Economics

In U.S., Fewer Young Adults Holding Full-Time Jobs in 2013

"The barriers for the young getting a job in the U.S. remain high. Given ever growing regulations on employers, coupled with the uncertainty of Obamacare, it just makes it to risky for most employers to be aggressively hiring. Fewer Americans aged 18 to 29 worked full time for an employer in June 2013 (43.6%) than did so in June 2012 (47.0%), according to Gallup's Payroll to Population employment rate. The P2P rate for young adults is also down from 45.8% in June 2011 and 46.3% in June 2010." Continue reading →

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Even when jobs return, Detroit’s workers fall short on skills

"Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr has a long list of things to fix in the city and among them is one that may sound surprising: there are not enough skilled workers to fill job openings as they become available. Seismic shifts in the local labor market have left many unskilled workers behind. Public-sector efforts at job training have shown scant results. After then-governor Jennifer Granholm established a $500 million job training program in 2007, roughly $100 million was spent in Detroit through 2010, but few got jobs because so few positions were available, said Jose Reyes, chief operating officer of the DESC job training agency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEven when jobs return, Detroit’s workers fall short on skills

American Automobile Glut? Unsold Cars Are Piling Up

"There are some signs automakers might be stepping on the gas a little too hard. Some 3.27 million new cars are now sitting on lots across the U.S., more than there have been in almost five years, according to Automotive News. That’s a lot of cars—just enough to equip every man, woman, and child in the state of Iowa with a new vehicle. A year ago at this time, by contrast, there were 2.7 million vehicles lying in wait across the country; summer 2011 saw an inventory of about 1 million fewer cars. Looking for a deal on a vehicle in the next month or two? Dealership lots that stock American automakers appear to be ripe for bargain seekers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerican Automobile Glut? Unsold Cars Are Piling Up

The ‘new GDP’ methodology: What you need to know

"The Commerce Department has made changes to how it calculates gross domestic product, designed to have the data better reflect the so-called knowledge economy. The U.S. government adjusted data all the way back to 1929, and other countries have or are about to make similar changes to their data. At the same time, the government also went back and revised data for the past five years.What’s the upshot? The rate of growth hasn’t changed all that much, though there are big shifts in a few time periods. But the level of output is higher — $559.8 billion larger, with $526 billion of that amount due to definitional changes." Continue reading →

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Population trends cloud Europe’s post-recession outlook

"Slowly but unsurely, Europe is facing up to population trends that will sap long-run economic growth. Some countries are getting an early taste of difficulties that await Europe as the continent's baby boomers retire and, because of flagging fertility rates, the average age of those left in the labour force rises. Spain, Portugal and Ireland all lost about 2 percent of their working-age adults between 2010 and the first quarter of 2013, raising the question of who pays for pensions and age-related health care costs in countries that are educating their youngsters only to see many of them emigrate and pay taxes elsewhere." Continue reading →

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How Venezuelan Used ‘Scrape’ to Make Six Times Her Salary

"Venezuela’s currency controls are turning trips abroad into profitable junkets. A 27-year-old trade analyst from Caracas said she earned six times her monthly salary by traveling in April to Lima, where a business swiped her credit card and gave her $1,600 cash, charged at the official exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars per dollar. When the analyst, who requested anonymity because what she did is illegal, returned to Venezuela, she sold the dollars at the street rate of 29-to-1, enough to pocket 25,000 bolivars after paying off her credit card and travel expenses. The scheme, known as 'raspao' or 'big scrape,' is booming in Venezuela." Continue reading →

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Surgical delays cost Canadians nearly $1 billion in lost time in 2012

"Long waits for surgery and medical treatment in 2012 cost Canadians more than $982 million in lost time and productivity, concludes a new report from the Fraser Institute. The study calculates that the average value of time lost during the work week was $1,129 for each of the estimated 870,462 patients waiting for surgery last year. Using data from the Fraser Institute’s annual survey of health care wait times (which found that Canadians waited 9.3 weeks, on average, from an appointment with a specialist to receiving treatment in 2012), the report estimates that patients across Canada waited a combined 10.6 million weeks for treatment last year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSurgical delays cost Canadians nearly $1 billion in lost time in 2012

Uruguay House Barely Passes Marijuana Legalization Bill

"The bill passed on a vote of 50-46 after nearly 12 hours of debate. Under the bill, the Uruguayan government would license producers, sellers, and consumers. Smokers would be limited to buying 40 grams a month. Unlicensed possession, cultivation, or sales would be criminal offenses, including prison time in some cases. Registered users would be able to grow up to six plants, join a marijuana-growing collective, or purchase marijuana at a dispensary or pharmacy. President Jose Mujica has been pushing the bill as a means of attacking black markets and organized crime by creating a legal, licensed marijuana marketplace." Continue reading →

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Would A Higher Minimum Wage Help McDonald’s Workers?

"It’s tempting to think that the higher wages for workers is worth it, but it isn’t. The minimum wage shifts the margins on which people compete with one another from wages to wasteful competitive endeavors like waiting or investing in too many quality signals. Competition in a price-controlled market can erode the entire value of the difference between the minimum workers are willing to accept and the minimum they are allowed to accept. The cruel irony is that a policy designed to pick the pockets of employers for the benefit of workers ultimately leaves everyone worse off." Continue reading →

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Four Charts Showing How Obama’s Statist Agenda Is Hurting Jobs and Growth

"Let’s look at the Minneapolis Fed’s data for every business cycle since the end of World War II. As you can see, we’re currently mired in the most anemic recovery on record. The employment data is even worse than the GDP data. The comparison of Reaganomics with BushObamanomics is startling. There was a jobs boom in the 1980s, while today we haven’t even recovered all the jobs lost during the downturn. And if we look at the current 'recovery' compared to all other business cycles, it becomes even more apparent that big government is generating very bad results for the American people." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFour Charts Showing How Obama’s Statist Agenda Is Hurting Jobs and Growth