Employment News Dec. 6 - 10

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News
FRIDAY
You don't want to be unemployed in Vermont
Jobless Americans everywhere are running out of federal unemployment benefits as Congress debates whether to extend the safety net as part of a Bush tax cut compromise.
TJX to Cut 4,400 Jobs, Shutter Stores
T.J. Maxx and Marshalls parent TJX Cos. (TJX) announced plans on Friday to slash more than 4,000 jobs and shut down its A.J. Wright division.

THURSDAY
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fell 17,000 to 421,000 Last Week
The number of workers filing first- time claims for unemployment insurance payments fell last week in the U.S., showing the labor market continues to improve.
How states fared on jobless claims, at a glance
Unemployment claims fell for the second time in three weeks last week to their second-lowest level this year. That's an encouraging sign that companies are cutting fewer workers and may be ready to accelerate hiring.
Job openings rise in October to most in 2 years
Businesses and government advertised nearly 3.4 million jobs at the end of October, up about 12 percent from the previous month, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That reverses two months of declines and is the highest total since August 2008, just before the financial crisis intensified.

WEDNESDAY
Unemployment benefits: Extension won't help '99ers'
Unemployment benefits in Nevada, which leads the US in unemployment, won't be extended for those at are near the 99-week cutoff for benefits.

TUESDAY
Hiring Intentions at U.S. Employers Improving, Manpower Says
The U.S. labor market outlook is improving, with more employers planning to boost payrolls at the start of 2011 and fewer expecting to cut headcounts compared with the same time this year, a private survey showed today.
Type the Title You Want People to See
Unemployment also falling among women, 30- to 49-year-olds, those with no college education.

MONDAY
Obama to Push Unemployment Benefits as Condition of Extending Tax Rates
Visiting a technical college in North Carolina, President Obama is set to speak Monday on the need for private-public cooperation to make the U.S. more competitive while also laying down conditions on expiring tax rates, even as a deal between the White House and Congress is said to be in the works.
Jobs Setback Clouds Recovery
Hiring Slows Down, Stirring Doubt on Economy's Strength
Gop, Dems Nearing Deal on Taxes and Jobless Benefits
An outline of a bipartisan economic package is emerging that would temporarily extend the Bush-era tax rates for all taxpayers, while extending jobless benefits for millions of Americans.
Why employers won't hire
The problem with bringing down the stubbornly high unemployment rate is that employers are learning to do more with less.

Economists Comments
FRIDAY
Tale Of Two Recoveries
A mainstream media guru says the president is channeling Ronald Reagan but risks becoming Jimmy Carter. Reagan's policies worked, Carter's didn't and Obama's haven't. Wake up and smell the tax cuts.

THURSDAY
Jobless Benefits' Effect on Unemployment
A likely rise in the U.S. jobless rate is the unfortunate reality of the government's move to fund extended unemployment benefits for another 13 months.
Are We Subsidizing Unemployment?
The stimulus plan may have actually worsened unemployment. New data suggest a large share of those without jobs remain on the sideline because of increasingly generous jobless benefits.
Do Jobless Benefits Raise Unemployment?
Extending benefits, a key to the tax deal, may keep some at home, but it will also boost growth

WEDNESDAY
Many jobs are gone forever: What now?
The issue is complicated, to be sure. Millions of Americans are exhausting their 99 weeks of unemployment insurance while, in the fight for talent in Silicon Valley, Google has decided to raise salaries by 10 percent across the board. But if the economists and politicians can work together, we can benefit from the effort and innovation of highly productive workers while supporting the adjustment of the rest.

MONDAY
Jobless Report Is Death of Keynesianism
President Obama may have pulled "the car out of the ditch," but he left the jobs engine behind, judging from November's weak jobs report. Yet he remains wedded to a job-killing tax hike?

Blogs
FRIDAY
Is There an Inflation-Unemployment Trade-off?
Much of what drives the policy choices of Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve is a belief in the ability to trade higher inflation for lower unemployment, known within the economics profession as the “Phillips curve.” But does this trade-off actually exist?

