Free Republic

The Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire discuss how they disagree with Sen. Kelly Ayotte.

Businesses in the U.S. added 204,000 jobs in August, led by broad-based gains across industries and company sizes, according to the ADP National Employment report released Thursday. The figure fell short of the consensus estimate of 220,000, and was down from the 218,000 jobs the group said the economy added in July. Continued monthly gains in job growth would signal to Federal Reserve policymakers labor market tightening, which could put pressure on employers to raise wages if labor is scarce. Wage gains, which have yet to really materialize, could in turn enable households to pickup their pace of spending and...

The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose more than expected, dampening optimism over the strength of the labor market, official data showed on Thursday. In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending August 30 increased by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 302,000 from the previous week’s total of 298,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 2,000 to 300,000 last week. Continuing jobless claims in the week ended August 23 declined to 2.464 million from 2.528 million...

This week, millions of young people head to college and universities, aiming for a four-year liberal arts degree. They assume that degree is the only gateway to the American middle class. It shouldn’t be. For one thing, a four-year liberal arts degree is hugely expensive. Too many young people graduate laden with debts that take years if not decades to pay off. And too many of them can’t find good jobs when they graduate, in any event. So they have to settle for jobs that don’t require four years of college. They end up overqualified for the work they do,...

The number of new applications for jobless benefits rose last week but stayed near 2014 lows, a new indication of an improving labor market. Initial claims for unemployment benefits increased by 4,000.... ... four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, rose 3,000 to 302,750.....

The total number of working-age (16 to 65) immigrants (legal and illegal) holding a job in North Carolina increased by 313,000 from the first quarter of 2000 to the first quarter of 2014...The number of working-age natives with a job declined by 32,000 over the same time.

There can be no question that the Michigan economy is recovering — only about the magnitude of the growth. The level of growth depends on where you look. As we get closer to the November general election, more people will question the degree of growth and whether the Snyder administration and Legislature has helped or hindered the state recovery. Gov. Snyder and his campaign team claim he has helped create "more than 275,000 jobs." Let's take a deeper look at that number. There have been substantial job gains in the payroll survey during Gov. Snyder's first term. This is a...

President Obama used Labor Day to tout the country’s economic gains under his leadership and make an election-year case that higher wages and other progress for workers can only be achieved through a Democrat-controlled Congress. “American workers and the American economy are better off since I took office,” Obama told a crowd filled with union supporters at the annual Laborfest event in Milwaukee. “I’m not asking for the moon. I’m asking for policies that help folks get ahead. … Republicans running Congress are opposed to them.” At one point in the speech, Obama enthusiastically told the crowd: “If I were...

Here are my forecasts for upcoming economic data. Forecast Prior Observation Consensus Week of September 1 September 1 Labor Day September 2 Markit PMI Manufacturing Index - August 57.5 55.8 57.8 ISM (Mfg) - August 57.1 57.1 56.8 ISM Prices 58.0 59.5 58.0 Construction Spending - July 0.8% -1.8 0.9 September 3 Auto Sales* - August 16.60M 16.48 16.60 Car Sales 8.00 8.00 Truck Sales 8.60 8.49 *SAAR, as published by Motor Intelligence ADP Employment Report - August 120K 218 223 Factory Orders - June 11.1% 1.6 10.9 Durable Goods Orders Nondurable Goods Orders September 4 Initial Unemployment Claims 302K...

The job market has made a comeback over the past year, but the American labor force hasn't, and the prospects don't look good. Work seems to be on the wane in the U.S., with worrisome consequences for economic growth. While the unemployment rate slipped to 6.1% in June -- its lowest level in six years -- the percentage of adult American workers who are actually in the workforce is at its lowest level in 36 years, with no rebound in sight. ... WHEN IT COMES TO the millions of people receiving Social Security disability income, however, it is fairly certain...

