Monthly Archives: February 2014

Labor force participation rate at 35 year low, State by state, 55 and over record high, WV lowest P2P rate Washington DC highest, CA NV highest underemployment rates

Posted on February 14, 2014 | 25 comments

Labor force participation rate at 35 year low, State by state, 55 and over record high, WV lowest P2P rate Washington DC highest, CA NV highest underemployment rates

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Nearly half of U.S. companies are reluctant to hire full-time employees because of the ACA. One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.

Other firms will shift toward part-time workers. More than 40 percent of CFOs say their companies will consider switching some jobs to less than 30 hours per week or targeting part-time workers for future employment.”…Duke University Fuqua School of Business December 11, 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

 

Another excellent report from Zero Hedge on the US employment situation February 14, 2014.

“The US Participation Rate Is At A 35 Year Low: This Is How It Looks Broken Down State By State”

After years of being roundly ignored by the mainstream media, and certainly be self-important economists, the issue of labor force participation is suddenly up front and center, especially now that the Fed itself finds itself scrambling to explain the humiliation of hitting its 6.5% unemployment “forward guidance” threshold without proceeding to tighten as it said it would initially when it launched QEternity in December 2012.

Incidentally, we predicted precisely this when we said in December 2012 that “using a simple forecast, based on LTM trends across all key employment metrics reveals something very troubling, for the Fed and stocks that is: the 6.5% unemployment rate will be breached in July 2013! Now granted that is simply idiotic, and there is no way that the US economy could possibly recover that fast, but that is precisely what is implied based on the ongoing collapse in the Labor Force Participation, and the concurrent plunge in the Labor Force Participation rate,which has been the biggest marginal driver for the unemployment rate, far more than the number of people who have jobs, or are unemployed (readers can recreate our calculation on their own in 10 minutes with excel).”

Granted, we were off by six months, but we were spot on about the reason why the unemployment threshold number was hit so quickly, instead of as the Fed has originally predicted, some time in 2015/2016.

So now that absolutely everyone is laser-focused more on the participation print, recently at 35 year lows, than the actual unemployment number which even the Fed has implied is meaningless in the current context, one thing to note is that while the overall number is a blended average across the US, it certainly differs on a state by state basis.

In order to get a sense of which states are the winners and losers in the payroll to participation ratio,we go to Gallup, which conveniently has broken down this number on a far more granular basis.

Gallup finds that Washington, D.C., had the highest Payroll to Population (P2P) rate in the country in 2013, at 55.7%. A cluster of states in the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions — North Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wyoming, Iowa, Colorado, and South Dakota — all made the top 10. West Virginia (36.1%) had the lowest P2P rate of all the states.

”

“Of course, this now defunct demographic explanation does not account for the fact that within the US labor force, the number of people employed aged 55 and over has just hit a record high, as it defeats the demographic explanation. So while one should ignore the rationalization, one should certainly be aware of which states skew the participation distribution on the high and low side.”

“And guess which states were by far the worst offenders when it comes underemployment:

California and Nevada have the highest percentages of their workforces not working at desired capacity. Their rates are about twice those of states at the other end of the spectrum, such as North Dakota (10.1%). Other states hard hit by the recession and declining housing market, including Florida and Arizona, rank among the states with the highest underemployment rates.”

Read more:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-14/us-participation-rate-35-year-low-how-it-looks-state-state

 

25 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Employment, Jobs, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, ObamaCare, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment

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Obama DOJ fights Kansas to allow foreigners to vote, Justice Department lawyer Bradley Heard, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Arizona Supreme Court decision quoted

Posted on February 14, 2014 | 14 comments

Obama DOJ fights Kansas to allow foreigners to vote, Justice Department lawyer Bradley Heard, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Arizona Supreme Court decision quoted

“Based on my firsthand experiences, I believe the dismissal of the Black Panther case was motivated by a lawless hostility toward equal enforcement of the law. Others still within the department share my assessment. The department abetted wrongdoers and abandoned law-abiding citizens victimized by the New Black Panthers. The dismissal raises serious questions about the department’s enforcement neutrality in upcoming midterm elections and the subsequent 2012 presidential election.”…J. Christian Adams

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”…Abraham Lincoln
“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patroits to prevent its ruin”…Samuel Adams, 1776

Reported by J. Christian Adams, former DOJ attorney, at Pajamas Media February 12, 2014.
“DOJ Argues to Court Against Rules to Prevent Foreigners From Voting”

“Justice Department lawyer Bradley Heard was in court today trying to stop Kansas from ensuring that only citizens register to vote. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, relying on a United States Supreme Court opinion of last year, asked the federal Election Assistance Commission to permit him to ensure that only citizens were registering to vote.

