| ”Online advertised vacancies were up 86,800 in August to 4,974,900, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) Data Series released today. "The modest August gain was not enough to offset earlier months’ losses, leaving labor demand basically where it was eight months ago in December 2012…. “’This has not been a great year for labor demand,’ said June Shelp, Vice President of The Conference Board. ‘While the churn in the labor market is there (with almost 5 million jobs advertised each month), the end results are disappointing. Thus far in 2013, ten of the 22 major occupational categories are down, offsetting increases in the 12 other groups.’” See the complete report at this link: The Conference Board |
30 September 2013
• U.S. Help-Wanted Advertising – August 2013
• U.S. Personal Income by State – Q2 2013
State personal incomes grew 1.0 percent on average in the second quarter of 2013 after falling 1.3 percent in the first quarter.
 Personal income growth ranged from 1.5 percent in Florida and Arizona to -0.7 percent in Nebraska. Connecticut ranked 30th in the nation in personal income growth. Read the full report at this link: USDOC-BEA |
• Thanksgiving Holiday: Everything You Wanted to Know [if not TMI]
| In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims, early settlers of Plymouth Colony, held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest, an event many regard as the nation's first Thanksgiving. The Wampanoag, the Indians in attendance, also played a lead role. Historians have recorded ceremonies of thanks among other groups of European settlers in North America, including British colonists in Virginia in 1619. The legacy of thanks and the feast have survived the centuries, as the event became a national holiday 150 years ago (Oct. 3, 1863) when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. Later, President Franklin Roosevelt clarified that Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month to encourage earlier holiday shopping, never on the occasional fifth Thursday See the complete report at this link: USDOC-Census |
28 September 2013
• U.S. Personal Income, Expenditures – August 2013
Personal income increased $57.2 billion, or 0.4 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI)
increased $56.2 billion, or 0.5 percent. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $34.5 billion, or 0.3 percent. In July, personal income increased $21.2 billion, or 0.2 percent, DPI increased $32.7 billion, or 0.3 percent, and PCE increased $18.3 billion, or 0.2 percent, based on revised estimates. Real disposable personal income increased 0.3 percent in August, compared with an increase of 0.2 percent in July. Real PCE increased 0.2 percent, compared with an increase of 0.1 percent. Read the full article at this link: USDOC-BEA |
• U.S. College Grad Hiring Forecast - 2014
| “Employers plan to hire 7.8 percent more new college graduates for their U.S. operations in 2013-14 than they did in 2012-13, according to results of a new survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).”
Read the full article at this link: NACEWeb.org |
26 September 2013
• U.S. Employment and Wages, by County – Q1 2013
|
From March 2012 to March 2013, employment increased in 282 of the 334 largest U.S. counties.
The U.S. average weekly wage increased over the year by 0.6 percent to $989 in the first quarter of 2013. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
• U.S. Inflation – Q2 2013
| As measured by the U.S. Gross Domestic Product [GDP] Price Index, prices increased by 1.3% in the U.S. from Q2 2012 to Q2 2013 This index is a supplemental measure that is based on household expenditures for which there are observable price measures. It excludes most implicit prices (for example, financial services furnished without payment) and the final consumption expenditures of nonprofit institutions serving households. See the complete report at this link: USDOC-BEA Index numbers of price indexes for GDP and its major components are presented in this release in table 6. |
• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 21 September 2013
[Jobless]
In the week ending September 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 305,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 310,000. The 4-week moving average was 308,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 315,000. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent for the week ending September 14, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending September 14 were in Puerto Rico (4.2), New Jersey (3.4), Alaska (3.3), Virgin Islands (3.1), Connecticut (2.9), New Mexico (2.9), Pennsylvania (2.8), Nevada (2.6), New York (2.6), and Illinois (2.5). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 14 were in California (+22,611), Florida (+3,946), Georgia (+2,690), Nevada (+2,504), and New York (+1,871), while the largest decreases were in Oklahoma (-439), Tennessee (-404), Kansas (-351), Massachusetts (-304), and Idaho (-294).p>Source: USDOL-BLS |
19 September 2013
• U.S. Technical Degree Grads Head Pay List
| ”Technical majors—especially those in engineering—head the list of top-paid majors for the Class of 2013, according to a new report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
