obamacare. As Heritage expert James Sherk summarizes: “For the next several years, Obamacare will also make it harder for workers who want jobs to find them.”

Via: The Foundry

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ECONOMY ADDS A DISAPPOINTING 148,000 JOBS IN SEPTEMBER

The Labor Department reported the economy created 148,000 jobs in September after adding 193,000 the prior month--forecasters had expected a much better showing. Unemployment fell to 7.2 percent, largely because 91,000 more adults chose not to participate in the labor force.

In September, anticipation of the government shutdown may have somewhat influenced hiring, but those effects are difficult to discern. For example, while uncertainty caused firms to delay, it may have encouraged others to rely on multiple part-timers actually boosting the jobs count.

In October, some impact from furloughing government employees will be felt, but experience with past similar events indicates the overall drag on the economy and jobs growth will prove imperceptible by next spring. Simply, much of the lost government and consumer spending will be made up, especially since federal employees will receive back pay.

In 2013, nearly half of the employment growth has been in part-time positions. Since January, 456,000 more adults reported working part-time positions, while 525,000 indicated they had obtained full-time employment.

Obama Care's mandates for employer paid health insurance coverage encourage more part-time hiring. Also, driving this trend are the growing importance of services like retailing and hospitality, rigidity, and visceral anti-business campaigns of unions--such as those targeting McDonalds and Wal-Mart.

Via: Breitbart

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Better off on public assistance

JuneLittleLady

Posted 42 mins ago

DH is a student on the GI Bill. I work part time in the evenings to avoid paying for childcare and take care of our 4 month old the rest of the time. Health insurance costs just about everything I make so I looked into state healthcare and learned that our family would be financially better off if I quit my job. Between health care and food stamps, we'd have more coming in than my job provides, but with my job we are $200 a month away from qualifying. I'm working because we need the income even though I hate leaving my baby. Is it crazy to quit my job? This might be more of a moral question than a financial question.

mayor_of_crazytown

Posted 38 mins ago

I'm not touching the morality/ethical part of this.

However, if your job qualifies you for the earned income credit, you might find that your tax refund is significant with you working part time.

And if you weren't working and have no earned income, then you might not get that credit.

Does anyone know how the GI bill is treated for tax purposes and the EIC?   I really don't know if it's treated like earned income or if it's treated more like a scholarship.

--

j -- with 4 tweens and a new little one due Feb 2014

Concerned about Family Finances?  Join the conversation.

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Sarah_bara84

Posted 35 mins ago

This should be interesting.

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~Sarah

Jesus Loving, CDing, Non-vaxing, semi crunchy Momma of 3- and on the road to being debt free!

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JuneLittleLady

Posted 35 mins ago

I'd like to know as well, but am guessing it is not treated as earned income just like the housing allowance for military members is not.

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igottawanna!

Posted 28 mins ago

GI bill is not taxable and not reportable except for purposes of claiming education related credits.

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DS 06/20/2010

DD 03/05/2012

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mmmwpch

Posted 26 mins ago

I used part GI bill part tuition assistance in 2012. The college will give out a 1099 for taxes and I actually got quite a bit back. I think if I recall right it was treated more like a scholarship than income.

When I hit my 10 yr mark with the military and got that raise it put me over the limit for WIC by about $60. I no longer qualified. I was not about to dump my career just for $200 a month in milk, eggs, cheese, bread, peanut butter, juice and cereal. We used more of the milk than anything else but I just tightened up in other areas and I've done ok without it.

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Our angel Cameron watches over us. Mikey 9/4/08 and sister Maylani Christine joined us on 8/22/11

Mikey's Blog http://autismmommy08.wordpress.com/

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Via: Baby Sitter Community

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Jobless claims spike due to Calif. backlog, shutdown

WASHINGTON — The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits jumped by 66,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 374,000. But the spike was largely because California processed a huge backlog of claims and the partial government shutdown prompted some contractors to cut jobs.

The sharp rise comes after the average fell to a 6½-year low last week. The Labor Department says the less volatile four-week average rose 20,000 to 325,000.

A government spokesman said about half the weekly increase occurred in California, where official processed applications that were delayed several weeks ago by a computer upgrade. One-quarter of the increase reflected applications from employees at government contractors.

Federal workers temporarily laid off by the shutdown may also file for benefits. But those figures won't be published until next week.

Via: USA Today

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[VIDEO] Santelli on Market Rally after Jobs Report: ‘What Are We, A Banana Republic?’

The August Jobs Report showed 169,000 jobs were added, less than many had predicted and revisions from previous months even included a drop of 74,000 jobs. So the jobs total for the month was really just 95,000.

The stock market continued to rally, but CNBC’s Rick Santelli, who covers the Chicago Board of Trade, said that such a contrast was upsetting. “What are we, a banana republic?” Santelli asked. “I just think it’s absolutely horrible that we’re in a marketplace where we get a lousy report. 35 years since we’ve seen these participation rates, and listen: you can’t hide the spread of four to four-and-a-half percent between the advertised unemployment rate and what it would be if you would go back a few years on that participation rate,” he explained.

Santelli, whose Feb. 9, 2009, rant helped give rise to the Tea Party, also said that this latest jobs report was a bad sign for the nation’s future. “See, those people aren’t working. They’re not buying houses, they’re not buying cars. They’re using services, they may be using entitlements or welfare. You can’t hide those millions of people forever. So we wonder why we see our costs to take care of people who are in between jobs rising faster than other areas, less improvement in the economy, not good GDP, that’s why. You can’t play this three card monte game for long. And to see the stock market rally on crappy data to me is just a horrible dynamic. What are we, a banana republic?” he asked.

Via: Newsbusters

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115,000 fewer Americans worked in August, 312,000 left workforce entirely

President Obama continued to preside over the weakest economic recovery since the Great Depression Friday, as the Department of Labor released its August jobs report showing that 115,000 fewer Americans had jobs in August than did in July, and 312,000 fewer Americans participated in the workforce entirely.

Employers did report creating 169,000 new jobs in August, but the Labor Department also cut the number of jobs created in July from 162,000 to 104,000, a 58,000 job loss.

Thanks almost entirely to the exit of more than 300,000 Americans from the labor force, the unemployment rate did fall from 7.4 percent to 7.3 percent. But if labor participation was the same today as it was just a year ago, the unemployment rate would be 7.7 percent.

The rate of job creation, already extremely weak for a supposed economic recovery, also showed clear signs of slowing. Incorporating the Labor Department's downwards jobs revisions, employers created 184,000 jobs over the past year, but only 160,000 jobs over the last six months, and only 148,000 jobs over the last three months.

Via: Washington Examiner

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THREE-MONTH JOB CREATION AVERAGE COLLAPSES COMPARED TO LAST YEAR

The Washington Post has apparently woken up to the fact that President Obama's economy -- at least as its related to job creation -- has been a mirage. After noting that the August unemployment rate dropped only because 312,000 people dropped out of the labor market, the Post reports that the three-month average of the number of jobs created has dropped by nearly 40,000 over this same time last year:

Consider this: The nation has averaged 148,000 new jobs a month for the last three months. The number was 160,000 for the last six months, and 184,000 a month over the last year. That looks to me like a downward trend, no two ways about it. It’s certainly not the gradual acceleration that most mainstream economists have forecast as 2013 advances and the impact of tighter fiscal policy fades.

Compared to last month, 112,000 fewer people in America have a job.

If you are wondering how the unemployment rate can decrease as the numbers of jobs created also decreases, there is more on that here.

Via: Breitbart

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