The Election Assistance Commission said no, so Kris Kobach went to federal court. Enter Eric Holder’s Justice Department, as usual, opposing election integrity measures.

Despite harping about resource concerns (which apparently means that the DOJ can do nothing about corrupted voter rolls), Holder found the time and money to send Bradley Heard to a hearing in Kansas to argue against Kobach’s election integrity measures.

Things didn’t go well for Bradley Heard before Judge Eric Melgren today. The Wichita Eagle:

Judge Eric Melgren repeatedly pressed Department of Justice lawyer Bradley Heard to explain how a Supreme Court decision last year on Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship law allows the federal Election Assistance Commission to reject requests from Arizona and Kansas to add state-law requirements to the instructions for filling out the voting form.

“The single pivotal question in this case is who gets to decide … what’s necessary” to establish citizenship for voting, Melgren said.

Heard said that decision lies with the EAC under the federal National Voter Registration Act, also known as the motor-voter law. He said the law empowers the commission to decide what questions and proofs are necessary to include in the federal registration form.

Take note, Heard argued both that Kobach can’t take steps to prevent foreigners to register to vote, and, that federal government power over state elections is supreme.

So who is Bradley Heard?”

Read more:

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/02/12/doj-aruges-to-court-against-rules-to-prevent-foreigners-from-voting/

14 Comments

Posted in Attorney General, Attorneys, Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Civil rights, constitution, Court of Appeals, Courts, Lawsuits, Lawyers, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, The Case Against Barack Obama, US Department of Justice

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John B. Taylor house testimony February 11, 2014, Poor economic performance and job growth, Unemployment drop due to labor force dropouts, Failed Fed policies, Committee on Financial Services

Posted on February 11, 2014 | 87 comments

John B. Taylor house testimony February 11, 2014, Poor economic performance and job growth, Unemployment drop due to labor force dropouts, Failed Fed policies, Committee on Financial Services

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Nearly half of U.S. companies are reluctant to hire full-time employees because of the ACA. One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.

Other firms will shift toward part-time workers. More than 40 percent of CFOs say their companies will consider switching some jobs to less than 30 hours per week or targeting part-time workers for future employment.”…Duke University Fuqua School of Business December 11, 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

 

From The Testimony Before The Committee on Financial Services United States House of Representatives February 11, 2014, John B. Taylor

“Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy”

 

“The Current Economic Situation

Recently released data indicate that the U.S. economy continues to underperform, with the recovery from the deep 2007-09 recession looking as disappointing as ever. Real GDP growth has been too slow to close the gap between real GDP and its pre-recession trend, even incorporating the temporary pickup near the end of last year.1 Job growth has been too slow to
raise employment relative the population, leaving the employment-to-population ratio below the recession low.2 While the unemployment rate has declined recently, much of the decline is due to an unusually large number of people dropping out of the labor force because of the weak recovery.3 It is good news that the inflation rate has averaged very close to the Fed’s 2 percent
goal during the past decade, but by any measure the performance of the real economy has deteriorated compared to the previous two decades.

I have argued that the main cause of the poor performance is a significant shift in economic policy away from what worked reasonably well in the decades before. Broadly speaking, monetary policy, regulatory policy, and fiscal policy each became more discretionary, more interventionist, and less predictable starting in the years leading up to the financial crisis and have largely remained in that mode.4

