Economic Indicators ~ (Dec '09) Monthly Job Numbers

The Labor Department's monthly jobs numbers are out and everyone on Wall Street and in the federal government have been waiting on these figures. FYI, for us regular folks in the city and in the burbs these numbers that came out this week are a summary of the previous month ...so the numbers that were announced this month are DECEMBER's unemployment numbers. The government also takes the time to go back and revise the number they've reported for the previous months. The numbers continue to paint a mixed bag with more negatives than positives at this point. I've highlighted the negatives in RED and the positives in GREEN.

December’s Unemployment Numbers are out. Here are the points based on numbers from the different surveys:

- The actual unemployment job loss number is – 85K for December. This is not what was expected because the estimated number from experts was to see a loss of roughly -10K or even a slightly positive number. So this number was worse than expected.

- The Household Survey has the number of unemployed persons at 15.3 million and the unemployment rate at 10%. Here is the breakdown among working groups (amazing when you see the actual numbers):

• Adult men (10.2 percent),
• Adult women (8.2 percent),
• Teenagers (27.1 percent),
• Whites (9.0 percent),
• Blacks (16.2 percent),
• Hispanics (12.9 percent),
• Asians (8.4 percent)

- The number of long-term unemployed (longer than 27 weeks) continues to rise.

- The number of people counted in the labor force is declining. This is strange because the stock market & GDP (economy) has been increasing. This is almost a sure sign that the unemployment rate will be rising this year to likely 10.5 to 11%. The experts say this is because the labor force will increase (not decrease) as the economy gets better and when those (dropped out) people are back and looking, they will be counted and the unemployment rates will increase.
- The number of part time, marginally looking, and now discouraged workers increased.

- The areas where jobs are increasing are Healthcare and Temporary help services. Temp employment has risen by 166,000. This is a good sign as companies usually bring temp and contract jobs back first.

Here are the revisions to October and November:

October - revised from -110K down to -127K
December - revised from -11K up to +4K

I stumbled onto the actual site where the Labor Department releases its employment numbers and that site will be posted in my favorites.

Week 1 ~ 2010

Here are a few things making some news this week:

Buying a Car – If buying a car, take a look at discontinued brands. General Motor’s Saturn and Pontiac brands may serve up some great discounts because they will soon no longer cease to exist. The real question may eventually be finding parts for any brands that will be discontinued, but if you read the consumer reviews and can find a reliable model this investment may be a good bet. If you don’t need the discontinued deal of the century, then take another look at Ford brand cars. For has resurrected itself from the dead and improved its car offerings and has grown in market share over the last year.

Throw Some Dimension’s on It – The D’s I am talking about are “DIMENSIONAL”. Here are a few reasons why movies and TV are going from 2D to 3D. Now I personally saw Avatar in 3D and now want to see it in 3D and in IMAX, why I guess because bigger is always better. If you are not noticing, the media industry is moving to 3D and this is no accident. It started with them testing us, with movies that were throwing objects at us…as I heard My Bloody Valentine and Final Destination did. Then they used it for fun films and now blockbuster biggies like Avatar. 3D is not only going to be hitting the big screen it will also be right there in your homes. Yes, the television industry wants to offer you 3D TV’s in the near future and even the station’s like ESPN have announced they will be offering certain games in 3D. The other reason I have heard that 3D is on the rise in the movie industry is to reduce piracy. Now this may make a lot of sense as this industry has been looking for the white knight answer of reducing movie piracy. It may be a great reason that Avatar, which will go down as one of the biggest movies in history is mainly being released in 3D. I truly believe it is because the movie is new and made with revolutionary detail. But I could also see the registers ringing (all the way to the bank) if one of the biggest movies of all time cannot be easily copied. I am now wondering if it is truly a better experience for watching TV and movies?? I imagine the experience will change slightly over time, but I am not sure if I would prefer to slip on my special 3D glasses if that were a requirement every time.

An Early 2010 Gift List:

GOOGLE NEXUS ONE – Google just entered the device market and is now making a phone, well sort of. The Google phone, Nexus One, is being made by HTC but is Google’s phone. One of the unique features Google will give you and me is the right to stick with our cell phone company if we like them. Most phones nowadays tell you to switch to an exclusive carrier; however, Google is going to offer its phone in a format that can work with YOUR carrier. Yes the phone is considered ‘Unlocked’, a feature that is common internationally but not here in the US. That usually explains the price, because your carrier is not helping you with the price and you aren’t locked into long –term contracts. (3.7 inch screen, 5.1 megapixel and $529 unlocked)


AMAZON KINDLE, TABLET PC’S – The first is the new e-reader device. For a generation of people that have grown up reading on screens this is the holy grail of eliminating night lights bookmarks. I am already used to downloading and it seems easy to download my books and go. For me this would be great on the train and if I can (download) and read the Wall Street Journal or web articles then I may never part with this thing. I am not sure what all formats it reads but who needs books. The Apple Tablet PC also made the list for all of the new PCs that are thin, light and will allow you to write on the screen. Yes, like you are writing on a piece of paper, hence the name tablet. Can you imagine how much paper and I didn’t even think of myself as much of a tree hugger.


TATA NANO – Tata, the Indian car manufacturer may actually set its sight on the US sooner than later. And I can fulfill my dream of adding a car to my Xmas list. For the whooping price of $2500 you can own a new vehicle. Now all I need to do is to get 100 friends to hold the gift cards and go in on purchasing me a car that will never have problems finding a parking spot in Chicago.