Tag Archives: Jobs

The Consumer Reports Trouble Tracker Index, which measures the proportion of consumers that have faced financial difficulties and the number of events they've encountered, fell sharply from 41.7 in the last report to 34.0--the lowest level since the measure was created. As of the latest report, the tracker has fallen more than 50 percent from its reading of 68.7 in September 2009. At the same time, the index's employment measures showed job gains outpacing losses for the third straight month.

The number of job openings fell in April for the fourth time in the last five months as the number of people leaving their jobs jumped to the highest level since August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Tuesday in its month Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). According to the JOLTS report, the number of persons unemployed for each job opening rose to 3.10, the first increase in that measure since February. The number of unemployed per job opening fell sharply in the construction industry to 7.7.

When President George W. Bush followed his predecessor Bill Clinton in pushing homeownership, one loud dissenter was British economist Andrew Oswald, who argued that far from improving the economy--as Bush (and Clinton before him) said it would--homeownership hurts the economy in the long run. Now, Oswald and Dartmouth Economics Professor David Blanchflower are at it again in a new paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research with arguments even they admit may be shallow.

The economy added 175,000 jobs in May, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.6.percent, the first month-over-month increase since January, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday.

After falling in April and May, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) resumed its upward trend in June, NAHB reported. According to the association, the number of U.S. housing markets showing sustained growth in housing permits, home prices, and employment rose to 263 in June, five more than May's total. The index grew for several months to a record high of 274 in March before falling to 273 in April and then 258 in May.

While it├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós no secret that the recovering job market has helped to lift housing, a study from CareerBuilder shows the benefits work both ways.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell back to 346,000 for the holiday-shortened week ended June 1, dropping 11,000 after increasing 13,000 one week earlier the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected initial claims to drop to 345,000.

Consumers in the latest Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey reported their most improved financial situation in more than five years, according to Surveys of Consumers. The group's Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 84.5 in May, its highest level since July 2007 and an improvement over the preliminary reading of 83.7. April's index reading was 76.4; May 2012's reading was 79.3. The survey comes only days after the Conference Board's latest index, which showed consumer confidence climbing to a five-year high in May.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance rose for the third time in the last four weeks, increasing 10,000 to 354,000 for the week ending May 25, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index continued to improve in May as Americans recovered from the economic shocks that plagued the year's first few months. "Consumer Confidence posted another gain this month and is now at a five-year high," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board. "Consumers' assessment of current business and labor-market conditions was more positive and they were considerably more upbeat about future economic and job prospects."