”NACE's September 2013 Salary Survey found that seven engineering majors are among the 10 highest-paid at the bachelor's-degree level…. ”At an average starting salary of $96,200, petroleum engineering is far and away the highest-paid major for members of the Class of 2013….” See the complete report at this link: NACEWeb.org |
• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims - 14 September 2013
[Jobless]
In the week ending September 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 309,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 294,000.  The 4-week moving average was 314,750, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 321,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent for the week ending September 7, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending September 7 were in Puerto Rico (4.0), New Jersey (3.5), Alaska (3.1), Connecticut (3.0), Pennsylvania (3.0), New Mexico (2.9), New York (2.7), Virgin Islands (2.7), Illinois (2.5), Oregon (2.4), and Rhode Island (2.4). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 7 were in Tennessee (+681), Oklahoma (+601), Mississippi (+298), Maine (+219), and South Carolina (+192), while the largest decreases were in California (-25,412), New York (-2,260), Florida (-1,808), Oregon (-1,738), and Pennsylvania (-1,295). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL-BLS |
18 September 2013
• U.S. Real Hourly and Weekly Earnings – August 2013
| Real average hourly earnings for all employees rose 0.1 percent from July to August, seasonally adjusted. This increase stems from a 0.2 percent increase in
average hourly earnings being partially offset by a 0.1 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).
Real average weekly earnings rose 0.4 percent over the month due to the increase in real average hourly earnings and a 0.3 percent increase in the average workweek. Real average hourly earnings rose 0.7 percent, seasonally adjusted, from August 2012 to August 2013. The increase in real average hourly earnings, combined with a 0.3 percent increase in the average workweek, resulted in a 1.0 percent increase in real average weekly earnings over this period. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
• U.S. Consumer Price Index – August 2013
| The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 1.5
percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 233.877 (1982-
84=100). For the month, the index increased 0.1 percent prior to
seasonal adjustment.
The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 1.5 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 230.359 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index increased 0.1 percent prior to seasonal adjustment. The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) increased 1.4 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 134.086. For the month, the index increased 0.1 percent on a not seasonally adjusted basis. Please note that the indexes for the post-2011 period are subject to revision. The Consumer Price Index for September 2013 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 16, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT). See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
• USDOL Extends FLSA Rules to Home Care Workers
| The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has announced a final rule extending the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime protections to most of the nation’s direct care workers who provide essential home care assistance to elderly people and people with illnesses, injuries, or disabilities.
This change, effective January 1, 2015, ensures that nearly two million workers – such as home health aides, personal care aides, and certified nursing assistants – will have the same basic protections provided to most U.S. workers. USDOL claims ot will help ensure that individuals and families who rely on the assistance of direct care workers have access to consistent and high quality care from a stable and increasingly professional workforce. See further information at this link: USDOL |
16 September 2013
As the Civil Rights Act Approaches 50…What Have We learned?
During the years 1961-63, fresh out of college, I was employed as a management trainee for a machine tool manufacturing company located in Fairfield County, Connecticut. For those who are not familiar with machine tools, they are devices such as lathes, drills, and milling machines that are used to shape metal.
That job gave me an opportunity to learn the metal fabrication industry, as there were only two trainees hired that year and we were rotated from one department to another, both within the office and out in the factory.
In the office, I spent time in what was then called the personnel department, which I liked very much, and in production control, which back in the pre-computer days was the dullest work I’d ever been asked to do. The primary activity was recording the progress of each part through every step in the manufacturing process on heavy paper “tub cards,” so that no matter where a specific part was, it could be located. My only fond memory of the production control department involved a parts analyst named Jimmie, who had mastered the art of appearing to analyze a tub card while surreptitiously reading The Bridgeport Telegram—which he concealed in the top right-hand drawer of his desk. He also managed to keep an eye out for any of the several bosses and would stealthily close the drawer on their approach.