There is an obvious empirical correlation between this shift in economic policy and the poor economic performance. But it is more than a correlation: A significant body of economic research predicts that such a shift would result in poorer performance, a prediction that is confirmed by historical experiences from the 1970s to the 1980s and 1990s and by empirical studies of specific policy actions. Moreover, this “policy is the problem” explanation fits the
facts better than alternative views that there has been a secular stagnation due to a persistent decline in the normal real interest rate or that weak recoveries normally follow deep recessions.”
“Though the intention of the majority of those at the Fed in favor of the policies was to stimulate the economy, there is little evidence that the policy has helped economic growth or job growth. Growth has been less with the unconventional policies than the Fed originally forecast. In the year since QE3 gained full steam at the end of 2012, interest rates on long-term Treasuries and mortgage backed securities have risen rather than fallen as was the intent of the policy.
Before quantitative easing, from 2003 to 2008, the average spread between one year and ten year Treasury securities was 1.3%. During the three quantitative easing programs, from 2009 through 2013 the average spread was 2.4%. So it is very hard to establish that QE reduced spreads.”

Read more:

Click to access HHRG-113-BA00-WState-JTaylor-20140211.pdf

 

 

87 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Employment, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment

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Obama media BLS jobs spin exceeds big brother of “1984”, 2.870 million real actual jobs lost in January, Global warming or harsh winter?, George Orwell understated coming lies

Posted on February 10, 2014 | 52 comments

Obama media BLS jobs spin exceeds big brother of “1984”, 2.870 million real actual jobs lost in January, Global warming or harsh winter?, George Orwell understated coming lies

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Nearly half of U.S. companies are reluctant to hire full-time employees because of the ACA. One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.

Other firms will shift toward part-time workers. More than 40 percent of CFOs say their companies will consider switching some jobs to less than 30 hours per week or targeting part-time workers for future employment.”…Duke University Fuqua School of Business December 11, 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

George Orwell painted a picture of what he had seen from totalitarian regimes and what he envisioned could come. He understated what we experience today.

From “1984.”

“Winston dialled ‘back numbers’ on the telescreen and called for the appropriate issues of The Times, which slid out of the pneumatic tube after only a few minutes’ delay. The messages he had received referred to articles or news items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to alter, or, as the official phrase had it, to rectify. For example, it appeared from The Times of the seventeenth of March that Big Brother, in his speech of the previous day, had predicted that the South Indian front would remain quiet but that a Eurasian offensive would shortly be launched in North Africa. As it happened, the Eurasian Higher Command had launched its offensive in South India and left North Africa alone. It was therefore necessary to rewrite a paragraph of Big Brother’s speech, in such a way as to make him predict the thing that had actually happened. Or again, The Times of the nineteenth of December had published the official forecasts of the output of various classes of consumption goods in the fourth quarter of 1983, which was also the sixth quarter of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. Today’s issue contained a statement of the actual output, from which it appeared that the forecasts were in every instance grossly wrong. Winston’s job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones. As for the third message, it referred to a very simple error which could be set right in a couple of minutes. As short a time ago as February, the Ministry of Plenty had issued a promise (a ‘categorical pledge’ were the official words) that there would be no reduction of the chocolate ration during 1984. Actually, as Winston was aware, the chocolate ration was to be reduced from thirty grammes to twenty at the end of the present week. All that was needed was to substitute for the original promise a warning that it would probably be necessary to reduce the ration at some time in April.

As soon as Winston had dealt with each of the messages, he clipped his speakwritten corrections to the appropriate copy of The Times and pushed them into the pneumatic tube. Then, with a movement which was as nearly as possible unconscious, he crumpled up the original message and any notes that he himself had made, and dropped them into the memory hole to be devoured by the flames.

What happened in the unseen labyrinth to which the pneumatic tubes led, he did not know in detail, but he did know in general terms. As soon as all the corrections which happened to be necessary in any particular number of The Times had been assembled and collated, that number would be reprinted, the original copy destroyed, and the corrected copy placed on the files in its stead. This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs — to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance. Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct, nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was done, to prove that any falsification had taken place. The largest section of the Records Department, far larger than the one on which Winston worked, consisted simply of persons whose duty it was to track down and collect all copies of books, newspapers, and other documents which had been superseded and were due for destruction. A number of The Times which might, because of changes in political alignment, or mistaken prophecies uttered by Big Brother, have been rewritten a dozen times still stood on the files bearing its original date, and no other copy existed to contradict it. Books, also, were recalled and rewritten again and again, and were invariably reissued without any admission that any alteration had been made. Even the written instructions which Winston received, and which he invariably got rid of as soon as he had dealt with them, never stated or implied that an act of forgery was to be committed: always the reference was to slips, errors, misprints, or misquotations which it was necessary to put right in the interests of accuracy.

