Archive for April 4th, 2013

Nums: Unemployment rate on the rise again?

April 4, 2013

Last month, the BLS reported a decline in the unemployment rate to 7.7%.

Most economists and other pundits are predicting that the March  UE rate – which will be reported tomorrow – will remain at that level.

But, yesterday’s ADP employment numbers were almost 20% below the consensus estimates … 185k vs. 225k.

Today, the BLS reported: “In the week ending March 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 385,000, an increase of 28,000 from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 357,000. The 4-week moving average was 354,250, an increase of 11,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 343,000.”

Here’s another contra indicator … the Gallup Daily Tracking of Employment.

When the daily numbers for the past 3 months are averaged, there’s a big spike upward from February to March.

Gallup is again pegging the unemployment rate over 8%.

Bottom line: If the consensus 7.7% is the over-under …. I’m betting the over, for sure.

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Posted in BLS, Employment - Jobs, Unemployment | Leave a Comment »

Uh-oh: Consumer mavens dissing Kraft’s dayglow mac & cheese …

April 4, 2013

Talk about a timely news item.

In class Tuesday, we were talking about food taste & quality.

My teaching point: when the food buyer isn’t the food eater, the buyer may be less sensitive to taste & quality.

My example: millions of mothers serve their little kiddies  mac & cheese that glows in the dark.

A veiled reference to Kraft’s legendary mac & cheese … and, that odd color of orange that happens when those mysterious dry ingredients are stirred into the pasta.

Well, apparently the neon dish also caught the eye of a couple food crusaders who have embarked on a campaign against two of the dyes that Kraft uses to create its trademark color.

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Here’s their rip and Kraft’s response …

(more…)

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Posted in Food & Drink | Leave a Comment »