An illustrated edition of Amity Shlaes’s #1 New York Times bestseller, featuring vivid black-and-white illustrations that capture this dark period in American history and the men and women, from all walks of life, whose character and ideas helped them persevere. This imaginative illustrated edition brings to life one of the most devastating periods in our nation’s history—the Great Depression—through the lives of American people, from politicians and workers to businessmen, farmers, and ordinary citizens. Smart and stylish, black-and-white art from acclaimed illustrator Paul Rivoche provides an utterly original vision of the coexistence of despair and hope that characterized Depression-era America....

Largest U.S. labor union not ready to back Hillary Clinton 2016 White House bid The country’s largest labor union won’t endorse any Democrat who has the same economic team as President Obama and won’t be getting behind Hillary Rodham Clinton early in the 2016 presidential race, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Thursday. “If you get the same economic team, you’re going to get the same results. The same results aren’t good enough for working people,” he said.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell for a second straight week last week, underscoring the strengthening labor market fundamentals. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000 for the week ended Aug. 23, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 more applications received than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims climbing to 300,000 last week. A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing the state level data. The four-week average of claims, considered a better measure...

<p>Texas has surpassed 300,000 jobs in the oil and natural gas sector as the oil boom drives job growth for a fourth straight year.</p> <p>According to the data released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state gained more than 20,000 oil and gas jobs since July 2013, its largest increase since April 2013.</p>

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is running for governor of that state, has rolled out a plan that would repeal a number of occupational licensing rules. These standards restrict individuals from engaging in certain commerce without permission from the state (and often include paying extra money, taking tests, and meeting other requirements). The plan notes, “Regulation by licensure results in less competition, fewer choices, higher costs, and the potential to thwart innovation. These effects are not always visible to the consumer, but they are nonetheless built-in costs without justification in most instances.” The National Center for Policy Analysis notes,...

America has a deficit of workers. Willing workers. Capable workers. Skilled, or at least semi-skilled workers, who can do a job and do it well. There are at least one million jobs that go begging day after day if only employers could find workers to fill them. This probably seems hard-to-believe. After all, how can America have a worker shortage when we have about 18 million Americans who are unemployed or underemployed? When the real unemployment rate is 12 percent? Well certainly the economy isn’t creating nearly as many jobs as it should – in large part because of regulatory...

SEATTLE - Popular online retailer Zulily is planning to add about 900 jobs in central Ohio as part of new tax credit deal from the state. The Seattle-based company says most of the positions at the new call center will be in customer service. The move is expected to generate $28 million by 2017. This comes in addition to Zulily’s existing facility in Obetz. As part of a tax agreement, the Ohio Development Services Agency says the company will receive a 75%, 12-year tax credit in exchange for operating in Ohio for at least 15 years. Zulily is an online...

Truck driver Anthony Plummer remembers when he was in the middle of the country on a long-haul delivery when he learned his daughter was sick in the hospital. “I was told to get back [home] as soon as possible. But there are a lot of rules that limit how much I can drive, so I told them I would get back as soon as I could.” It was after this incident that Plummer decided to make a career shift to become a regional truck driver. “It blew my mind if something were to happen and if I was way across...

We've written repeatedly about the many flaws of the 2009 "Cash for Clunkers" program. It made used cars more expensive, wasted resources and merely shifted people's car-buying plans forward a few months. Now, a new study by three Texas A&M University economists says the misguided stimulus policy wasn't even good for the auto industry. Mark Hoekstra, Steven L. Puller and Jeremy West find that the program's fuel-efficiency constraints induced people to purchase smaller, less expensive cars than they would otherwise have bought.

Yellen picked through the various arguments over what the seemingly contradictory data says: the faster-than-expected fall in the jobless rate to 6.2 percent from 7.3 percent a year ago, against the persistently extremely low labor force participation rate since the Great Recession, just 62.9 percent. Yellen agreed that there have been some structural changes that have affected the way the labor market signals tightening through indicators such as part-time work, the number of people leaving jobs, and wage gains - which have been virtually insignificant since the recession ended in 2009. But she insisted that the combined data that the...