U.S. Unemployment
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Investing Strategies: How to Protect Yourself if the U.S. Economy Catches the "Japan Disease"
Grim unemployment figures, growing worries about crushing debt loads and the apparent absence of any inflation are causing many investors to ask a tough question: Is the U.S. economy catching the "Japan disease," the dreaded and dreadful malaise that has left the onetime Asian powerhouse in a stagnant state since 1990?
It's a crucial question.
And the answer will guide your investment decisions for the next 20 years.
To find out the best investments to be making right now, please read on... -
Three Ways to Brace for a Double-Dip Recession: Going Global
The last time the U.S. economy suffered through a double-dip recession, this country was struggling to overcome the fallout from an Arab oil embargo, Vietnam War-era deficits, and an inflationary spiral that just wouldn't let go.
That 1981-82 double-dip downturn - the result of an economic "shock treatment" aimed at curing those ills - consisted of two recessions that were separated by a single quarter of growth.
The current backdrop is very different from the one that was in place back then, but the threat of a double-dip recession is no less real.
The world's No. 1 economy lost 8.4 million jobs during the recession that got its start in December 2007, making it the worst national downturn since the Great Depression and the biggest loss of employment since the end of World War II.
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Three Ways to Brace for a Double-Dip Recession: Going for the Gold
The last time the U.S. economy suffered through a double-dip recession, this country was struggling to overcome the fallout from an Arab oil embargo, Vietnam War-era deficits, and an inflationary spiral that just wouldn't let go.
That 1981-82 double-dip downturn - the result of an economic "shock treatment" aimed at curing those ills - consisted of two recessions that were separated by a single quarter of growth.
The current backdrop is very different from the one that was in place back then, but the threat of a double-dip recession is no less real. Indeed, with each passing week, and with every new economic report that comes out, the possibility that the U.S. economy will backslide into a double-dip recession seems to become more of a probability - or even a likelihood.
"For me a 'double-dip' is another recession before we've healed from this recession [and] the probability of that kind of double-dip is more than 50%," Robert Shiller, professor of economics at Yale University and co-developer of Standard and Poor's S&P/Case-Shiller home price indexes, told Reuters. "I actually expect it."
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Question of the Week: Investors Preparing for Double-Dip Recession
The "pause" button has been hit on the U.S. economic recovery, fueling worries that we're headed for a double-dip recession.
"We're in a pause in a recovery, a modest recovery, but a pause in the modest recovery feels like a quasi-recession," Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" broadcast last Sunday.
Greenspan touched off speculator interest in a double-dip downturn when he announced that a further decline in home prices could push the economy into a new recession.
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An Anemic Economic Recovery Keeps the Fed From Focusing on Inflation
With interest rates near zero and a balance sheet that's in excess of $2 trillion, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be very glad to offload some of the Fed's obligations. But so far he's has been unable to do so, as an anemic economic recovery continues to monopolize his attention.
The central bank yesterday (Tuesday) announced that it would reinvest the proceeds from expiring mortgage-backed securities into longer-term U.S. Treasuries. The move should help a weakening economy by keeping mortgage rates low. And while it also may boost inflationary pressures, the central bank feels it had little choice.
"Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June indicates that the pace of recovery in output and employment has slowed in recent months," the Federal Open Market Committee said.
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Will the Fed Opt For More Stimulus as the Economic Recovery Founders?
Weaker-than-expected job growth is fueling speculation that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will unveil new stimulus measures to prop up the economic recovery when it meets today (Tuesday) for its regular rate-setting session.
Friday's July unemployment report was by most measures a disaster, providing the latest indication the economic recovery is running out of steam with 14.6 million Americans still searching for work.
The economy shed 131,000 jobs, as 143,000 temporary census workers fell off federal payrolls. Private-sector employment grew by 71,000 in July after a downwardly revised June increase of 31,000 workers.
The private sector so far this year has added 90,000 jobs a month on average, well below the 125,000 needed to keep up with population growth - let alone recover the eight million jobs lost during the recession.
"It's a double whammy because it causes people to take a psychological step back," Tig Gilliam, chief executive of staffing firm Adecco Group North America, told The Wall Street Journal. "Now, it looks like not only has the economy slowed, but maybe it wasn't as good when it was originally reported as we thought."
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With Mid-Term Elections Looming, Will Democrats Fire Back with a Second Stimulus
Data last week showed a job market that's careening down a steep street with no breaks. Yet investors were able to shrug off employment concerns, as the stock market actually ended the week up 1.5% due to that rockin' Monday on the first day of the month.
That's because there is growing speculation that the Democrats are plotting a surprise stimulus in the run up to November's mid-term elections.
Let me explain...
Click here to read on...
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Slight Job Gains Won't Shrink the High Unemployment Rate
Employment reports released this week show mixed results, but lead to the same conclusion: The high unemployment rate isn't improving any time soon.
U.S. private-sector jobs last month grew by only 42,000, according to a report issued yesterday (Wednesday) by payrolls processor Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADP). ADP revised the number of jobs added in June to 19,000 from 13,000, which fell far short of economists' predictions of 39,000.
The ADP report "shows continued weakness in the jobs market, which is in part caused by the uncertainty in the economy and general business climate," said Gary Butler, ADP's chief executive, in a statement. "American businesses are on the cusp of recovery, but more effective incentives are needed to encourage business investment resulting in the creation of more jobs."
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We Want to Hear From You: Are You Preparing for a Double-Dip Recession?
The "pause" button has been hit on the U.S. economic recovery, fueling worries that we're headed for a double-dip recession.
"We're in a pause in a recovery, a modest recovery, but a pause in the modest recovery feels like a quasi-recession," Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" broadcast Sunday.
Greenspan touched off speculator interest in a double-dip downturn when he announced that a further decline in home prices could push the economy toward a new recession.
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Taipan Daily: Zero-Interest-Rate Market Investments
We all know the economy has a tough row to hoe… We're facing severe unemployment. Almost 50% of those unemployed have not been able to find a job in six months. We've also seen huge bankruptcies over the past two years, such as General Motors, CIT Group and Lehman Brothers, and more than 100 banks [...]
