Libertarians often look at this endless march of new regulations and dourly quote Thomas Jefferson, “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.” Yet what this ignores is the explosion in the unregulated areas of human life. Ever-lengthening statute books do not necessarily mean more restrictions on what people are actually doing.

Advocates of positive freedom have always celebrated technological change as liberating. More options mean more choices mean more freedom. Traditional libertarians don’t often seem to want to think this way, probably because they think of negative freedom as more important: i.e., the absence of restrictions on peaceful choices. I agree with them there: positive freedom is desirable but not at the expense of negative freedom.

I am arguing here that technological change enhances negative freedom, even if the number of laws and formal restrictions remains constant. How is this possible? Most importantly, technological change opens up new domains of human endeavor that have yet to be regulated. Secondarily, certain technological changes can disrupt government regulation. Finally, crowded agendas mean that governments stop enforcing certain laws, which leads to new social expectations about what laws will be enforced.

To understand the first point, it is important to recognize that human life is finite. Therefore, every new technology that gives us a new activity or way of life crowds out whatever we were doing before. The growth of Internet technologies and social networking has crowded out letter writing and watching TV. Even if you use the Internet just to communicate with friends and family and look at funny pictures of cats, you are freer with the Internet than you were when you watched TV to entertain yourself. (Television is a more regulated medium.) So even if the laws don’t change, technological change squeezes those regulated areas of life — unless and until government tries to catch up.

Second, new technologies often disrupt the application of existing laws. Government opening your mail? Use encrypted e-mail. Monopoly schools failing your kids? Join a home school association. Inflation or deposit taxes eroding your savings? Get your money out of the country by buying bitcoin, using an under-the-radar electronic payment service, or buying unregulated derivatives. Smoking ban got you antsy? Suck on an e-cigarette. Sometimes new technologies develop precisely because people are looking for a way around a restriction on their lives. This is inefficient in the sense that those efforts could otherwise have been aimed in another direction were it not for the regulation, but it still means that any government regulation people want to get around will suffer from eroding effectiveness.

Finally, as new laws are added to the statute books, the old ones diminish in importance. Government suffers from a crowded agenda. Now that they are trying to regulate how you self-medicate, they are no longer putting adulterers in jail, even though laws criminalizing adultery remain on the books in most states. This process can happen surprisingly quickly when a regulation is difficult to enforce. New Hampshire technically banned all corporate contributions to campaigns until last year. But the prohibition wasn’t enforced despite having been enacted comparatively recently (during the Progressive era), and the legislature eventually decided to remove it from the books. There are negatives to the desuetude of regulation. Even justifiable restrictions will suffer when government’s agenda becomes crowded. The police don’t try to solve petty thefts when they’re running after drug money.

The conclusion is that when we assess change in freedom over time, we need to look at the denominator as well as the numerator: not just the number of restrictions, but the percentage of our active lives to which they apply. Libertarians should celebrate economic growth because it makes us freer — in the sense that our activities become less regulated and restricted.

We have become so disconnected from what’s right. How can anyone be ok with this? Burning enough natural gas to heat three million homes a day just to heat up the water to process the tar. Also, this process is already using more water per year than the city of Calgary. How much energy could we really be extracting when you have to expend so much to get it out of the ground? Short term gains are the modo of our industrial economy and the only reason we’ve even gone after a source of oil this hard to extract is because we are running out. It’s all down hill from here and we’re doing so much damage that there won’t be anywhere to escape what we’ve done. All of the green technology out there can’t and won’t do squat! We’re not innovating ourselves out of this one.

Which side would you rather be on?

The flag of the U.S. State of North Dakota. 

That’s right North Dakota is officialy the fastest growing economy in the United States according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. North Dakota is said to be growing five times faster than the whole U.S.

In the past year, 2012, North Dakota’s economy grew by a record 13.4%. That would make it grow faster than any other state in the union; on top of that this means the economy of North Dakota is growing five times faster than that of the whole nation.

This is no surprise as North Dakota’s economy has topped the nation for the past three years.

What is behind this growth? The reason for this rapid economic growth in North Dakota comes from the surge in oil production from Bakken Shale underground rock formation.

This happens thanks to new drilling technology, including the controversial hydraulic fracturing, better known as “fracking” and increasing oil prices. Oil production has increased by 600% since 2007. In the past year, 2012 North Dakota surpassed Alaska and California to become the 2nd highest oil producer in the United States.