It was more fun to be out in the factory, rotating through the manufacturing areas. I loved the foundry, where giant cylindrical furnaces melted down pig iron and scrap metal before it was poured into beautifully crafted sand molds, where it hardened and eventually formed machine parts, some as large as automobiles. I also spent time in drilling, lathes, assembly, and heat-treat, but it was in the milling department that the event I now relate took place.
The company had an apprenticeship program that trained young men who wanted to learn the metal fabrication trades. These apprentices typically underwent classroom and on-the-job training, regulated by the Connecticut Department of Labor, for four years before qualifying as journeymen machinists, mechanics, and tool & die makers.
I don’t recall a single female or minority apprentice in my time with the company. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act--which would make it illegal to discriminate against minorities and other groups in hiring, training, pay, promotions, and discipline--had not yet been signed into law by Lyndon Johnson, so a scarcity of minority apprentices would not likely have raised any questions.
Nevertheless, on that day the foreman came down the aisle between the rows of Bridgeport, Cincinnati, and K&T horizontal and vertical milling machines with a young Black apprentice who was decked out in new safety shoes and green work clothes. The foreman started introducing the new man to the workers in the department. The apprentice’s last name was, let’s say, McIntyre, and the foreman found it quite humorous that a Black man could have a Scottish surname. “Hey, can you guess what this kid’s name is? It’s McIntyre!” he exclaimed, bursting into deep guffaws.
There weren’t a lot of Black history courses being taught in the early 60s, but it was not an unknown fact that many African-Americans were descended from slaves who were forced to take on the surnames of their masters, or who voluntarily chose to do so because their own names had been lost to time. In any case, the name struck the foreman’s funny-bone, and it was in this way that apprentice McIntyre commenced his training.
Looking at the young man, I thought he must have been discomfited by the foreman’s manner of introduction. I certainly know that I was embarrassed for him. Yet, standing there among the assembled group of White machinists, I probably put a stupid grin on my face and went along with the joke. And although it may have crossed my mind to call the foreman to task for his behavior, I was in no position to do so.
The foreman is long deceased now, and the company chained its doors decades ago. But the experience I gained in that company’s training program laid the foundation for a career that has spanned the last fifty years. From time to time, I think of young McIntyre and wonder what became of him. Perhaps he also learned from his training and has had a good life. I hope that the manner in which he was introduced to us so many years ago had no lasting effect on him; I hope he can’t even recall that it happened. But I do.
The Civil Rights Act will turn 50 in 2014. Has it legislated the milling-department foreman’s behavior out of existence? Have we learned anything in the last 50 years?
What would happen if we all just treated one another with respect?
13 September 2013
• U.S. Average Starting Salaries for Bachelor’s Grads - 2013
| ”The overall average starting salary for Class of 2013 college graduates earning bachelor’s degrees has increased 2.4 percent over last year, according to a new report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)."
See the complete report at this link: NACEWeb.org |
• U.S. Business Sales, Inventories – July 2013
| Sales. The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’
shipments for July, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,293.6
billion, up 0.6 percent (±0.2) from June 2013, and were up 4.6 percent (±1.1) from July 2012.
Inventories. Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,661.9 billion, up 0.4 percent (±0.1) from June 2013 and up 3.2 percent (±1.5) from July 2012. Inventories/Sales Ratio. The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of July was 1.28. The July 2012 ratio was 1.30. See the complete report at this link: USDOC-Census |
• U.S. Consumer Sentiment – September 2013
| ”U.S. consumer sentiment fell to a five-month low in September, with Americans worried that higher interest rates will put a damper on the housing market and overall growth, a survey released on Friday showed….”
