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Thread: Economic News

  1. #853

    Default Re: Economic News

    Americans Cut Highway Driving By 1.4 Billion Miles In April
    Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles in April than during the same month a year earlier as skyrocketing fuel prices proded drivers to consider other options, including public transit, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters in a statement. She also said vehicle miles traveled on all public roads were down 1.8% in April from the year-ago month. As Americans drive less, the federal Highway Trust Fund gets less funding from gasoline and diesel sales - 18.4 cents a gallon and 24.4 cents a gallon, respectively - which means the government will have to look at developing methods to sustainably fund highway and transit options in the future.
    http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/mar...n-miles-april/

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  3. #854

    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Mississippi
    Posts
    2,045

    Default Re: Economic News

    Quote Originally Posted by Fivetears View Post
    Americans Cut Highway Driving By 1.4 Billion Miles In April
    Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles in April than during the same month a year earlier as skyrocketing fuel prices proded drivers to consider other options, including public transit, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters in a statement. She also said vehicle miles traveled on all public roads were down 1.8% in April from the year-ago month. As Americans drive less, the federal Highway Trust Fund gets less funding from gasoline and diesel sales - 18.4 cents a gallon and 24.4 cents a gallon, respectively - which means the government will have to look at developing methods to sustainably fund highway and transit options in the future.
    http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/mar...n-miles-april/
    Probably very few paid much attention to what I've emphasized above. However, there is reason to be concerned.
    President Bush's Executive Order (No. 12803) on Infrastructure Privatization of April 30, 1992 cleared away federal barriers to cities and states selling or leasing existing public works infrastructure to private investors. This report reviews the potential for state and local governments to make use of the new option granted them by the Executive Order.
    States have been selling infrastructure (highways) to sovereign wealth funds and other foreign investors as a means of gaining revenue and getting the maintenance costs off the books. The investors then lease them back to the states. The states then charge higher tolls, or set tolls where there were none to pay the rent. Since these roads aren't US property anymore, the investors can set tolls if the states don't. It's bad enough we're dependent on foreign oil. One day they will own us in more ways than one and we'll be trapped in our homes. Then they move in for the kill. See this link:

    http://www.reason.org/ps139.html

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  5. #855

    Default Re: Economic News

    Any way to find out which roads are owned by private entity; by state? So does this mean... if the "LANDLORDS" of these roads are not paid by the "RENTER" states, they can be forced off of them; blocked from driving them? In Texas, vehicle registration and the LOTO pays for roads and such.
    L2R, that post doesn't sit well with me. I want to find out if any Texas Roads are owned by private individuals or corporations.


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  7. #856

    Default Re: Economic News

    America's Shrinking Groceries
    American supermarkets are epics of excess: it often seems like every item in the store comes in a "Jumbo" size or has "Bonus!" splashed across the label. But is it possible that the amount of food Americans are buying is, in fact... shrinking? Well, yes. Soaring commodity and fuel prices are driving up costs for manufacturers; faced with a choice between raising prices (which consumers would surely notice) or quietly putting fewer ounces in the bag, carton or cup (which they generally don't) manufacturers are choosing the latter. This month, Kellogg's started shipping Apple Jacks, Cocoa Krispies, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks containing an average of 2.4 fewer ounces per box. Similar reductions have recently happened or are on the horizon for many other products: Tropicana orange juice containers are shrinking from 96 ounces to 89; Wrigley's is dropping its the 17-stick PlenTPak in favor of the 15-stick Slim Pack; Dial soap bars now weigh half an ounce less, and that's even before they melt in the shower. Containers of Country Crock spread, Hellmann's mayonnaise and Edy's and Breyer's ice cream have all slimmed down as well (although that may not necessarily be a bad thing).
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2008063...nkinggroceries

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  9. #857

    Default Re: Economic News

    Paulson: U.S. home prices to fall
    U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said high oil prices, further home price declines and capital markets turmoil will prolong the American economy's slowdown, while Europe and the UK were also showing signs of slower growth. Paulson said financial institutions face a tough earnings environment as they adjust to changes brought about by high oil prices and the housing slowdown. He reiterated his call for banks to strengthen balance sheets by raising new capital, de-leveraging or reviewing dividend policies. He said banks in the United States and the UK have raised capital equal to 95 and 96 percent of their recognized credit losses, respectively, but in continental Europe, institutions have covered only 56 percent of recognized losses with new capital so far.
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080702/...WlyZgQxu0E1vAI

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  11. #858

    Default Re: Economic News

    ADP shows biggest job loss in nearly 6 years
    Private-sector jobs decline by 79,000 in June

    Private-sector firms in the U.S. shed 79,000 jobs in June, the biggest net job loss since November 2002. This suggests U.S. nonfarm payrolls probably fell for a sixth straight month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will report on June payrolls on tomorrow. The ADP has been much stronger than the government's payroll numbers in recent months. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, payrolls have fallen by 324,000 so far this year through May. ADP says 142,000 net jobs were created through May. After adding in some 20,000 government jobs that are created in a typical month but not included in ADP's index, the ADP number suggests that 60,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were lost in June. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expect 40,000 net payroll jobs were lost in June, following a loss of 49,000 in May. Lehman Bros. economists lowered their forecast to a loss of 75,000 from minus 50,000.
    http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...1C3EB583BD5%7D

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  13. #859

    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Mississippi
    Posts
    2,045