But actually, he thought as he re-adjusted the Ministry of Plenty’s figures, it was not even forgery. It was merely the substitution of one piece of nonsense for another. Most of the material that you were dealing with had no connexion with anything in the real world, not even the kind of connexion that is contained in a direct lie. Statistics were just as much a fantasy in their original version as in their rectified version. A great deal of the time you were expected to make them up out of your head. For example, the Ministry of Plenty’s forecast had estimated the output of boots for the quarter at one-hundred-and-forty-five million pairs. The actual output was given as sixty-two millions. Winston, however, in rewriting the forecast, marked the figure down to fifty-seven millions, so as to allow for the usual claim that the quota had been overfulfilled. In any case, sixty-two millions was no nearer the truth than fifty-seven millions, or than one-hundred-and-forty-five millions. Very likely no boots had been produced at all. Likelier still, nobody knew how many had been produced, much less cared. All one knew was that every quarter astronomical numbers of boots were produced on paper, while perhaps half the population of Oceania went barefoot. And so it was with every class of recorded fact, great or small. Everything faded away into a shadow-world in which, finally, even the date of the year had become uncertain.”

From Zero Hedge February 9, 2014.

“Much has been said about the January Non-farm payrolls number, which rose by 113K on expectations of a 180K increase, most of which has been focused on the US atmospheric conditions during the winter. There is a problem with those numbers: they don’t really exist (as for the non-impact of “the weather” on jobs we showed previously that the number of people “not at work due to weather” as calculated by the BLS itself. this winter was lower than 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 – so much for historic winter weather).

So what really happened in January?

For the real answer we have to go to the BLS’ non-seasonally adjusted data series. It is here that we find that in January, some 2.870 million real, actual jobs were lost, not gained. Putting this further in perspective, the number of NSA jobs losses in January 2014 was greater than in January of 2013, 2012, 2011 and tied that of 2010. In fact only during the peak of the depression in January 2009 was there a greater NSA drop in the first month of the year when 3.691 million jobs were lost.”

Read more:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-09/about-those-29-million-jobs-lost-january

Let’s cut through the crap.

From the US Labor dept. BLS.

In January of 2009 when Obama took office there were 80,529,000 not in the labor force.

In January of 2014 there were 91,455,000  not in the labor force.

Look it up for yourself.

http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm

The government and media use the weather as an excuse when it is convenient.

Harsh winter or global warming.

More crap.

52 Comments

Posted in 1984, Barack Obama, Big Brother, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Employment, Jobs, Lies, media, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Orwell, Orwellian, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment

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Obama birth certificate case to go before federal grand jury?, Doug Vogt’s affidavit submitted to US Attorneys by federal judges, Attorney Montgomery Blair Sibley explains, Forgeries require Obama explanation

Posted on February 7, 2014 | 146 comments

Obama birth certificate case to go before federal grand jury?, Doug Vogt’s affidavit submitted to US Attorneys by federal judges, Attorney Montgomery Blair Sibley explains, Forgeries require Obama explanation

“Why has Obama, since taking the White House, used Justice Department Attorneys, at taxpayer expense,  to avoid presenting a legitimate birth certificate and college records?”…Citizen Wells

“Khalid Al-Mansour was “raising money” for Obama.”
“Khalid Al-Mansour was trying to help Obama get into Harvard Law School.”…Percy Sutton

“Barack Obama, show me the college loans.”…Citizen Wells

 

 

From Attorney Montgomery Blair Sibley.

“Mr. Obama, Your House of Cards May Be Tumbling Down”
“In my last post I related that 175 federal judges had received copies of Doug Vogt’s affidavit which forensically established probable cause to believe that Barack Hussein Obama’s certificates of live birth are forgeries. The cover letter accompanying the affidavit asked each Judge to refer the evidence contained in Doug’s 95 page public affidavit – and 75 page sealed affidavit – to a Grand Jury to investigate.”