Uganda’s central bank cut its central bank rate (CBR) by 100 basis points to 11.0 percent to stimulate domestic demand while the outlook for inflation improves and the forecast is cut.
    It is the Bank of Uganda’s (BOU) first rate cut since December after cuts totaling 1,100 basis points in 2012.

    Uganda’s headline inflation rate in May rose slightly to an annual rate of 3.6 percent from 3.4 percent in April but core inflation eased to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent, “an indication that inflationary pressures have remained muted,” the BoU said.
    The BoU now forecasts that core inflation will stabilise around the bank’s 5.0 percent medium-term inflation target over the next 12 months, with the balance of risks now neutral. In April the BOU forecast core inflation of 1-2 percentage points above the target over the next few months before easing toward the target later this year.
    The change in forecast is mainly due to weaker-than-expected household consumption, which is likely to dampen demand side pressures on consumer prices, and a higher-than-expected appreciation of the the exchange rate, which dampens prices of imported consumer goods.

    Economic growth in the current 2012/13 fiscal year, which ends June 30, is now forecast to be higher than in 2011/12, driven by a recovery in demand for exports and investments.
    The BOU said that in 2013/14 it was unlikely that net export demand would continue to provide the primary source of growth so domestic demand will have to contribute more and household consumption will have to rebound. Investment is also expected to rise, driven by both the public and private sectors.
    Last month the BOU projected Gross Domestic Product growth of 5.3 percent in 2012/13 and 6-7 percent in 2013/14.
    Private sector credit demand remains constrained by high bank lending rates and structural factors and the BOU said strong credit growth will be important in boosting demand, saying its rate cut should “also be a signal for commercial banks to reduce their lending rates further in order to boost demand for bank credit.”
    The BOU said it would maintain its band around the central bank rate at plus/minus 2 percentage points and the margin on the rediscount rate at 3 percentage points.
    In 2011 the BOU raised rates to a high of 23.0 percent in response to a rise in inflation to an all-time high of 30.5 percent in October 2011. Inflation then started to drop and hit a two-year low of 3.5 percent in February this year as the central bank slashed rates last year.

 www.CentralBankNews.info

Bank of Uganda’s Website for more details : http://www.bou.or.ug/bou/home.html

I am also a recurring pain in their neck and I expect one dark night on Old Burlington Street I will be bashed over the head with one of their weighty actuarial tomes for my insolence and rank ingratitude.

Nevertheless I am returning once again to do some mild LCP -bating;  starting with the preamble to their 2013 “investment management fees survey”

Focusing on fees has never been more important than today. Against the background of an uncertain and low growth environment, paying high fees will significantly impact your fund’s performance.  The survey reveals that pension funds are losing out as market movements generate more than 2.5x in fees for managers than their performance.

Fallacy one; fees are more important in a low growth environment. This is tosh; 1% of £1m is £10,000 whether it represents a quarter of the growth of the fund or one tenth. £10,000 has to be earned and paid by the sponsor of the pension fund and it is no easier or harder to earn that money in a low growth than high growth environment. It’s a lot easier to get people to pay attention to a fee that represents 25% of growth than 10% but the fee is equally important whatever the environment.

And if anyone thinks that all this fees hull-a-bulloo will  blow over when we get some market growth back, they are sorely mistaken

Fallacy two; The survey reveals that pension funds are losing out.

The survey reveals nothing unless LCP let you read it.  To read it you have to fill in a form which is vetted by LCP.

The form has a number of compulsory fields;

• First name is mandatory
• Last name is mandatory
• Title is mandatory
• Email address is mandatory
• Email address type is mandatory
• Company is mandatory
• Job title is mandatory

Whoah – and I just wanted to find out what I was paying for my funds like I’m told to!

There are a number of voluntary fields including one that asks your relationship with LCP with the following drop-down options “Client, Ex-Client, Intermediary, None”.

Sounds a bit like linked in who will ban you if you try to link with people you don’t know!

I wonder how many intermediaries are going to risk being rejected by submitting a form to “register for the download”. I wonder how many people who have no relationship with LCP will dare?

Well I am a lucky one and I have had the pleasure of reading this survey including this message from Will Goodhart

Clients and potential clients should know about the full range of types of fees and charges which will be applied against their assets.

Will is the CEO of the CFA Society of the UK, which, according to its website

“serves society’s best interests through the provision of education and training, the promotion of high professional and ethical standards and by informing policy-makers and the public about the investment profession”.

