[VIDEO] Week Ahead: July Jobs Report

The July jobs report is the highlight of next week’s economic calendar with the Federal Reserve watching closely for sustained momentum in the all-important labor sector.

The labor market is coming off a string of strong monthly reports with the headline unemployment rate dropping to 5.3% in June, its lowest level in 7 years, and a monthly average of 250,000 jobs created during the past 12 months.

Another positive report is expected – analysts are predicting about 200,000 new jobs in July and that the unemployment rate will tick higher to 5.4%. The report will be released by the U.S. Labor Department on Friday.

“The US economy is expected to add 200,000 jobs in July. Gains will likely be concentrated in healthcare, food services, and professional and business services. The unemployment rate should drift higher as the labor force increases,” said analysts at IHS Global Insight.

But what Federal Reserve policy makers will be watching closely is wage growth. Despite all the otherwise positive data related to labor markets, wage growth has remained stubbornly weak.

Without robust wage growth inflation will have a hard time reaching the Fed’s 2% target level.

Also on tap next week is July automotive sales, a report on construction spending, personal income and outlays data and the ISM Manufacturing Index, all out Monday; a report on international trade is due Wednesday;  and a report on consumer spending is out Friday.

According to analysts at HIS Global Insight: “Both personal consumption and personal income likely rose 0.2% in June. The trade deficit likely widened, to $44.0 billion, as goods exports fell modestly while goods imports increased. Construction spending likely increased by 1.0%, with gains in both private and public construction spending.

Via: Fox Business

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Europe Cracks Down on Illegal Aliens

For the last twenty years, European Union members regularly snarled at the United States' policies against illegal aliens as a selfish violation of human rights. But with thousands of screaming demonstrators protesting against depressed wages and carrying fake coffins emblazoned with the names of politicians, EU Labor ministers in Brussels were forced on December 17th to approve tight controls on hiring cheap, temporary workers and "illegal immigrants."

The EU made immigration and asylum core legal rights under the 1993 Maastricht Treaty that trumpeted "free movement" of people, goods, services, and capital within a common market in which barriers to trade would be removed across the continent. EU elites have tried to institutionalize a continental sense of belonging that would offer prosperity and the promise of peace. But high standards of living have made the EU a magnet for Middle Eastern, African, and Eastern European immigrants. According to the European Council of Refugees and Exiles, around 1.5 million of the world's 16 million recognized refugees currently live legally in Europe and millions more were referred to as "undocumented."

The EU rules allow "posted workers" to temporarily emigrate from one EU country to another for up to two years to carry out a specific contract job. Employers who "import" posted workers are legally required to respect the labor rules of the host country, but these workers are not charged the average 24% social security costs in their host state. Consequently, posted workers are much cheaper for companies

Via: American Thinker
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Second-graders taught labor politics in Core Curriculum-aligned lesson plan

A textbook company contracted to produce materials under the Common Core State Standards is trying to teach students as young as second grade about economic fairness by praising unions, protests and labor leader Cesar Chavez, according to an education watchdog group.

Zaner-Bloser, which is based in Columbus, Ohio, is distributing a lesson plan aimed at teaching second-graders about “equality” by highlighting labor issues, according to Education Action Group Foundation, a non-partisan organization that looks to promote education reform.

As part of the plan, students spend a week reading “Harvesting Hope,” a book about Chavez written by children’s author Kathleen Krull, and then discuss what the lesson plan calls “scales of fairness,” which compare the living conditions of farm workers to that of land owners.

“Fairness and equality exist when the scales are balanced,” teachers are prompted to instruct the students. They are then supposed to ask the students whether both sides, as presented in the plan, are equal, providing a correct answer of “no” in the teachers’ guides.

“Why are we teaching organized labor lessons to young children?” asked Kyle Olson, the publisher of the group’s website. “Isn’t there a simpler way to teach about fairness, like saying it’s not fair if Johnny works all day and gets one piece of candy while Jimmy plays video games all day and gets the same piece of candy?”

Via: Fox News

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WEAK: JUST 169,000 NEW JOBS CREATED IN AUGUST, BAD DOWNWARD REVISIONS, LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE FALLS

There were just 169K new jobs created in August.

Private payrolls came in at 152,000 new jobs vs. expectations of 180,000.

What's worse. Last month was revised SHARPLY down from 162 to 104K. That is quite ominous.

June was also revised down, from 172K to 188.

The unemployment rate did, however, drop to 7.3%, but that's basically just due to continued exodus from the workforce.

The participation rate fell to 63.2% from 63.4%.