“In fact three (3) federal judges have acknowledge receipt of Doug’s Affidavit. Two of them have forwarded the affidavit to their respective United States Attorneys. The third wrote back stating: “I was very impressed by the letter and attachments you sent to me. I do not dismiss the allegations you make as untrue.” The letter continued with the commitment to submit Doug’s affidavit to the Grand Jury for their consideration. So like a modern-day Diogenes, perhaps we have found one honest federal district court judge.”

“Let me posit what will happen next.  Doug and I – a former criminal prosecutor with extensive experience presenting evidence to a grand jury and securing indictments – will be invited to appear before the Grand Jury.  Doug to detail the forensic evidence contained in his affidavit; Me to explain the legal options available to the Grand Jury to follow up on the evidence that Doug presents them.  Operating outside the control of the United States Attorney’s office and with the support of the federal judge and the United States Marshal’s Service, a dozen federal Grand Jury subpoenas will be issued and served by the Marshal’s Service nationwide.  The originals of Obama’s birth records from Hawaii, college transcripts from the three colleges he attended, along with his Social Security and Selective Service records would all be compelled to be produced to this Eric Holder-free Grand Jury.  Additionally, the players in the Obama Birth Certificate pageant would all be called to testify as to their roles: Remember, there is no Fifth Amendment privilege to refuse to answer a question put to a witness by a Grand Jury.”

Read more:

http://amoprobos.blogspot.com/2014/02/mr-obama-hold-your-breath.html

Thanks to commenter bob strauss

146 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Birth Certificate, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, College records, Eligibility, Federal Court, Judges, Obama, Obama impeachment, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, The Case Against Barack Obama

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Blagojevich witness Rajinder Bedi credibility questioned, Federal prosecutors drop arguments to boost sentence of Raghuveer Nayak, US Attorney Office spokesman Randall Samborn confirmed

Posted on February 6, 2014 | 25 comments

Blagojevich witness Rajinder Bedi credibility questioned, Federal prosecutors drop arguments to boost sentence of Raghuveer Nayak, US Attorney Office spokesman Randall Samborn confirmed

Why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Justice Department wait until December 2008 to arrest Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich

“Regardless of how this plays out, it benefits Obama. If there is no appeal or the appeal is denied, Blagojevich will be sequestered. If the appeal proceeds, it could drag out beyond impacting the 2012 election cycle. The intent is obvious.”…Citizen Wells, July 19, 2011

 

 

From the Chicago SunTimes February 6, 2014.

“Credibility questioned of key witness against Blagojevich”

“Federal prosecutors told a judge Thursday they were dropping their arguments to boost a connected fundraiser’s prison sentence. The move came after the defense raised questions about their witness’ credibility.

The decision could be significant because that same witness — Rajinder Bedi — played a major role in another case, the trial of now-imprisoned ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

At issue was whether the fundraiser, Raghuveer Nayak, who was charged with a kickback scheme tied to surgical centers he owns, had a separate cash-back scheme involving Bedi.

Both Nayak and Bedi were involved in the Blagojevich investigation. Nayak was the so-called “emissary” to former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., who allegedly offered the Blagojevich camp more than $1 million if Blagojevich appointed Jackson to President Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Bedi testified at Blagojevich’s trial that Nayak had engaged in a cash-back scheme, whereby Nayak would write him checks for doing no work and Bedi would kick back the cash. Nayak’s attorney, Tom McQueen, said the prosecution’s reversal in court on Thursday means his client faces charges involving a $23,000 loss to the government, rather than more than $750,000. Federal sentencing guidelines are driven in part by the amount of money that’s lost.

“We withdrew a request for a one-level enhancement today, based on Nayak’s alleged tax loss,” U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Randall Samborn confirmed.”

 Read more:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/25421677-418/credibility-questioned-of-key-witness-against-blagojevich.html

25 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Blagojevich trial, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Pay to play politics, Rezko, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko

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Jobless claims of 331k shows labor market improvement?, Market Watch claims, Challenger Gray & Christmas January job cuts surge, ADP Jan job creation plunges, Labor force plummets

Posted on February 6, 2014 | 17 comments

Jobless claims of 331k shows labor market improvement?, Market Watch claims, Challenger Gray & Christmas January job cuts surge, ADP Jan job creation plunges, Labor force plummets

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Nearly half of U.S. companies are reluctant to hire full-time employees because of the ACA. One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.

