What This Last Week Brought Us (Feb. 7, 2011)
February 7, 2011 by Pete Mitchell
Filed under All Posts, Weekly Updates
Unemployment fell dramatically in January: the Labor Department reported a second straight .4% monthly drop, resulting in the largest two-month reduction of the jobless rate since 1958. While the decrease puts unemployment at 9.0% (the lowest figure since April 2009), just 36,000 net new jobs were created. The implication: due to the weather or discouragement, many job seekers didn’t look for work. “The thumbprints of the weather were all over this report,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Neil Dutta told the Associated Press. “We know the job market is recovering.”1,2
The Month in Brief
February 3, 2011 by Pete Mitchell
Filed under All Posts, Monthly Update
Turmoil in the Middle East didn’t stop U.S. stocks from posting a sizable January advance. The S&P 500 rose 2.26% on the month and the Dow and NASDAQ posted strong gains as well. We received encouraging news about home sales, retail sales, manufacturing and service sector growth and personal spending. There was a real sense that things were improving for American consumers and corporations.1
When Will Jobs And Housing Improve?
January 28, 2011 by Pete Mitchell
Filed under All Posts, Government Programs, Other Market Info
What will it take for the housing market and employment to really improve? It really boils down to the two greatest economic factors of all: supply and demand. What needs to happen in the labor market? Ideally, a swift rise in consumer demand for goods and services in 2011 spurs businesses to hire, with no [...]
Weekly Economic Update for January 10, 2011
January 10, 2011 by Pete Mitchell
Filed under All Posts, Weekly Updates
“A career is born in public, talent in privacy.” – Marilyn Monroe HOW DO WE INTERPRET THIS JOBS REPORT? America’s unemployment rate fell four-tenths of a point in December to 9.4%. On the surface, that sounds great – after all, that is the biggest one-month drop in the jobless rate in 12 years. Beneath the [...]
December Summary
January 6, 2011 by Pete Mitchell
Filed under All Posts, Monthly Update
“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” – Donald A. Laird THE MONTH IN BRIEF December lived up to its promise as one of the better months of the year for stocks, with the S&P 500 gaining 6.53%.1 It was a strangely quiet time on Wall Street, and the biggest [...]
