Archive for August 10th, 2009

More jobs lost, unemployment rate goes down … now, how can that be?

August 10, 2009

Actually, it’s quite simple.

About 155,000 fewer people were employed in July.

But, according to the BLS, the labor force contracted by 422,000 people. 

The bulk of the “contraction” were unemployed people who  “got discouraged that there were no jobs available for them” and stopped looking for work … 

The discouraged “contractors” get dropped from  both the numerator and the denominator of the unemployment rate calculation. 

So, net unemployment increased by 267,000 people  … but the unemployment rate improved from 9.5% to 9.4%.

If the discouraged folks were still looking, the rate would have increased to about 9.6%

Geez.

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Lowlights

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) rose by 584,000 over the month to 5.0 million.

1 in 3 unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more.

There were 796,000 discouraged workers in July, up by 335,000 over the past 12 months.

Full BLS Report
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

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Posted in Employment - Jobs | 1 Comment »

Is 1/10 of 1% a little or a lot ? … According to the NY Times, it depends who’s president …

August 10, 2009

Great “catch” by Byron York of the Washington Examiner …

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The front page of Sunday’s New York Times is filled with hope about the nation’s economic situation.  The lead story, reporting a decline in the unemployment rate from 9.5 percent in June to 9.4 percent in July, begins by declaring that, “The most heartening employment report since last summer suggested on Friday that a recovery was under way — and perhaps gathering steam.”

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The Times hasn’t always been so optimistic when it comes to one-tenth-of-a-point declines in the unemployment rate.  On this very day in 1992, in the midst of the presidential campaign between George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the government also reported that the unemployment rate ticked downward by one tenth of a point, , edging down to 7.7 percent from 7.8 percent,”and the Times’ treatment was far more restrained:

Even though the number of jobs actually went up in July 1992 (as opposed to the decline of 247,000 jobs in July 2009), the 1992 Times reported that the economic news “gave no suggestion that the economic recovery was breaking out of its painfully slow pace or, more important, that the job growth was picking up enough to push the unemployment rate down significantly … and the improvement is not enough to signal a stronger economic recovery .”

As it turned out, the one-tenth-of-a-point drop in the unemployment rate in July 1992 signaled the end of the increase in the jobless rate.

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Source article:
Washington Examiner, “NY Times touts economic momentum, recovery; in 1992, not so much”, York, 08/08/09
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Times-touts-economic-momentum-recovery-in-1992-not-so-much-52781412.html

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Posted in Employment - Jobs | 1 Comment »

Stick a keg in the fridge … now, that’s innovation!

August 10, 2009

Among the Latest Innovations From Major Brewers Fighting for Business in a Jammed, Sluggish Market

MillerCoors  has begun testing the sale of $20 draft-beer systems for consumers to drink at home, part of a string of new products and package innovation from beer giants grappling for market share in a crowded, slow-growing industry.

The 1.5-gallon boxed product, which is designed to fit into refrigerators for drinkers to consume periodically, rather than for one-time party use.

Sales of major U.S. beer brands are struggling as some recession-weary consumers drink less or switch to cheaper brews.

Despite a new ad campaign this year aimed at revitalizing the brand, Miller Lite’s retail sales fell 7.5% by volume.

Sister brew Coors Light, on the other hand, continues to post sales gains. Analysts attribute its long-running success in part to innovations in packaging, such as “cold-activated bottles,” whose labels turn blue when the beer inside cools to a certain temperature.

MillerCoors’s new Home Draft systems are meant to be placed upright in a refrigerator, which will keep the beer fresh for about 30 days. The price per ounce is roughly 15% higher than for an 18-pack of the same beer.

The product, which is recyclable, is aimed at the 30% of beer drinkers who say they prefer draft beer to the bottled or canned variety.

“We’re really trying to meet that occasion when you just got back from work and want to reward yourself,” rather than “the party occasion,” he said.

Excerpted from WSJ, MillerCoors Tests a Draft-Beer Box for the Fridge, July 29, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124882355717088341.html

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Posted in Mktg - Product & Innovation | 1 Comment »