Other firms will shift toward part-time workers. More than 40 percent of CFOs say their companies will consider switching some jobs to less than 30 hours per week or targeting part-time workers for future employment.”…Duke University Fuqua School of Business December 11, 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

 

 

Is the primary function of Market Watch to keep people throwing money into the financial markets, prop up Obama or both?

From Market Watch February 6, 2014.

“Jobless claims show labor-market improvement”

“The number of people who applied to receive unemployment benefits in the last week of January fell by 20,000, reversing the increase from the week before and signaling that the U.S. labor market continues to gradually improve.

Initial jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 331,000 in the seven-days ended Feb. 1 from a revised 351,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims from two weeks ago were 3,000 higher than previously reported.

Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected claims to total 337,000.”

Read more:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-drop-20000-to-331000-2014-02-06?link=MW_home_latest_news

From the US Labor Dept. February 6, 2014.

“In the week ending February 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 331,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 351,000. The 4-week moving average was 334,000, an increase of 250 from the previous week’s revised average of 333,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending January 25, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 25 was 2,964,000, an increase of 15,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 2,949,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,985,500, an increase of 25,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 2,959,750.”

Read more:

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm

From Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. February 6, 2014.

“FOR RELEASE AT 7:30 A.M. ET, FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Job Cuts Surge 47% to Kick Off 2014

EMPLOYERS PLAN 45,107 JOB CUTS; RETAILERS LEAD PACK AS HOLIDAY SALES DISAPPOINT

CHICAGO, February 6, 2014 – After falling to a 13-year low in December, monthly job cuts surged nearly 50 percent to kick off 2014, as U.S.-based employers announced plans to reduce their payrolls by 45,107 in January, according to the latest report on monthly job cuts released Thursday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The 45,107 job cuts last month were 47 percent higher than a December total of 30,623, which was the lowest one-month total since 17,241 planned layoffs were announced in June 2000. January job cuts were up 12 percent from the same month a year ago, when 40,430 job cuts were recorded.

The heaviest downsizing activity occurred in retail, where poor earnings led to a wave of job cut announcements from several national chains, including Macy’s, Sam’s Club, JC Penney, Sears, Best Buy and Target. Overall, retailers announced 11,394 job cuts in January; a 71 percent increase from the 6,676 retail cuts tracked in January 2013. Last month’s retail cuts were the heaviest for the sector since last March, when 16,445 planned layoffs were announced.
“Holiday sales gains were relatively weak and many retailers achieved the gains by slashing prices on their products, which adversely impacted their year-end earnings. The post-holiday job-letting in the sector was inevitable,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
“Retail employment will, in fact, fall further than the announced job cuts indicate. Starting in January, retailers started shedding the tens of thousands of temporary seasonal workers hired to help handle the holiday rush. The announced job cuts, on the other hand, will impact full-time, permanent workers in the stores and at the corporate offices of these struggling chains,” he added.”

Read more:

http://www.challengergray.com/press/press-releases

From Zero Hedge February 5 2014.

“ADP Plunges In January To 175K; Biggest Miss Since August; December Revised Lower: “Cold, Storms” Blamed”

“Earlier today, we predicted with absolute accuracy what today’s joke of an ADP print would be:

And sure enough, the January ADP print missed as we expected, printing at 175K vs the expected 185K, while the December 238K was revised lower to 227K, confirming that ADP is nothing but an NDP trend follower and an absolutely worthless and meaningless data point that does nothing to add relevant data to the economic picture.

For those who care, this was the biggest miss since August and the largest monthly drop since August 2012, and the weakest print since August as well.”

Read more:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-05/adp-plunges-january-175k-biggest-miss-august-december-revised-lower

The labor force participation has plummeted since Obama took office.

 

 

 

 

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Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Employment, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment

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CBO Obamacare will add to deficit, 2 million fewer full time jobs, Combined deficit just under $1.2 trillion, Creates reluctant work force, No compelling evidence companies increasing part time employment???

Posted on February 4, 2014 | 81 comments

CBO Obamacare will add to deficit, 2 million fewer full time jobs, Combined deficit just under $1.2 trillion, Creates reluctant work force, No compelling evidence companies increasing part time employment??

