Archive for the ‘building’ Category
July 22nd, 2009 | 
Author: 
Vast stretches of the U.S. can be now considered in a depression,
not a recession,with the unemployment
rates presently standing at,
Michigan at 15.2%
California 11.6%
Nevada 12.0%
Oregon 12.2%
Ohio 11.1%
North Carolina 11.0%
South Carolina 12.1%
Kentucky 10.9%
Tennessee 10.8%
Indiana 10.7%
The number of long-term unemployed in the U.S. (meaning those without jobs for 27 weeks or more) is now 4.4 million which represents 29% of the unemployed, and that’s the highest number since records began in 1948.
June unemployment reached 9.5 percent, which is the highest since 1983, and many parts of the country are suffering a depression and not a recession.
In total, more than 100 urban areas now have unemployment rates over 10%.
Adult male unemployment nationwide is already in double digits at 10%.
Black unemployment is 14.7%
Hispanics at 12.2%
Teenage unemployment is 24%
Black teenage unemployment close to 40%.
Hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs in the automobile and construction industries, and many of those in the auto industry already feel that they may never work again, and those who were in construction say that it will take years to recover financially from the long-term unemployment.
For the last thirty years, a person that lost his job remained unemployed for an average of 15.8 weeks, but in the June average duration of unemployment was 24.5 weeks, and the number of people claiming jobless benefits reached a record 6.88 million in the week ended June 27.
Government figures show that the percentage of unemployed workers who permanently lost their jobs, as opposed to those who are supposedly on temporary layoff reached a record 53.5 percent in June.
There are around six candidates for every job that’s on offer, which is the highest since the government began keeping records, and the ratio was just over 2-1 just a year ago.
That figure of six candidates for every job is forcing people to lower their salary expectations, which in turn puts a squeeze on spending, and a recent survey suggests more than more than two-thirds of the unemployed have cut back on food expenditures.
Home-equity borrowing is a no starter for many home buyers, since house prices are down by about 25% from their 2006 peak.
Mortgage delinquencies rose to a record in the first quarter, and around one in one in every eight Americans is now either behind on his mortgage payments, or already in foreclosure.
Unlike the average European who has around six months of savings, the average American put aside only 1% of their disposable income in 2005-2006, compared with an average 6% during the previous 30 years, which leaves him or her very unprepared for long-term unemployment.
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The “Jack Welch” Portfolio Algorithm « CSS Analytics
Jack Welch is one of the most recognizable names in business as the former CEO of General Electric. His skills and leadership in running one of the largest companies in the world have been the source of numerous books …
Jack Welch Led Gossip Sessions « Leadership Freak
Jack Welch Led Gossip Sessions. With typical candor and color, Jack Welch said, “We always had one hell-of-ah gossip session after every meeting.” (ELP, 2011, NYC). At least two things happened at meetings Jack Welch …
Jack Welch, the former chief executive officer of General Electric Co., and author of “Straight from the Gut”, has been very busy on the talk shows and speaking circuit lately, and here’s what he’s been saying.
“The government has taken advantage of the economic crisis to get a tighter grip on the US economy, and this does not bode well for business”.
“There are so many things that bother me right now. Over the last couple of weeks, things have really gone south in the government relationships”.
“These guys, when they came in, said a crisis like this is impossible to waste. The government seems to think there’s a crisis and now we can get in here and do all the things that we dreamed about when we were at Harvard, when we were somewhere else”.
“The government now controls about 37% of the US economy, including health care, and this makes businesses uneasy, despite promises that the state’s role will shrink when the economy gets better. Now, these guys say they want to get out. Do you believe that? Do they want to get out?”.
“The Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds, with the conditions attached to them, are also something to be avoided by businesses. And the news that six insurers secured a green light from the Treasury Department to receive funds under the TARP is not good news”. Referring to Obama, Welch said, “I don’t particularly like where he’s taking us. To get the money he needs, he has to have a fake budget. He’s fooling people about how we’re going to have the top line support the programs in the middle without enormous taxes”. Asked about the restructuring of Chrysler, he replied, “I didn’t like the terms. The creditors’ rights were trashed and the unions got 55% of the company”. He did have a couple of good things to say though, “The president’s plan to implement the nation’s first national standard for greenhouse-gas emissions was sound. This emissions plan is not one that gives me great trouble’. And on the direction of the economy, “I want new housing starts to go down, down, down. It’s the only way to get housing prices stabilized, and we need to stabilize housing prices. While the market didn’t like it, housing starts going down again I like it”.