THURSDAY
Worth more than a thousand words
One reason Keynesian stimulus is so ineffective is the aggregation problem. Boosting “aggregate demand” hides the complexity of the economy and the fact that parts of the economy are fine and parts are sick.
About 6 Million Didn’t Work at All Last Year
Nearly 6 million Americans looked for work but weren’t able to find employment at all last year, a new report shows.
Payroll Tax Increase and Iowa Jobs
Iowa Job-seekers and wage-earners will feel the sting of the longest running unemployment benefits extension in U.S. history.
Secondary Sources: Unemployment Extension, Tax Deal, Job Openings
A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
"Why work?"
A one-parent family of three making $14,500 a year (minimum wage) has more disposable income than a family making $60,000 a year.
Do Tax Cuts for the Wealthy Create Jobs?
Over at The Economist's Democracy in America blog, Matt Steinglass is pondering the differential stimulus effect of tax cuts for the wealthy, and tax cuts for everyone else.
Oldest Workers Hardest Hit in November 2010
In the now three years since the total level of employment peaked in the U.S., some 7,595,000 fewer people were employed in November 2010 than had jobs in November 2007, as the latest data suggests that the U.S. job market has seen no sustained improvement since March 2010.

MONDAY
Where the jobs are
THE Bureau of Labour Statistics released two interesting reports this morning that shed a little more light on the state of the American recovery. The first updated metropolitan-level employment data through October, providing a sense of exactly where things are improving, and where they aren't.
Job creation remains near-stagnant: New hires barely exceed job separations
Job hires (3.6 percent) only barely exceed total job separations (3.5 percent, including firings, resignations, and layoffs).
What costs $919 Billion but Isn't Likely to Create Many Jobs?
Could the answer to this question be the just announced tax deal and the so-called "doc fix"?
Unemployment benefits and tax cuts: 'compromise' as usual
Unemployment benefits extended, payroll taxes cut, and all Bush tax cuts extended: an all-too-typical Washington 'compromise' where everybody gets what they want – while the deficit deepens.

TUESDAY
Taxpayer Calculator: Extending Unemployment Benefits
There are two schools of thought when it comes to extending unemployment benefits: one is economic and the other is emotional. If Congress does not prolong the payments, two million Americans will lose their benefits right away, and the Obama administration estimates seven million Americans will be affected if a year-long extension isn't passed.
BLS: Job Openings increase sharply in October, Labor Turnover still Low
From the BLS: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary
Secondary Sources: Underwater Homeowners, Austerity Alternatives, Job Creation
A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
How the Weak Jobs Report Can Actually Help the Economy
Congress might now see that the Bush tax cuts and unemployment benefits need to be extended.

MONDAY
Economists React: ‘Painful Reality Check’ on Jobs
Economists and others weigh in the disappointing employment report.
Participation Rate of 25 to 54 Age Men at Record Low
The collapse in the labor force participation rate has been one of the key stories of the great recession. The participation rate is the percentage of the working age population in the labor force.
The Jobs at Stake in the Tax Cut Fight
Last Friday the Labor Department reported that private sector employers added an anemic 50,000 net jobs to the U.S. economy in November. That is far fewer than what is needed to absorb discouraged workers reentering the workforce or population growth. As a result, unemployment rose to 9.8 percent, marking the 19th consecutive month that our nation’s unemployment rate topped 9 percent, a post–World War II record.

Reports
MONDAY
How Many Jobs Will Congress Choose to Lose? The Economic Effects of Various Legislative Options for Addressing Expiring 2001 and 2003 Tax Policy
There is near-universal agreement among economists that raising marginal tax rates during slow economic times only makes the economy weaker. Higher tax rates reduce employment, cut investment activity, and soften household demand for goods and services. Even so, Congress is considering right now a number of tax proposals, most of which raise tax rates starting on January 1, 2011. All but one of these legislative options would result in higher unemployment.
Heritage Employment Report: Little Cause for Thanksgiving in November Jobs Report
The November employment report threw a bucket of cold water on hopes for an accelerating recovery. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that private sector employers added only 50,000 net jobs. Unemployment rose to 9.8 percent and has remained above 9 percent for 19 consecutive months. This ties the record for the longest such stretch since World War II. Weekly hours were flat in November, and average wages increased by just one cent.