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work,”…Keith Hall, former BLS chief

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

 

From Market Watch February 4, 2014.

“CBO says Obamacare will add to deficit, create reluctant work force”
“The number of people receiving health coverage through public exchanges under President Obama’s health-care overhaul will total roughly 25 million by 2018, will add more than $1 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade and could very well create a small contingent of workers unwilling to work for fear of losing federal medical aid.

Those are the findings from a Congressional Budget Office report released Tuesday, which also said the number of those receiving subsidies through exchanges will total 20 million in that time.

The report is sure to give ammunition to Republicans and other foes of the Affordable Care Act, who have repeatedly warned of Obamacare’s shortcomings and are trying to repeal it. It also creates a major issue for the president, who has repeatedly said the ACA will be revenue neutral. Instead, the CBO projects that it will account for increasing chunks of deficit spending, starting at $20 billion this year and steadily increasing to $159 billion in 2024, for a collective deficit of just under $1.2 trillion.

Not only does the report on the federal budget take an in-depth look at the ACA and its effects on the budget, but also on the work force in general. Most of these effects won’t hit until after the next few years, once Obamacare has had a chance to gain momentum and get going.

One of the CBO’s most intriguing estimates is that by 2017 there will be 2 million fewer full-time jobs on the market than there would have been without Obamacare, and that figure could climb to 2.5 million by 2024.”

“The CBO says it has seen “no compelling evidence” that companies are increasing part-time employment in order to avoid facing mandatory coverage of employees.”

Read more:

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/health-exchange/2014/02/04/cbo-says-obamacare-will-add-to-deficit-create-reluctant-work-force/?mod=MW_home_latest_news

CBO report.

Click to access 45010-Outlook2014.pdf

“The CBO says it has seen “no compelling evidence” that companies are increasing part-time employment in order to avoid facing mandatory coverage of employees.”

Really!

“Nearly half of U.S. companies are reluctant to hire full-time employees because of the ACA. One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.

Other firms will shift toward part-time workers. More than 40 percent of CFOs say their companies will consider switching some jobs to less than 30 hours per week or targeting part-time workers for future employment.”…Duke University Fuqua School of Business December 11, 2013

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Posted in Barack Obama, Employment, Health Insurance, Healthcare bill, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, ObamaCare

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US economic growth myth slammed by Richmond Fed president Jeffrey Lacker, GDP growth continues at 2 percent, Consumer spending moderate trend, Businesses reticent to hire and invest

Posted on February 4, 2014 | 9 comments

US economic growth myth slammed by Richmond Fed president Jeffrey Lacker, GDP growth continues at 2 percent, Consumer spending moderate trend, Businesses reticent to hire and invest

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Nearly half of U.S. companies are reluctant to hire full-time employees because of the ACA. One in five firms indicates they are likely to hire fewer employees, and another one in 10 may lay off current employees in response to the law.

Other firms will shift toward part-time workers. More than 40 percent of CFOs say their companies will consider switching some jobs to less than 30 hours per week or targeting part-time workers for future employment.”…Duke University Fuqua School of Business December 11, 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

From Zero Hedge February 4, 2014.

“Fed’s Lacker Slams Permabulls, Pours Cold Water On The US “Growth Story””

“Unlike the other Fed presidents who are all too happy to lie in order to instill some confidence in a centrally-planned economy and market, not realizing that by doing so they hurt their own credibility, non-voting member Jeffrey Lacker and president of the Richmond Fed has a different approach – telling the truth. Which is why we read his just released speech this morning with interest since once again, it contains far more truth and honesty than anything else the FOMC releases. Sure enough, it has enough fire and brimstone to put even fringe bloggers to shame.

First, just as we have been warning for the past two quarters, all US growth was on the back of inventory – a trend which everyone now realizes is unsustainable. So does Lacker:

Economists’ hopes have been bolstered of late by a recent string of data releases indicating that 2013 ended on a positive note. Second-half growth in real GDP — our broadest measure of overall economic activity — was stronger than we’ve seen in quite some time. While that figure was boosted significantly by inventory accumulation that is unlikely to persist, there was some evidence of momentum that might carry forward.

