More jobs were created last month than were expected, with 147,000 created in the private sector and 1,000 public sector jobs lost that need to be subtracted from the number. The unemployment rate continues to fall as that is based on a large household survey, and is down to 7.7%.
While the number of people that reported working didn't change, the rate at which the boomers are retiring is picking up. Some economists estimate that we need as few as 75,000 new jobs per month to keep up with the growing millennium generation. The underemployment rate continues in the high teens, with nearly one million reporting that they are not looking for work as no jobs exist for them.
Super Storm Sandy has been determined by the Labor Department to not be the the big job killer that it was feared to be. 'Super Storm' is another new word to describe the 'new normal' we are living with. Why don't we just call them 'interesting times' after the Chinese curse? Everything else is made in China.
With Steve Jobs gone, the new Apple management has been embarrassed into actually bringing a token number of jobs back to the US. They won't say how many exactly, only bragging about how much money they will spend to build a US plant. Most likely the bulk of the $200 million they will 'invest' will be spent on robots and other high tech equipment made outside the US. We just don't make it here anymore. Apple's move is about trying to polish its image, as the cache of buying the latest 'i' product is beginning to dull, with Asian designed products starting out compete with them in technology innovation.
On Sunday, Israel dropped massive bombs near Damascus, ones which the New York Times, quoting residents,...
