Posts Tagged ‘employment’
Wednesday, May 4th, 2016
Article source: CMDGroup
I’m writing this article on May 1, but it’s not an April Fools’ joke. Sure, there have been other times in world history, during war or plague, when turmoil has been so intense as to test, to the limits and beyond, the fortitude of mankind and womankind.
Still, I’m not sure humanity has ever before been on the cusp of so many changes that are already, or are on the verge of, shaking up the ways in which we live and interact with one another; and govern our economic and social affairs; and inspire dreams about really and truly astonishing futures.
The notion for writing this article first came to mind on account of six or so major trends that I’m always mulling over when I write about the economy and the construction sector. Upon deeper reflection, the number of discernible seismic shifts quickly expanded to a dozen.
There may well be more. Feel free to contact me if you believe I’ve failed to mention something equally or more important.
The following 12 sections have also been inspired by the question I’m always asking myself and which I know is of prime concern to you as well. What will be the implications for the construction sector?
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Tags: Alex Carrick, Canada, CMD, CMDGroup, Economy, election, employment, job, market, oil, US
Comments Off on By No Means is it the Same Old World (Part 1)
Wednesday, April 13th, 2016
Article source: CMDGroup
While practicing the ‘art’ of economics, sometimes the statistics just fall into your lap.
For example, heading into 2016, it was the consensus opinion among analysts that Ontario and British Columbia would have the best upcoming growth performances among Canada’s ten provinces.
Consequently, there were grins from ear to ear among my fraternity when March’s Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada showed Ontario with the largest year-over-year increase in jobs at +86,000, with British Columbia not far behind, at +72,000.
No other province was even close. In fact, the sum of Ontario and B.C., at +152,000, was greater than for the country as a whole, +130,000.
The material in this current Economy at a Glance continues in a similar vein. I’ve graphed the relatively long-term history of housing starts, from 1980 to the present, for the major cities in the U.S. and Canada and allowed Microsoft’s Excel to add a trend line.
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Tags: Alex Carrick, Canada, CMD, CMDGroup, Economic, employment, job, market, stock, thrend, US
Comments Off on U.S. and Canadian City Long-term Home Start Trends – Proxy for Vitality Part 1
Friday, April 8th, 2016
Article source: CMDGroup
There’s going to be a lot of cheering about Canada’s March labour market numbers as reported by Statistics Canada. The latest Labour Force Survey shows a month-to-month pick-up in total employment of 41,000 positions and a jobless rate that fell 0.2 percentage points to 7.1% from 7.3% in February.
Furthermore, most of the overall jobs increase (+35,000) occurred in the usually more stable and higher-paying, and thus better quality, full-time category of work as opposed to part-time (+6,000) activities.
Plus, all the boost to employment was provided by the private sector (+65,000), as the public sector downsized slightly (-2,000). Self-employment (-22,000) staged a significant retreat.
Still, there were some real oddities in the rest of the figures.
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Tags: Alex Carrick, Canada, CMD, CMDGroup, Economy, employment, job, jobless, market, unemployment
Comments Off on A Great Canada Jobs Report for March but Head Scratchers Galore
Monday, March 7th, 2016
Article source: CMDGroup
A significant milestone has just been reached in the U.S. labor market. For the latest week ending February 27th, America’s initial jobless claims figure was less than 300,000 for the 52nd week in a row.
That’s a whole year of strong success in keeping the number of people newly unemployed quite low. (In the Great Recession of 2008-2009, the number topped off at 670,000.)
Falling below their 300,000 benchmark level, rosy initial jobless claims automatically imply encouraging news from the Employment Situation Report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The BLS has just reported that in February, the total number of jobs in the U.S. rose by 242,000, where a gain of 200,000 or more is considered bullish.
The national unemployment rate stayed below 5.0% at 4.9%, the same as in January. A year ago, it had been 5.5%.
In another positive sign, the proportion of working-age people who actively sought employment in February moved a little higher, to 62.9%. This measure is called the ‘participation rate’ and it usually picks up when job prospects are good.
(On the flip side, when job prospects are abysmal, people stop looking for work and the result is a ‘discouraged worker’ effect.)
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Tags: Alex Carrick, Canada, CMD, CMDGroup, Economy, employ, employment, Great Recession, job, Labor, market, US
Comments Off on U.S. Economy Adds Nearly One-quarter of a Million Jobs in February
Friday, November 6th, 2015
Article source: CMDGroup
There were worries after the issuance of labor market reports for August and September that indicated month-to-month job creation in the U.S. was slowing to +150,000 or less.
October’s data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sends those clouds scurrying away.
The BLS says the latest net increase in jobs was +271,000, the greatest gain in any month so far this year. It lifts the average in 2015, with only November and December still remaining, to +206,000.
While 2014’s monthly average, January to October, was somewhat faster, at +236,000, a figure of +200,000 or higher warrants an enthusiastic response.
America’s jobless rate now sits at 5.0%, a marginal decline from September’s 5.1%, but more significantly down versus October 2014’s 5.7%.
Unless some other statistics on the U.S. economy (e.g., retail trade) come in far worse than expected, the Federal Reserve will now almost assuredly begin to take action on interest rates at the December meeting of its Open Market Committee (FOMC).
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Tags: Alex Carrick, BLS, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Canada, CMD, CMDGroup, employ, employment, Fed, FOMC, interest rate, job, jobless, Labor, Open Market Committee, rate hike, US
Comments Off on October’s Jobs Report: Terrific for U.S.; Maybe Marvelous for Canada
Friday, October 16th, 2015
Article source: CMDGroup
It’s not rocket science. There are a few key benchmarks to be aware of concerning U.S. and Canadian labor markets.
For the U.S. economy, a net jobs gain of 170,000 in any given month will be viewed as acceptable by most economists, analysts and pundits.
If the figure climbs to 200,000 or higher, their mood will elevate into a range from happy to ecstatic.
Below 170,000, doubts creep in. That’s why the Department of Labor’s September number of +143,000, combined with a downward revision of August’s level to +136,000, was met with such alarm, at first.
Stock markets reacted negatively to the news. But then another train of thought took over.
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Tags: Alex Carrick, Canada, CMD, CMDGroup, Department of Labor, Economic, employment, Federal Reserve, job, Job-creation, jobless, Labor, labor market, market, stock, trend
Comments Off on Mild Turbulence in U.S. and Canadian Labor Markets
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