Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (42143)	12/2/2005 10:27:30 AM
From: Chispas	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

Ure - "Buried in the U-6 report (Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization) we see that the unemployed plus marginally attached workers (and the MBA's flipping burgers) increased from 8.1% of the workforce to 8.4% in November. That's a tad over 1.26 million not following their calling, and that's not counting people who have fallen off the statistics because they have run out of benefits. We reckon honest unemployment is somewhere north of 10%." urbansurvival.com

To: mishedlo who wrote (42143)	12/2/2005 1:39:40 PM
From: regli	Respond to of 116555

IMO the most significant aspect of the report is this section: "Total hours worked in the economy fell 0.1% in November. The average workweek fell by a tenth of an hour to 33.7 hours Average hourly earnings increased by 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $16.32. Average earnings have risen 3.2% over the past year, the biggest jump since March 2003. Wage growth is a chief concern of the Federal Reserve, which fears that wage pressures could imbed an inflationary psychology in the economy. Average wages are still rising slower than inflation, however." I seem to remember that the lowest average workweek is around 33.5 hrs within the last twenty years. Obviously a net reduction in hours worked cannot help the economy and a real loss in earnings cannot help workers sustain their present lifestyle. Lots of the "feel good" numbers are actually inflation related including the "big" GDP number.