Aa
Job growth grinds to a halt
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44370462/
9/2/11
Payrolls unchanged in August, data show; jobless rate steady at 9.1 percent
WASHINGTON — Employment growth ground to a halt in August, as sagging consumer confidence discouraged already skittish U.S. businesses from hiring, keeping pressure on the Federal Reserve to provide more monetary stimulus to aid the struggling economy.
Nonfarm payrolls were unchanged last month, the Labor Department said Friday. Nonfarm employment for June and July was revised to show 58,000 fewer jobs.
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“The bottom line is this is bad,” Diane Swonk, chief economist with financial services firm Mesirow Financial, told CNBC Friday.
Despite the lack of employment growth, the jobless rate held steady at 9.1 percent in August. The unemployment rate is derived from a separate survey of households, which showed an increase in employment and a tick up in the labor force participation rate.
While the report underscored the frail state of the economy, the hiring slowdown probably will not be seen as a recession signal as layoffs are not rising that much.
A strike by about 45,000 Verizon Communications workers helped push employment in the information services down by 48,000.
"August was a pretty rough month for the economy," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "We saw financial markets tighten. I think businesses sort of responded by putting hiring on the back burner," he said before the release of the report.
Advertise | AdChoices
.
An acrimonious political fight over U.S. debt, which culminated in the downgrade of the country's AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's, and a worsening debt crisis in Europe ignited a massive stock market sell-off last month and sent business and consumer confidence tumbling.
With the unemployment rate stuck above 9 percent and confidence collapsing, President Barack Obama is under pressure to come up with ways to spur job creation. The health of the labor market could determine whether he wins a second term in next year's elections.
Obama will lay out a new jobs plan in a speech to the nation on Thursday.
The weak employment data could strengthen the hand of officials at the U.S. central bank who were ready at their August meeting to do more to help the sputtering economy.
The Fed cut overnight interest rates to near zero in December 2008 and it has bought $2.3 trillion in securities. Many analysts say its arsenal is now largely depleted, although they expect it to do more to try to prop up growth.
Dodging recession
Although hiring cooled, there is little sign companies responded to the darkening outlook by laying off workers. First-time applications for state unemployment benefits have hovered around 400,000 for weeks.
The steady jobless claims, relatively strong consumer spending, continued demand for manufactured goods and increases in industrial production suggest the economy will steer clear of recession.
"We do not expect the economy to slump, but rather to slouch and stagger," said Patrick O'Keefe, head of economic research at accounting firm J.H. Cohn in Roseland, New Jersey.
Story: Nursing tops list of high-paid jobs of the future
Still, analysts warn the economy is so weak, any fresh shock could send it tumbling. In the first half of the year, the economy expanded at less than a 1 percent annual rate, bad news for the estimated 14 million unemployed Americans.
If job growth does not accelerate, it could take more than four years to return to the pre-recession employment level.
Private payrolls increased only 17,000 after rising 156,000 in July. Government employment fell 17,000, contracting for a 10th straight month. The decline in government payrolls was tempered by the return of 23,000 state workers in Minnesota after a partial government shutdown in July.
Details of the employment report were weak, with manufacturing payrolls falling 3,000, reflecting the slump in business confidence. Factories added 36,000 new workers in July as disruptions to motor vehicle production caused by a shortage of parts from Japan eased.
The average work week dropped to 34.2 hours, the fewest since January, from 34.3 hours. Average hourly earnings fell three cents.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
9/2/11
Payrolls unchanged in August, data show; jobless rate steady at 9.1 percent
WASHINGTON — Employment growth ground to a halt in August, as sagging consumer confidence discouraged already skittish U.S. businesses from hiring, keeping pressure on the Federal Reserve to provide more monetary stimulus to aid the struggling economy.
Nonfarm payrolls were unchanged last month, the Labor Department said Friday. Nonfarm employment for June and July was revised to show 58,000 fewer jobs.
More must-read stories
A piece of France in the Berkeley Hills
Life Inc. Listing of the week: Just 30 minutes from San Francisco, blue shutters and a red tile roof make this estate look like it would be more at home in Provence.
.
Life Inc.: Why hire? We're making money anyway
Huggies giving baby bottoms a fashion boost
Life Inc.: Ditching lunch breaks in droves
Cadillac aims high with flashy concept car
.
.
“The bottom line is this is bad,” Diane Swonk, chief economist with financial services firm Mesirow Financial, told CNBC Friday.
Despite the lack of employment growth, the jobless rate held steady at 9.1 percent in August. The unemployment rate is derived from a separate survey of households, which showed an increase in employment and a tick up in the labor force participation rate.
While the report underscored the frail state of the economy, the hiring slowdown probably will not be seen as a recession signal as layoffs are not rising that much.
A strike by about 45,000 Verizon Communications workers helped push employment in the information services down by 48,000.
"August was a pretty rough month for the economy," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "We saw financial markets tighten. I think businesses sort of responded by putting hiring on the back burner," he said before the release of the report.
