Wednesday, October 19, 2011

President Obama jobs plan


President Obama jobs plan: More Americans want Congress to pass it, says Gallup poll


President Obama's approval rating may be sinking, but the public is on his side when it comes to creating jobs.
More Americans want their member of Congress to vote in favor of the president's jobs bill than against it by a 45% to 32% margin, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.
Obama proposed the American Jobs Act of 2011 in a speech to Congress on Sept. 8 and sent the 155-page plan to lawmakers this week, saying the bill "will put people back to work all across the country."
The $447 billion package includes tax cuts and new government spending. It would reduce payroll taxes that employees and small businesses pay, give small businesses a tax break for hiring new workers and provide $140 billion for repairing roads and bridges and modernizing schools.
Republican reaction to the measure is mixed.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the plan this week as "not serious and it's not a jobs plan." The same day, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor noted "potential areas of agreement," including tax relief for small businesses and employers.
On Thursday, Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul told Fox News he thinks the jobs plan is a make or break moment for the president.
Among Americans who say they are following news of the bill very closely, 57% want to see it passed, according to Gallup. While 70% of Democrats strongly support the bill and 60% of Republicans strongly oppose it, independent voters favor the plan by 44% to 32%, resulting in overall support for the measure.
"Despite headlines about the pushback, the public is more in favor of the plan than opposed to it," Frank Newport, Gallup's editor-in-chief, told the Daily News.
Americans disapprove of the overall job the president is doing by a 52% to 40% margin, according to a recent Gallup poll. The drop in his job approval comes as U.S. unemployment hit 9.1% in August, up from 7.8% when Obama took office in January 2009.
The bulk of the president's jobs plan - $400 billion over 10 years - would be covered by new limits on tax deductions for charitable contributions and other expenditures that are available to individuals making more than $200,000 a year and families making more than $250,000 a year.
The rest would come from new limits on deductions for owners of corporate jets, hedge funds and oil and gas companies.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Unemployment in the US






United States Unemployment Rate at 9.10 percent

The unemployment rate in the United States was last reported at 9.1 percent in September of 2011. From 1948

until 2010 the United States' Unemployment Rate averaged 5.70 percent reaching an historical high of 10.80 

percent in November of 1982 and a record low of 2.50 percent in May of 1953. The labour force is defined as

 the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work. The non labour force includes

 those who are not looking for work, those who are institutionalised and those serving in the military. 

This page includes: United States Unemployment Rate chart, historical data and news.





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united states unemployment rate


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United StatesUnemployment RateSep/20119.109.10November/04




U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls Rise in September, Unemployment Rate Steady
Published on 10/7/2011 1:42:34 PM  | By TradingEconomics.com, US Bureau of Labor Statistics


U.S. Nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 103,000 in September, and the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on October 7.
The increase in employment partially reflected the return to payrolls of about 45,000 telecommunications workers who had been on strike in August. In September, job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, and construction. Government employment continued to trend down.

The number of unemployed persons, at 14.0 million, was essentially unchanged in September, and the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent. Since April, the rate has held in a narrow range from 9.0 to 9.2 percent.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (8.8 percent), adult women (8.1 percent), teenagers (24.6 percent), whites (8.0 percent), blacks (16.0 percent), and Hispanics (11.3 percent) showed little or no change in September. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was 6.2 million in September. These individuals accounted for 44.6 percent of the unemployed.

Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 103,000 in September. Since April, payroll employment has increased by an average of 72,000 per month, compared with an average of 161,000 for the prior 7 months.

Employment in professional and business services increased by 48,000 over the month and has grown by 897,000 since a recent low in September 2009. Health care employment continued to expand in September, with an increase of 44,000. Construction employment increased by 26,000 over the month, after showing little movement since February. Employment in information was up by 34,000 over the month due to the return of about 45,000 telecommunications workers to payrolls after an August strike. Manufacturing employment changed little in September (-13,000) and has been essentially flat for the past 2 months. Within retail trade, employment declined in electronic and appliance stores (-9,000) in September. Government employment continued to trend down over the month (-34,000). Local government employment declined by 35,000 and has fallen by 535,000 since September 2008.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised from +85,000 to +127,000, and the change for August was revised from 0 to +57,000.
indicator historical data chart 2








Unemployment Rate Definition


The labour force is defined as the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work.
The participation rate is the number of people in the labour force divided by the size of the adult civilian noninstitutional
population (or by the population of working age that is not institutionalised). The nonlabour force includes those who 
are not looking for work, those who are institutionalised such as in prisons or psychiatric wards, stay-at home 
spouses, kids, and those serving in the military. The unemployment level is defined as the labour force minus the
number of people currently employed. The unemployment rate is defined as the level of unemployment divided by the 
labour force.  The employment rate is defined as the number of people currently employed divided by the adult 
population (or by the population of working age). In these statistics, self-employed people are counted as employed.


Variables like employment level, unemployment level, labour force, and unfilled vacancies are called stock variables 
because they measure a quantity at a point in time. They can be contrasted with flow variables which measure a 
quantity over a duration of time. Changes in the labour force are due to flow variables such as natural population 
growth, net immigration, new entrants, and retirements from the labour force. Changes in unemployment depend on: 
inflows made up of non-employed people starting to look for jobs and of employed people who lose their jobs and look 
for new ones; and outflows of people who find new employment and of people who stop looking for employment.


When looking at the overall macroeconomy, several types of unemployment have been identified, including:
Frictional unemployment — This reflects the fact that it takes time for people to find and settle into new jobs. If 12 
individuals each take one month before they start a new job, the aggregate unemployment statistics will record this 
as a single unemployed worker. Technological change often reduces frictional unemployment, for example: the internet 
made job searches cheaper and more comprehensive.  Structural unemployment — This reflects a mismatch 
between the skills and other attributes of the labour force and those demanded by employers. If 4 workers each 
take six months off to re-train before they start a new job, the aggregate unemployment statistics will record this as 
two unemployed workers. Technological change often increases structural unemployment, for example: 
technological change might require workers to re-train.  Natural rate of unemployment — This is the summation 
of frictional and structural unemployment. It is the lowest rate 
of unemployment that a stable economy can expect to achieve, seeing as some frictional and structural unemployment is 
inevitable. Economists do not agree on the natural rate, with estimates ranging from 1% to 5%, or on its meaning — some 
associate it with "non-accelerating inflation". The estimated rate varies from country to country and from time to time.
Demand deficient unemployment — In Keynesian economics, any level of unemployment beyond the natural rate is most 
likely due to insufficient demand in the overall economy. During a recession, aggregate expenditure is deficient causing the 
underutilization of inputs (including labour). Aggregate expenditure (AE) can be increased, according to Keynes, by 
increasing consumption spending (C), increasing investment spending (I), increasing government spending (G), or 
increasing the net of exports minus imports (X?M). {AE = C + I + G + (X?M)} (source: wikipedia)
Courtesy: Trading Economics

Sunday, October 16, 2011

~ SUNDAY INSPIRATION ~


Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.
Denis Waitley