See the complete report at this link: Reuters.com |
• U.S. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation = Q2 2013
| Private industry employers spent an average of $29.11 per hour worked for employee compensation in
June 2013. Wages and salaries averaged $20.47 per
hour worked and accounted for 70.3 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $8.64 and
accounted for the remaining 29.7 percent. Total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $42.09 per hour worked in June 2013. Total compensation costs for civilian workers, which include private industry and state and local government workers, averaged $31.00 per hour worked in June 2013. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
• U.S. Retail Sales – Auguest 2013
| U.S. retail and food services sales for August, adjusted for seasonal
variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $426.6 billion, an increase of 0.2 percent (±0.5%) from the
previous month, and 4.7 percent (±0.7%) above August 2012. Total sales for the June through August 2013 period were up 5.4 percent (±0.5%) from the same period a year ago. The June to July 2013 percent change was revised from +0.2 percent (±0.5%) to +0.4 percent (±0.2%). See the complete report at this link: USDOC-Census |
• U.S. Producer Prices – August 2013
| The Producer Price Index for finished goods rose 0.3 percent in August. Prices for finished goods were unchanged in July and increased 0.8 percent in June. The index for finished goods less foods and energy was unchanged in August. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 07 September 2013
[Jobless]
| In the week ending September 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 292,000, a decrease of 31,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 323,000. The 4-week moving average was 321,250, a decrease of 7,500 from the previous week's revised average of 328,750. Source: USDOL-BLS |
10 September 2013
• U.S. Job Openings, Turnover – July 2013
| There were 3.7 million job openings on the last business day of July, little changed from June. The hires rate (3.2 percent) and the separations rate (3.0 percent) also were little changed in July. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
• U.S. Consumer Expenditures – July 2013
| Average annual expenditures per household in 2012 were above $50,000 for the first time since 2008. The 3.5-percent increase in spending from 2011 to 2012 outpaced the 2.1-percent increase in prices during the same time period. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
06 September 2013
• U.S. Employment Situation – August 2013
| Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 169,000 in August, and
the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.3 percent, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Employment rose in retail trade and health care but declined in information. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
• U.S. Auto Sales – August 2013
| ”The U.S. auto industry has shifted into high gear with new-car buyers snapping up vehicles last month at a pace not seen since before the financial crisis.”
See the complete report at this link: Onlline.WSJ.com |
05 September 2013
• U.S, Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders - July 2013
| New orders for manufactured goods in July, down
following three consecutive monthly increases,
decreased $12.0 billion or 2.4 percent to $485.0 billion. This followed a
1.6 percent June increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.2 percent. See the complete report at this link: USDOC-Census |
• U.S. Productivity – Q2 2013
| Productivity increased 2.3 percent in the nonfarm business sector in the second quarter of 2013; unit labor costs were unchanged (revised seasonally adjusted annual rates). In manufacturing, productivity increased 1.9 percent and unit labor costs increased 2.3 percent. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS |
• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 31 August 2013
[Jobless]
| In the week ending August 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 323,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 332,000. The 4-week moving average was 328,500, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average of 331,500. Source: USDOL-BLS |
04 September 2013
• U.S. International Trade In Goods and Services - July 2013
| Total July exports of $189.4 billion and imports of $228.6 billion resulted in
a goods and services deficit of $39.1 billion, up from $34.5 billion in June, revised. July exports were $1.1 billion less than June exports of $190.5 billion. July imports were $3.5 billion more than June imports of $225.1 billion. See the complete report at this link: USDOC-BEA |
• U.S. College Enrollment Declines - 2012
| According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics released today, college enrollment in fall 2012 plunged by half a million (467,000) from one year earlier. This decline, which includes both graduate and undergraduate enrollment, follows a period of substantial growth — 3.2 million — between 2006 and 2011. See the complete report at this link: USDOC-Census |
03 September 2013
• U.S. Construction Spending – July 2013
| Construction spending during July 2013 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $900.8 billion, 0.6 percent (±2.0%) above the revised June estimate of $895.7 billion. The July figure is 5.2 percent (±2.1%) above the July 2012 estimate of $856.3 billion.
During the first 7 months of this year, construction spending amounted to $493.9 billion, 5.6 percent (±1.5%) above the $467.7 billion for the same period in 2012. See the complete report at this link: USDOC-Census |
• U.S. Purchasing Manufacturing Index – August 2013
| ”Manufacturing expanded in August as the PMI™ registered 55.7 percent, an increase of 0.3 percentage point when compared to July's reading of 55.4 percent. August's reading reflects the highest overall PMI™ reading in 2013. A reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally contracting.
“A PMI™ in excess of 42.2 percent, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy. Therefore, the August PMI™ indicates growth for the 51st consecutive month in the overall economy, and indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector for the third consecutive month.” See the complete report at this link: Institute for Supply Management |
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