Stimulus Adds 640,000 Jobs…Not so Fast
It has been widely claimed that the economic stimulus package that was launched early in President Obama’s administration has been responsible for saving or creating 640,000 jobs. The problem, however, is that the data supporting this claim are flawed, placing such claims squarely in the “statistics” category of the “lies, damned lies and statistics” triumvirate.
Earl [...]
Real Estate, Careers in the Field Making a Comeback?
It may be too early to declare that the U.S. real estate market is “back.” In fact, if you ask folks in California and Florida, they’d probably laugh at the suggestion. Nonetheless, September saw an increase in home sales that was unexpected, and it appears that with several more months of “inventory reduction” at fire-sale [...]
For Social Security Recipients, No COLA for 2010
For the first time since automatic cost of living adjustment began in 1975, recipients of social security will not receive a “cost of living adjustment”, or “COLA” in 2010. Though the move sets a precedent, it’s not entirely surprising given the fact that prices of consumer goods are actually falling.
The cost of living adjustments that [...]
Worse to be “Job Insecure” Than Unemployed
In an article I read on LiveScience yesterday, an interesting point was made. Namely, that insecurity regarding one’s employment situation is worse for one’s health than actual unemployment. From the study:
Based on how participants rated their own physical and mental health, we found that people who were persistently concerned about losing their jobs reported significantly [...]
Unemployment Still Rising
The U.S. Department of Labor has reported that the number of seasonally-adjusted, first-time unemployment claims rose to 576,000 this week, a sign that the tumultuous employment market has not quite settled down even as the overall economy seems to be just sniffing the beginnings of a recovery. The number of folks out there conducting a [...]