Job Market Monitor
Michel Cournoyer
Sears – Report of layoffs by Seeking Alpha disputed
A published report Thursday said Sears Holdings is laying off about 6,000 workers as it closes 110 stores within the next few months, many before Christmas, according to Seeking Alpha, a content service for financial markets… Spokesman Howard Riefs said “the reported store count and list of closures isn’t accurate.” He specified that one of … Continue reading
UK – Long-term unemployed shouldn’t be treated as a different category when assessing the level of slack in the labour market research finds
The extent of labor market slack in the UK economy is an ongoing question given the recent unexpectedly rapid fall in the unemployment rate. In the latest data release for February–April, which is referred to as March 2014, it was 6.6 percent, down from 7.9 percent in May 2010 and 7.8 percent in March 2013. … Continue reading
Canada – 6.2 unemployed people for every job vacancy in July 2014
In July, there were 223,000 job vacancies among Canadian businesses, relatively unchanged compared with July 2013. There were 6.2 unemployed people for every job vacancy, little changed from 12 months earlier. The national job vacancy rate was 1.5% in July, similar to the rate observed a year earlier. via The Daily — Job vacancies in brief, three-month average ending in July 2014.
Canada – The top-ranked entrepreneurial communities in 2014
Historically, and for a variety of reasons, CFIB has found entrepreneurial characteristics to be strongest in Canada’s prairie cities and the urban areas that ring large urban cores. What they have in common is ‘newness’—the prairie economies have only been developed in the past 150 years or so. Only a few generations separate today’s urban … Continue reading
US – Female self-employment shows positive shift in opportunities finds BLS
New trends in female self-employment suggest a positive shift in opportunities for women, especially for those who differ from the “typical” self-employed women of the past. For instance, the percentage of female minorities in self-employment doubled from 1993 to 2012, and more divorced women and women without young children have become self-employed. Earnings trends have … Continue reading
The Knowledge-Intensive Services Industries US – 18 Million jobs and high wages
The commercial knowledge and technology-intensive (KTI) industries play a big role in the U.S. economy. The larger component of KTI industries—the knowledge-intensive (KI) services industries—employed 18 million workers and produced 22% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012. The smaller component—the high technology (HT) manufacturing industries—employed 2 million workers and produced 2% of GDP … Continue reading
US – The middle class is in trouble
The American middle class is in trouble. The middle-class share of national income has fallen, middle-class wages are stagnant, and the middle class in the United States is no longer the world’s wealthiest. But income is only one side of the story. The cost of being in the middle class—and of maintaining a middle-class standard … Continue reading
Inequality in US – The average greenhouse gas footprint of the top 2% of the income distribution is more than four times that of those in the bottom quintile
This paper describes the creation of a database providing estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints for 6 million US households over the period 2008-2012. The database allows analysis of footprints for 52 types of consumption (e.g. electricity, gasoline, apparel, beef, air travel, etc.) within and across geographic regions as small as individual census tracts. Potential research … Continue reading
CBC Radio-Canada : 400 more layoffs by March 2015
Faced with the loss of its NHL broadcasts and shrinking funding from the federal government, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. will cut another 400 jobs by March of next year, according to several reports.CBC President Hubert Lacroix reportedly told members of the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) of the cuts, part of an ongoing campaign to reduce … Continue reading
The Political Stance of Monetary Policy in US – Janet Yellen on Inequality
No doubt there are some political risks here. But was she supposed to remain silent on inequality for her entire tenure? For the Chair of the nation’s most powerful economic institution to ignore one of most powerful economic trends of our time would be close to a dereliction of duty. Arguments are raging over the … Continue reading
Individual Character and Social Policy – Help people become more resilient, conscientious or prudent
Policies that ignore character and behavior have produced disappointing results. If you can’t help people become more resilient, conscientious or prudent, then all the cash transfers in the world will not produce permanent benefits. Nearly every parent on earth operates on the assumption that character matters a lot to the life outcomes of their children. … Continue reading
Jobless Claims in US – Lowest level for 4-week moving averag average since May 6, 2000
In the week ending October 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 283,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 264,000 to 266,000. The 4-week moving average was 281,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised average. … Continue reading
Skills Gap in UK – Asking for help still stigmatized
There is still a stigma around asking for help to develop skills in the workplace, according to National Consortium of Colleges and Providers (NCCP) chairman Harvey Young.Young is spearheading the campaign For Business, For Life in an attempt to secure £50 million worth of training from the EU’s European Social fund. The UK government has … Continue reading
UK – Two thirds of parents do not feel the education system prepares their children for work
Two thirds of parents do not feel the education system prepares their children for work, according to a new survey. A poll of more than 3,500 adults by vocational body City & Guilds, published today, also finds 64 per cent do not believe children are being provided with what employers want, such as communication and … Continue reading
Overweight women – More likely to work in lower-paying and more physically demanding jobs study finds
Overweight women are more likely to work in lower-paying and more physically demanding jobs; less likely to get higher-wage positions that include interaction with the public; and make less money in either case compared to average size women and all men, according to a new Vanderbilt study. “Starting when a woman becomes overweight, she is … Continue reading
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