July reports rolling in...

[Gorf]

Economists had been expecting 220,000 jobs to be created in July, with many analysts believing that as many as 300,000 jobs would be created.

The reports show 32,000 jobs were created.



June's original report showed 112,000 jobs created.

That number has been revised to 78,000.



May's original report showed 235,000 jobs created.

That number has been revised to 208,000.

[Gorf]

A good sign for July is that the unemployment rate dropped from 5.6 to 5.5.

[Gorf]

NEW YORK - Stocks were sharply lower Friday, as investors reacted to a new report showing the U.S. economy created far fewer jobs in July than analysts had expected.

In morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 97.41 points, or 1 percent, at 9,865.62.

Broader stock indices also fell sharply. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was down 9.50 points, or 0.9 percent, at 1,071.20, and the Nasdaq composite index, full of technology stocks, was down 24.51 points, or 1.4 percent, at 1,797.12.

The decline in stocks came as traders pored over new payroll figures showing employers added just 32,000 jobs last month, low enough to warrant worries that a slowing in the economy in June may have been more just a brief pause.

The 32,000 jobs added in July marks the weakest increase in hiring since December and comes after a revised gain of just 78,000 in June, even less than previously reported. Economists had forecast the creation of roughly 243,000 jobs for July.

Such a weak jobs report seeds doubts among investors about the overall strength of the economy, and raises new doubts about what the Federal Reserve board of governors will do next week when it meets to discuss interest rates. The Fed had widely been expected to raise rates.

The dismal jobs report comes as Wall Street finishes what had already been a terrible week, with stocks falling to new lows for the year because of concerns about very high oil prices.

Stocks closed much lower Thursday, after oil prices surged again to more than $44 a barrel. The Dow lost 163.48, or 1.6 percent, to close at 9,963.03, the second largest decline of the year and the third time it has closed below 10,000 in the last 10 sessions.

The S&P settled at its lowest level since December, losing 1.6 percent, to 1,080.70, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.8 percent to 1,821.63.

The declines continued Friday. Early losers included Halliburton Co., which faces accusations of accounting fraud in a new lawsuit brought by investors. The company’s shares fell 9 cents to $30.02.

Shares of General Motors also fell, down 45 cents to $42.09, following the company’s announcement Thursday that it was recalling all its Saturn Vue sport utility vehicles.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.8 percent. In afternoon trading in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 1.3 percent, Germany’s DAX index was down 2.5 percent, and France’s CAC-40 was down 2 percent.

© 2004 The Associated Press.

[Gorf]

Comsumer confidence / spending reports seem to indicate those numbers being up a bit for July but said to be "frugal" with consumers still being "cautious".

Haven't seen reports of exactly numbers yet.

[Gorf]

Job growth has stalled in the last two months. Payroll jobs increased by only 78,000 in June and a meager 32,000 in July, after rising 295,000 a month the previous three months. The Bush Administration called the tax cut package, which was passed in May 2003 and took effect in July 2003, its "Jobs and Growth Plan." The president's economics staff, the Council of Economic Advisers, projected that the plan would result in the creation of 5.5 million jobs by the end of 2004—306,000 new jobs each month starting in July 2003.


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[Gorf]

Greatest sustained job loss since the Great Depression

Since the recession began 40 months ago in March 2001, 1.2 million jobs have disappeared, representing a 0.9% contraction. To put this performance in historical perspective, the Bureau of Labor Statistics began collecting monthly jobs data in 1939 (at the end of the Great Depression). In every previous episode of recession and job decline since 1939, the number of jobs had fully recovered to above the pre-recession peak within 31 months of the start of the recession. Today's labor market would have 6.2 million more jobs if employment had grown by the same 3.7% average that characterized the last three recession cycles. As for who has been hurt most, private-sector jobs have fared worse than public-sector jobs. Jobs in the private sector have dropped by 1.8 million since March 2001, representing a 1.6% contraction.


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[Deleted]

What W still doesn't get (or won't admit) is that when you give The Rich and Big Business tax breaks, they just keep the money. Right into their pockets. The Rich ain't gonna spend it and Big Business ain't gonna hire.

I suppose, eventually, there will be some trickle down from the purchases of yachts, Porsches, 4th homes, Trophy Wives, caviar, etc. etc.