That evidence, however, is on the back of a consumer who may or may not be back and spending freely once more. To Lacker, it is “may not”:

… It’s no surprise that credit is no longer available on the same terms. And it’s no surprise that consumers have been paying off debt and building up savings in order to restore some sense of balance to their household finances. These developments appear to have contributed to a persistent cautiousness in household spending. Over the last three years, real consumer spending has increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent. Although consumption grew rapidly at the end of last year, we have seen similar surges since the last recession, only to see spending return to a more moderate trend. Consumer spending trends are likely to depend on whether the dramatic events of the last few years are only a temporary disturbance to household sentiment or if they instead represent a more persistent shift in attitudes about borrowing and saving. At this point, I am inclined toward the latter view.

Next, Lacker slams the permabulls and their perpetual optimism that an improvement is just around the corner:

Many forecasters are citing the recent surge as support for projections of sustained growth at around 3 percent starting later this year. It’s worth pointing out, however, that this has been true at virtually every point in this expansion. In other words, ever since the recovery began, most forecasters have been expecting the economy to pick up speed in the next couple of quarters with the easing of headwinds that have been temporarily restraining growth. My own forecasts (at least initially) followed this script as well.

 

Despite these perennial hopes, the actual results have been more modest. Real GDP grew by 2.0 percent in 2011, 2.0 percent in 2012 and 1.8 percent for the first half of 2013. This record of relatively steady but modestly paced expansion, despite forecasts of an imminent increase in growth, helps motivate the more cautious economic outlook that I will share with you today.

Hoping that this is finally the year in which that long overdue CapEx spending will finally take place (and which is being halted by none other than the Fed as we explained nearly two years ago)? Don’t.

Businesses also appear to be quite reticent to hire and invest. A widely followed index of small business optimism fell sharply during the recession and has only partially recovered since then. Interestingly, when small business owners were asked in the latest survey about the single most important problem they face, 20 percent answered “government regulations and red tape.” This observation accords with reports we’ve been hearing from many business contacts for several years now.They’ve seen a substantial increase in the pace of regulatory change and a substantial increase in uncertainty about the shape of new regulations. Both are said to discourage new hiring and investment commitments.”

Read more:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-04/feds-lacker-slams-permabulls-pours-cold-water-us-growth-story

 

9 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, Economy, Employment, Jobs, Obama, Obama administration, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama taxes, The Case Against Barack Obama, Unemployment

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Blagojevich appeal update February 3, 2014, US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opens wiretap transcript records, Defense lawyers want wiretap transparency, More damning evidence for Obama?

Posted on February 3, 2014 | 29 comments

Blagojevich appeal update February 3, 2014, US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals opens wiretap transcript records, Defense lawyers want wiretap transparency, More damning evidence for Obama?

Why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Justice Department wait until December 2008 to arrest Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich

“There is enough corruption in Illinois so that all it takes is someone who is serious about finding it to uncover it. If a U.S. attorney is not finding corruption in Illinois, they’re not seriously looking for it.”…Northwestern Law Professor James Lindgren

Only about 2 percent of the total wiretap transcripts used as evidence were revealed during the Blagojevich trials.

Blagojevich defense lawyers want all of the wiretap transcripts made transparent.

From the Belleville News-Democrat February 3, 2014.
“Blagojevich transcripts at issue in appeal”

“Prosecutors and attorneys for Rod Blagojevich disagree over unsealing wiretap transcripts that are part of the imprisoned former governor’s appeal of his conviction.

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals had said it would open the records Monday.

But citing privacy, prosecutors want them to stay sealed. In a response filed Monday, defense lawyers say transparency should trump other concerns.”

“The defense says a lower court barred jurors from hearing certain wiretaps that could have helped Blagojevich. Transcripts of recordings not played at trial were recently submitted to the appellate court, and are the records in dispute.”

Read more:

http://www.bnd.com/2014/02/03/3037364/blagojevich-transcripts-at-issue.html

Privacy?

Obama’s corrupt past?

For example.

29 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama, Blagojevich, Blagojevich trial, Chicago, Citizen News, Citizens for the truth about Obama, CitizenWells, corruption, Court of Appeals, Obama, Obama lies, Obama Nation, Obama records, Pay to play politics, The Case Against Barack Obama, Tony Rezko

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