Snap reaction: this could delay the Fed's drive to reduce the pace of bond buying. The consensus had been that starting in September, the Fed would begin the so-called "taper" but right now the market is calling that bluff. Gold is surging, the dollar is tumbling, the US 10-year is seeing yields go down. And stocks are actually rising.

You can read the full report from the BLS here.

Via: Business Insider

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Obama to travel to Los Angeles to recognize labor

Obama will appear at the AFL-CIO convention, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Thursday.

That night the president will also appear at a $32,400 per plate Hollywood fundraiser held at the home of Marta Kauffman, the co-creator of the sitcom "Friends," according to an invitation obtained by the Sunlight Foundation.

The White House is billing the appearance at the labor convention as the latest in the president's summer-long middle class economic tour, according to the Los Angeles Times. Last week, the president visited schools across New York and Pennsylvania to tout his proposal to rank universities based on value, while previous stops have seen Obama call for new infrastructure improvements and reforming the corporate tax code.

It's not clear what specific topic Obama will tackle, but Trumka said his organization was working with the administration to plug holes in the Affordable Care Act.

“We have been working with the administration to find solutions to the inadvertent holes in the act,” Trumka said. “We are working to try solve problems, just like they tried to solve problems with employers, with large business and small business groups.”

Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will also appear at the four-day AFL-CIO convention, the group said in a release.

The president's fundraiser that night will benefit the Democratic National Committee. 

Obama has been a prolific fundraiser in California since his reelection, traveling repeatedly there to raise cash for congressional Democrats. Before a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in late May, Obama appeared at events benefiting the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic National Committee. In April, Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (R-Calif.) raised cash in the Bay Area for House Democrats.

Via: The Hill

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Despite Promises of Transparency, Obama Administration Suppresses Report That Would Detail Rise in Welfare Dependence

Washington, DC - A day after his inauguration, President Obama promised his Administration would be defined by its openness and transparency, proudly declaring, "I will also hold myself, as president, to a new standard of openness….Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency."  Sadly, the Obama Administration has failed to live up to the President’s lofty rhetoric, and its record on transparency is littered with broken promises.  The latest example is the Administration’s withholding of Federal data about welfare receipt and dependence on government benefits.  Under a 1994 law, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is required to issue annual reports on the degree to which Americans are dependent on various welfare benefits.  This 1994 law was authored by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), passed by the Democrat-controlled House and Senate, and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.  Yet after nearly four years, the Obama Administration has never once issued this report.   
  
The 1994 law requires HHS to issue this report to leaders of key Congressional committees with jurisdiction over various welfare programs: the House Committees on Ways and Means; Education and the Workforce; Agriculture; and Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committees on Finance; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.  Today, the Republican House Chairmen and Senate Ranking Members of these Committees sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sebelius asking for an immediate response as to (1) why HHS has failed to issue this report during her nearly four years as Secretary, and (2) when HHS expects to finally issue this report.  A copy of the letter is availablehere.

If issued, this report would reveal that dependence on government benefits has risen sharply during the Obama Administration.  All the more troubling is the fact that, while suppressing this annual report on welfare dependence for nearly four years, HHS recently took action to illegally waive work requirements for welfare recipients, which will result in even more welfare dependence.   

In their letter to Secretary Sebelius, the Chairmen and Ranking Members wrote, “HHS has failed to issue even one of these annual reports required by law during the nearly four years you have been Secretary.  It also means that the 2009 annual report is now more than 1,000 days overdue.” 

Via: Committee on Ways and Means

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Labor chief Trumka vows stronger ground game for elections

The nation’s largest labor federation says it is ready to unleash a new and improved political program ahead of the November elections with expanded outreach and more volunteers than past years.

AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka on Thursday outlined a strategy that will emphasis grass-roots efforts over TV ads, vowing that at least 400,000 volunteers — 100,000 more than during the 2008 election season — will hit the streets nationwide this autumn.

“You won’t see us doing all the ads, all the anonymous ads,” he said during a briefing with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. “We turn out people at the grass-roots level, something [anti-union groups and candidates] can’t do. And this time we’re going to try to do it even better.”

“That’s where we’re going to shine this time.”

New laws allow labor activists to have more contact with voters in non-union households — a demographic Mr. Trumka vows not to ignore.

“It used to be that we would do a door-knock, and there’d be 500 houses in a small community, and if 100 were union, we had to skip 400 houses. Now we’re going to be able to go to those 400 houses, talk to them about the issues,” he said.

Via: The Washington Times

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