The unemployment rate is forecast to fall in Thursday's jobs report. But signs still point to more job losses in the months ahead.
Economists are forecasting that the unemployment rate retreated slightly in June after May's big spike. But few believe that is a sign that the battered labor market is at or even near the bottom.
When the Labor Department releases its June employment report Thursday, economists expect the unemployment rate to fall to 5.4% from 5.5% last month.
But job losses are also expected to continue. Economists are predicting that employers cut 60,000 positions from U.S. payrolls in June, up from the 49,000 job loss reported in May.
This would be the sixth consecutive month of job losses.
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Spurned InBev replies to Anheuser-Busch
InBev CEO Carlos Brito issued a statement Tuesday saying the Belgian brewer is committed to its $65-per-share offer price for Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. and said InBev "will pursue all available avenues" to allow A-B shareholders to have a direct voice in the process.
In his statement, Brito reiterated InBev's previous stance that $65 per share "reflects the full and fair value of the company." A-B formally rejected InBev's $46.3 billion takeover proposal on June 26, calling the $65-per-share offer "financially inadequate and not in the best interests of Anheuser-Busch shareholders." This is InBev's first response since the rejection.
Brito said in the statement he is skeptical of A-B's expanded cost-cutting plan, dubbed Blue Ocean, that the leading domestic brewer says will save more than $1 billion over the next four years.
"Our firm proposal was rejected in favor of a newly formulated management plan with significant execution risks," Brito said in the statement.
Read Complete StoryU.S. June Auto Sales Plunge as Buyers Can't Find Cars
General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the biggest auto retailers in the U.S., said June sales plunged as consumers turned away from gas- guzzling trucks and found small cars in short supply.
GM sales fell 19 percent and Ford was down 28 percent. Toyota dropped 21 percent as the Japanese automaker wrestled with plummeting demand for Tundra pickups and a shortage of Prius hybrids. The industry's 18 percent decline was the steepest in almost six years.
The results demonstrate the rapid shift in buyers' preferences toward cars while $4-a-gallon gasoline has caught automakers flatfooted, said analyst Alan Baum. Car shortages combined with the weakest economic growth in five years depressed the annual sales rate to 13.6 million, the lowest since 1993.
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GM sales fell 19 percent and Ford was down 28 percent. Toyota dropped 21 percent as the Japanese automaker wrestled with plummeting demand for Tundra pickups and a shortage of Prius hybrids. The industry's 18 percent decline was the steepest in almost six years.
The results demonstrate the rapid shift in buyers' preferences toward cars while $4-a-gallon gasoline has caught automakers flatfooted, said analyst Alan Baum. Car shortages combined with the weakest economic growth in five years depressed the annual sales rate to 13.6 million, the lowest since 1993.
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Surging costs catch up with corporate America
Manufacturers are turning to price increases as their only way to offset record-high energy bills and surging raw material costs, deciding that the risk of losing some sales is worth preserving profit margins.
The moves are a sign that companies are running out of ways to offset the rise in key costs including oil, natural gas, steel and aluminum, while betting their customers will have little choice
but to accept higher prices.
Manufacturers including Navistar International NAV.N and OshKosh Corp (OSK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) over the past week have told investors they plan to raise prices.
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The moves are a sign that companies are running out of ways to offset the rise in key costs including oil, natural gas, steel and aluminum, while betting their customers will have little choice
but to accept higher prices.
Manufacturers including Navistar International NAV.N and OshKosh Corp (OSK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) over the past week have told investors they plan to raise prices.
Read Complete Story
Larsen: Ending the oil addiction
Americans have been using less gas; a good start
Oil prices closing in on $150 a barrel. Gasoline prices marching toward $5 a gallon.
And what does President Bush suggest? Drilling for more oil. And the usual chorus of voices rises in unison to say, "Amen.
"Drill offshore, they say.
Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, they say.
No, they are told with good reason, but they refuse to listen because those who argue the loudest for opening up areas in which to drill are trying to solve the wrong problem.
Yes, the high cost of gasoline hurts Americans financially and the high cost of oil increases the price of anything that requires a petroleum product to produce. But the real problem here is oil dependence — not merely foreign oil, but domestic oil, too.
Read Complete StoryTuesday, July 1, 2008
Inflation ‘eats’ bank savings
Bank depositors now have reasons to be terrified about the value of their savings.
Their money, which has been earning interest in bank vaults, is quickly diminishing in value.
Investment experts are raising the red flag that ordinary bank accounts, either current or savings, are no longer a safe haven for keeping money.
The reason is the rising inflation, an economic reality that former US President Ronald Reagan described as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.
In recent months, inflation has surged to worrisome levels.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics show that inflation hit a record high of 31.5 per cent in May from 26.6 per cent in April.
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Their money, which has been earning interest in bank vaults, is quickly diminishing in value.
Investment experts are raising the red flag that ordinary bank accounts, either current or savings, are no longer a safe haven for keeping money.
The reason is the rising inflation, an economic reality that former US President Ronald Reagan described as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.
In recent months, inflation has surged to worrisome levels.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics show that inflation hit a record high of 31.5 per cent in May from 26.6 per cent in April.
Read Complete Story
The Long Arm of NAFTA and The WTO
Good Morning Middle America, your King of Simple News has another dose of reality this morning.
In my little neck of the woods here in rural Western Colorado, we are fortunate to be removed from the painful issues of our businesses picking up and moving to China; we wish.
In the serene village of Paonia, lying in an idyllic mountain valley along the banks of the North Fork of the Gunnison River, and surrounded by peach, apple and cherry orchards, Chaco Sandals rose to fame. The company was an American success story, the one that really did start in a garage with a good idea and eventually gained world distribution for an exceptional product.
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In my little neck of the woods here in rural Western Colorado, we are fortunate to be removed from the painful issues of our businesses picking up and moving to China; we wish.
In the serene village of Paonia, lying in an idyllic mountain valley along the banks of the North Fork of the Gunnison River, and surrounded by peach, apple and cherry orchards, Chaco Sandals rose to fame. The company was an American success story, the one that really did start in a garage with a good idea and eventually gained world distribution for an exceptional product.
Read Complete Story
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