Advertise | AdChoices
.
An acrimonious political fight over U.S. debt, which culminated in the downgrade of the country's AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's, and a worsening debt crisis in Europe ignited a massive stock market sell-off last month and sent business and consumer confidence tumbling.
With the unemployment rate stuck above 9 percent and confidence collapsing, President Barack Obama is under pressure to come up with ways to spur job creation. The health of the labor market could determine whether he wins a second term in next year's elections.
Obama will lay out a new jobs plan in a speech to the nation on Thursday.
The weak employment data could strengthen the hand of officials at the U.S. central bank who were ready at their August meeting to do more to help the sputtering economy.
The Fed cut overnight interest rates to near zero in December 2008 and it has bought $2.3 trillion in securities. Many analysts say its arsenal is now largely depleted, although they expect it to do more to try to prop up growth.
Dodging recession
Although hiring cooled, there is little sign companies responded to the darkening outlook by laying off workers. First-time applications for state unemployment benefits have hovered around 400,000 for weeks.
The steady jobless claims, relatively strong consumer spending, continued demand for manufactured goods and increases in industrial production suggest the economy will steer clear of recession.
"We do not expect the economy to slump, but rather to slouch and stagger," said Patrick O'Keefe, head of economic research at accounting firm J.H. Cohn in Roseland, New Jersey.
Story: Nursing tops list of high-paid jobs of the future
Still, analysts warn the economy is so weak, any fresh shock could send it tumbling. In the first half of the year, the economy expanded at less than a 1 percent annual rate, bad news for the estimated 14 million unemployed Americans.
If job growth does not accelerate, it could take more than four years to return to the pre-recession employment level.
Private payrolls increased only 17,000 after rising 156,000 in July. Government employment fell 17,000, contracting for a 10th straight month. The decline in government payrolls was tempered by the return of 23,000 state workers in Minnesota after a partial government shutdown in July.
Details of the employment report were weak, with manufacturing payrolls falling 3,000, reflecting the slump in business confidence. Factories added 36,000 new workers in July as disruptions to motor vehicle production caused by a shortage of parts from Japan eased.
The average work week dropped to 34.2 hours, the fewest since January, from 34.3 hours. Average hourly earnings fell three cents.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
I found this article and here is part of the article. At least the part that made sense to me. The article is older, around 2003 I think and Im not posting the whole thing, but lets see if this makes sense to anyone other than me. Enjoy.
Tax Reform (& Deform) Options
Almost two decades after the major corporate tax reforms under Ronald Reagan in 1986, many of the problems that those reforms were designed to address have re-emerged, along with an array of new corporate tax-avoidance techniques.
If policymakers wanted to reform the corporate income tax to curb tax subsidies and make the taxation of different industries and companies more equal, they certainly could do so. They could focus on the long list of corporate tax breaks, or as they are officially called, "corporate tax expenditures" produced each year by the Joint Committee on Taxation and the U.S. Treasury. They could reinstate a stronger corporate Alternative Minimum Tax that really does the job it was originally designed to do. They could rethink the way the corporate income tax currently treats stock options. They could adopt restrictions on abusive corporate tax sheltering, as the Clinton Treasury Department proposed. They could reform the way multinational corporations allocate their profits between the United States and foreign countries, so that U.S. taxable profits are not artificially shifted offshore.
But all signs point to movement in the opposite direction. In October, Congress adopted legislation to comply with a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that an export tax subsidy violates certain WTO obligations. The legislation closed some heavily criticized corporate loopholes that almost everyone agrees are unwarranted. But at the same time, the bill expanded existing and created new tax breaks - to the tune of $210 billion, mostly for corporations. They even include measures that would make it easier (and more lucrative) for companies to shift taxable profits, and potentially jobs, overseas.
The tax bill will further reduce corporate taxes substantially over time. In fact, one of the biggest winners under the bill will be General Electric, the company that already enjoys more tax subsidies under existing law than any among the 275 Fortune 500 firms making a consistent profit from 2001 to 2003.
And it would appear he was right on the money is suggesting GE would be one of the biggest winners. I found that interesting to say the least.
Tax Reform (& Deform) Options
Almost two decades after the major corporate tax reforms under Ronald Reagan in 1986, many of the problems that those reforms were designed to address have re-emerged, along with an array of new corporate tax-avoidance techniques.
If policymakers wanted to reform the corporate income tax to curb tax subsidies and make the taxation of different industries and companies more equal, they certainly could do so. They could focus on the long list of corporate tax breaks, or as they are officially called, "corporate tax expenditures" produced each year by the Joint Committee on Taxation and the U.S. Treasury. They could reinstate a stronger corporate Alternative Minimum Tax that really does the job it was originally designed to do. They could rethink the way the corporate income tax currently treats stock options. They could adopt restrictions on abusive corporate tax sheltering, as the Clinton Treasury Department proposed. They could reform the way multinational corporations allocate their profits between the United States and foreign countries, so that U.S. taxable profits are not artificially shifted offshore.
