ok, here's my mini-rant for the day....
i bolded the 2 relevant but apparently undiscernable points (to mr. vitner *senior* economist at wachovia)...
" think the worst is behind us," said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, N.C. "Still, business aren't really in the mood to hire more workers right "
mood????? business "aren't in the mood?"
how about "managers have as yet any real necessity to hire new workers as ceo's are extremely cautious while they continue to find ways of trimming overhead expense due to decreasing sales"
when you are hiring, business is good.
i'm all to sure they are "in the mood" for some of that.
these managers are only reflecting the economic environment that they face. there was a time ( not so long ago) when employers were desperate to find qualified workers. suddenly we have IT managers ringing up sales at the local radio shack counter.
we've hit a serious wall here, amazing some of these economists don't seem to understand the dearth of jobs has nothing to do with the capriciousness of "mood".
dailynews.yahoo.com
Services Sector Picks Up but Jobs Shed
Thu Oct 3, 3:20 PM ET
By Ross Finley
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Growth in the U.S. service sector accelerated in September but unemployment lines lengthened, said reports on Thursday that underscored an uneven and jobless recovery.
The Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index grew for the eighth straight month to 53.9 in September from 50.9 in August, placing it firmly above the 50 level that divides growth from contraction and quashing concerns the economy was headed back into recession.
Despite growth in the service sector which includes everything from banking to entertainment and makes up about three-quarters of the economy, companies shed workers for the 19th straight month. The employment index fell to 46.6 in September from 47.3.
Job losses also caused new claims for unemployment benefits to rise to 417,000 last week, up from a revised 412,000. That was the sixth straight week above the 400,000 level usually associated with a rise in the national unemployment rate, currently at 5.7 percent.
"We have a very sluggish economic recovery but I think the worst is behind us," said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, N.C. "Still, business aren't really in the mood to hire more workers right now."
Reports all week showing job losses have heightened market concerns that the monthly employment report due on Friday may show payrolls fell in September. The average forecast for economists polled by Reuters was for 5,000 new jobs, not enough to prevent the unemployment rate from inching up to 5.9 percent.
Conflicting economic reports have created great uncertainty over whether growth is pausing or unraveling. The ISM report cast a ray of hope for the recovery.
"At a minimum, it shows that the slowing in the pace of economic activity that has become evident in recent weeks is not very dramatic yet," said Anthony Karydakis, senior economist at Banc One Capital Markets in Chicago.
Treasuries skidded lower after the ISM data were released, as most market participants were braced for a far weaker number. Stocks briefly made gains on relief that the U.S. economy may only be pausing, not tipping back into recession.
FEWER JOBS
News on the job market on Thursday was decidedly negative.
The four-week moving average of jobless claims -- seen as a more accurate measure because it smoothes out week-to-week fluctuations -- rose for the eighth straight week to 423,000 in the week ended Sept. 28, its highest level since early May, the Commerce Department ( news - web sites) said.
Continuing claims, a measure of the total number of unemployed workers collected benefits also rose, up 29,000 during the Sept. 21 week to 3.681 million. That was its highest level since mid-June.
"This is consistent with a plethora of evidence that even as the economy is managing sluggish growth, employment is stagnant," said Stephen Stanley, senior economist at Greenwich Capital Markets in Greenwich, Connecticut.
CAUTION THE OPERATIVE WORD
Most of the ISM survey respondents were cautious about the outlook, despite a rise in the new orders index, a barometer of future growth, to 52.3 in September from 51.6.
"Cautious optimism prevails. Some members say their business is good, others say their business is not so good. It's still very much a mixed bag," said Ralph Kauffman, chairman of the survey committee, in a teleconference.
Another report released on Thursday said business executives were cautious. The Conference Board ( news - web sites) said its barometer of CEO confidence fell sharply in the third quarter to 54 from 61 in the second quarter.
It was the second straight quarterly decline in the index, compiled from a survey of 100 chief executives of U.S. companies by the private business research group.
Separately, the government said factory orders were unchanged in August as strong demand for transportation equipment offset declines in many other sectors. Factory orders were flat at $326.63 billion, the Commerce Department said, but better than analysts' expectations for a fall of 0.5 percent and followed a 4.4 percent surge in July orders.
August durable goods orders, meanwhile, were revised up to a 0.4 percent fall from a previously-reported 0.6 percent drop. But that was still a sharp pullback from the 8.5 percent increase seen in July. |