    Default Re: Economic News

    I don't mind this at all since those giant containers don't fit in my storage areas....but i object to them putting LESS in those same giant containers and charging me for the CONTAINER and not the CONTENTS. Reduce the size of the boxes, bags, and barrels to fit the contents, PLEASE! The way it used to be....a bag of chips was a full bag, not 1/2 bag. Stop the excess please!
    Quote Originally Posted by Fivetears View Post
    America's Shrinking Groceries
    American supermarkets are epics of excess: it often seems like every item in the store comes in a "Jumbo" size or has "Bonus!" splashed across the label. But is it possible that the amount of food Americans are buying is, in fact... shrinking? Well, yes. Soaring commodity and fuel prices are driving up costs for manufacturers; faced with a choice between raising prices (which consumers would surely notice) or quietly putting fewer ounces in the bag, carton or cup (which they generally don't) manufacturers are choosing the latter. This month, Kellogg's started shipping Apple Jacks, Cocoa Krispies, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks containing an average of 2.4 fewer ounces per box. Similar reductions have recently happened or are on the horizon for many other products: Tropicana orange juice containers are shrinking from 96 ounces to 89; Wrigley's is dropping its the 17-stick PlenTPak in favor of the 15-stick Slim Pack; Dial soap bars now weigh half an ounce less, and that's even before they melt in the shower. Containers of Country Crock spread, Hellmann's mayonnaise and Edy's and Breyer's ice cream have all slimmed down as well (although that may not necessarily be a bad thing).
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2008063...nkinggroceries

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  15. #860

    Default Re: Economic News

    June Jobs report:

    -62,000
    5.5% unemployment

    May revision from -49K to -62K
    Tom
    Market Commentary | My Blog | TSP Talk Plus | |

    I am not a Registered Investment Advisor and this is not investment advice. Please do your own due diligence.

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  17. #861

    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Seattle and Philippines
    Posts
    223

    Default Re: Economic News

    Companies are always trying to create an illusion...who's selling the biggest, best for the lowest price...all part of merchandising. Wish they would stop that also. We get a sealed bag within a box. There's a company in MN who doesn't do that for cereals anyway! They fill bags only and prices are lower also. Sometimes companies don't want to raise the price so they reduce the wt. Wish MCD would cut down on the biggy drinks (who wants all that simple syrup anyway). (I know this response is old but am new to the message board.)

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  19. #862

    Default Re: Economic News

    Statement of

    Keith Hall
    Commissioner
    Bureau of Labor Statistics

    before the

    Joint Economic Committee

    UNITED STATES CONGRESS

    Friday, August 1, 2008

    Madam Chair and Members of the Committee:

    I appreciate this opportunity to comment on the employment and unemployment data that we released this morning.

    Nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend down in July (-51,000), and the unemployment rate rose from 5.5 to 5.7 percent. Thus far in 2008, payroll employment has fallen by 463,000, or an average of 66,000 per month. In July, job losses continued in several industries, including construction, manufacturing, and employment services. Health care and mining continued to add jobs.

    Employment in construction declined by 22,000 in July. Since its September 2006 peak, construction employment has decreased by 557,000. Nearly three-fourths of the decline (-402,000) has occurred since October 2007.

    Manufacturing employment fell by 35,000 in July. Job losses have averaged 39,000 per month thus far in 2008 compared with an average loss of 22,000 per month during 2007.

    Employment services lost 34,000 jobs over the month, with nearly all of the decline in temporary help. Temporary help employment has declined by 268,000 since a peak in December 2006, with more than two-thirds of the loss (-185,000) occurring since January.

    In July, employment in health care rose by 33,000, in line with the prior 12-month average. Mining added 10,000 jobs in July, the third consecutive gain of this magnitude.

    Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers in the private sector rose by 6 cents, or 0.3 percent, in July. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings rose by 3.4 percent. From June 2007 to June 2008, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) rose by
    5.4 percent.

    Turning now to some of our measures from the household survey, both the number of unemployed persons, at 8.8 million, and the unemployment rate, at 5.7 percent, increased in July.

    Over the last 3 months, there has been a notable increase in unemployment of youth (16 to 24 years). Each summer, millions of young people move into the labor market. This year, the summertime influx of youth into the labor market was about the same as last year; however, fewer young people were able to find jobs. For the 3-month period, May through July, the unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds averaged 19.0 percent, compared with an average of 15.7 percent for those same 3 months in 2007. Similarly, the May-through-July average jobless rate for 20- to 24-year-olds was 10.2 percent this year, compared with 8.0 percent over the same period last year. Not all of the increase in unemployment in the last 3 months was among youth; joblessness also rose among those 25 years and older.

    The employment-population ratio for all persons 16 years and older was unchanged in July, at 62.4 percent, but has declined from 63.0 percent a year earlier. Among the employed, the number of part-time workers who would prefer to work full time continued to rise in July. The number of such workers has increased by 1.4 million over the past 12 months to 5.7 million.

    To summarize July's labor market developments, payroll employment continued to trend down, and the unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent.

    My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your questions.
    http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/jec.htm

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  21. #863

    Default Re: Economic News

    We will get another Q4 GDP estimate tomorrow, then Personal Spending and the PCE Price data on Friday. The PCE has been of little consequence to the market for many years with no inflation to speak of, but recently it has become a market mover because the Fed watches it very closely.
    Tom
    Market Commentary | My Blog | TSP Talk Plus | |

    I am not a Registered Investment Advisor and this is not investment advice. Please do your own due diligence.

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