But all signs point to movement in the opposite direction. In October, Congress adopted legislation to comply with a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that an export tax subsidy violates certain WTO obligations. The legislation closed some heavily criticized corporate loopholes that almost everyone agrees are unwarranted. But at the same time, the bill expanded existing and created new tax breaks - to the tune of $210 billion, mostly for corporations. They even include measures that would make it easier (and more lucrative) for companies to shift taxable profits, and potentially jobs, overseas.
The tax bill will further reduce corporate taxes substantially over time. In fact, one of the biggest winners under the bill will be General Electric, the company that already enjoys more tax subsidies under existing law than any among the 275 Fortune 500 firms making a consistent profit from 2001 to 2003.
And it would appear he was right on the money is suggesting GE would be one of the biggest winners. I found that interesting to say the least.
So the bait is set eh? Are you sure you want my HONEST opinion? Honestly! I dont see this as a red or blue issue personally. I also think that if you or I had any knowledge in how all this taxations stuff worked and why it works the way it does, we would both be much much richer than what we are. Now, I have my own thoughts based on my limited knowledge of course as do you and it is from this point I will TRY to answer your question/questions, altho not real sure why you single me out on this?
Yes the corporate tax rate is our country is 35%. You are also correct in that it is the highest and some countries offer it as low as 12%, which appears that this would be the problem. I wish it were that simple. So lets say you drop the corporate tax rate to 20% as you suggest in your example. What is to say they simply will not move all to a country offering 12%? The other thing that comes to my mind is that most corporations are not paying taxes anyway and many are getting refunds. There secretaries or you and me pay more taxes than they do. How and why is that? Well, therein in my opinion lies the problem. We have given tax cuts for how many years while being told, they will create the jobs and motivate the companies to hire. Well, we are still waiting for those jobs, the companies are still investing overseas anyway, and still enjoying paying NO if very little taxes anyway. So to sum up your question I would have to say yes, it does make sense to lower the corporate tax code on the surface, but in reality that is not the issue at all. It is the tax expenditures and loopholes enjoyed across the board that seem to be the main issues. Small business are the ones hiring, not the big ones and they should be the ones to enjoy the tax breaks. (On that I will agree).
Yes the corporate tax rate is our country is 35%. You are also correct in that it is the highest and some countries offer it as low as 12%, which appears that this would be the problem. I wish it were that simple. So lets say you drop the corporate tax rate to 20% as you suggest in your example. What is to say they simply will not move all to a country offering 12%? The other thing that comes to my mind is that most corporations are not paying taxes anyway and many are getting refunds. There secretaries or you and me pay more taxes than they do. How and why is that? Well, therein in my opinion lies the problem. We have given tax cuts for how many years while being told, they will create the jobs and motivate the companies to hire. Well, we are still waiting for those jobs, the companies are still investing overseas anyway, and still enjoying paying NO if very little taxes anyway. So to sum up your question I would have to say yes, it does make sense to lower the corporate tax code on the surface, but in reality that is not the issue at all. It is the tax expenditures and loopholes enjoyed across the board that seem to be the main issues. Small business are the ones hiring, not the big ones and they should be the ones to enjoy the tax breaks. (On that I will agree).
lol
... on purpose.
Just to prostrate myself and let everyone know that "I come in peace..."
I humbly await my punishment;-)
Just to prostrate myself and let everyone know that "I come in peace..."
I humbly await my punishment;-)
El..... you realize you just left yourself open for Tekos humor...(see last sentence) lol
Sorry... that's "TWO people of differing party affiliations"... I said 'to'.
I'm an idiot!
I'm an idiot!
***I want your HONEST opinion here... let's not snipe each other like we usually do. Just an intelligent convo between to people of differing party affiliations***
Riddle me this:
Let's say we drop the corporate tax rate from what it is now (35%) to (20%). In my opinion, that would create an environment for the businesses based here in the US to invest more in themselves, and not outsource and ship jobs and manufacturing overseas.
Is that far fethched, and I'm I delusional to think that businesses would take that 15% tax savings and reinvest, and not just pocket it for their shareholders?
I truly feel that we're holding a lot of companies hostage, with the corporate tax rate the way it is.
And I'm not talking about the BIG guys, like GE and Halliburton and Schlumberger, and guys like that, I'm talking about small-business (the engine that drives this country).
Thoughts?
Riddle me this:
Let's say we drop the corporate tax rate from what it is now (35%) to (20%). In my opinion, that would create an environment for the businesses based here in the US to invest more in themselves, and not outsource and ship jobs and manufacturing overseas.
Is that far fethched, and I'm I delusional to think that businesses would take that 15% tax savings and reinvest, and not just pocket it for their shareholders?
I truly feel that we're holding a lot of companies hostage, with the corporate tax rate the way it is.
And I'm not talking about the BIG guys, like GE and Halliburton and Schlumberger, and guys like that, I'm talking about small-business (the engine that drives this country).
Thoughts?
Stock markt to rock and roll some more I suppose? Yikes
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