Which begs my question

“if what we are all trying to do is be transparent about fees, why can’t everyone see the report?”

TM (pending) Henry Tapper (not to be reblogged or even read by anyone I don't like or I'll jump up and down and cry a little)

The report itself is beautifully presented over 38 pages; it contains a particularly nice photo of Andrew (Andy) Cheseldine who sounds as public-spirited as Will Goodhart

Pension charges will continue to be put under the microscope by politicians and press alike and rightly so. Our job at LCP is to help ensure as much transparency as possible , identifying what separate charges and costs apply.

The substance and value of the report is some great data crunching and data presentation that shows just how wide the gap is in charges between the “cheap as chips” beta managers and the hedgies.

“The annual management charge for a fund of hedge funds mandate is 10 times the equivalent fee for either a passive equity or bond mandate”

The report points out that we can only guess at the true costs incurred by hedge fund managers who for the most part can’t even bother to have the conversation.

To test this I did a little market research on a group of three “hedge fund managers” parenting children playing in a cricket game yesterday. In answer to the question “do you tell your clients what you charge them?”  I got a unanimous response

“f**k off”

It is a truth , universally acknowledged, that the more money you make, the less inclined you are to tell people how you made it.

I am not quite sure what the CFA has in mind as “best practice”, but the response appears to be “market practice”

And while the report is brilliant in charting the “knowns”, it admits to not knowing much about “transactional costs” (aka hidden fees)

Over 65% of respondents provided no transaction cost information and, as such, there is insufficient data to conduct a meaningful analysis.

“As such?” – as what?

Can I direct the honourable gentle people to this link http://www.trueandfaircalculator.com/

If they press this link, they will be able to find the data that is provided by Morningstar on the funds of the fund managers listed on pages 36 and 7 of their report.

The true and fair calculator will give LCP data on the “Estimated Annual Cost of Fund Manager’s Buying & Selling” going into the detail of portfolio turnover rates and dealing charges.

This information is provided free by the owners of the Calculator (Alan and Gina Miller) and there is absolutely no need to “register to download”. It is total nonsense to suggest there is not enough “meaningful data” to conduct  a meaningful analysis. Just ask!

Which begs a further question

If the information that LCP cannot publish in a report that we cannot access is freely available on the web, could LCP be doing its job better?

I’d say

“No and yes”

No, because this is a great report and I’d love to scan every page below to show you what it shows me about the behaviours of differing types of investment managers. I don’t because I have read the disclaimers on the back and am probably pushing it as it is.

Yes, because LCP (and other consultancies) need to stop being so anal about their “intellectual property” and share it with all of us as Alan and Gina do.

There is still stuff that commands a premium price, some market intelligence which I and others would pay for. LCP produce a fair amount of it.

However, the cost of the funds that we as retail investors, institutional investors or those who advise investors, are in the business of using, is not something that anyone need pay for and the ABI, IMA, NAPF, SPC, FCA, CFA and I suspect in the final analysis LCP, know that to restore confidence in funds investment, we need to be TRUE AND FAIR.

Related articles

• Debunking the RSA myth that Dutch CDC provide better outcomes (henrytapper.com)
• Heavyweight support for CDC – the Dutchmen strike back! (henrytapper.com)
• Councils paying hundreds of millions to City fund managers for staff pension funds (telegraph.co.uk)
• Retirement income almost 40% less than working wage for new pensioners (guardian.co.uk)

AllAfrica

9th June 2013

ZAMBIA’s economic growth rate has not been sufficient to reduce poverty significantly, Deputy Minister of Finance Keith Mukata has said. Mr Mukata said though the economy had been performing well statistically, the growth rate had not been sufficient to notably reduce poverty. He said this when he graced the opening of AB Bank Kalingalinga Branch in Lusaka on Thursday.

To read the full article, click here.

Open Zambia

The news about the Philippines’ 7.8 percent growth in the first quarter of this year set the media abuzz in the last few days. But what does it really mean for Filipinos? The first time I learned of the news from an online news website, I simply could not find a concrete answer; so too the vast of majority of our countrymen, I think. This is because despite of the good news of our country’s growing economy, the poorest of the poor would feel that nothing has changed. Nothing because they’re still lacking with the most basic of human necessities like food, shelter and clothing. For many common people in the street, economic growth only affects the rich but not the poor.

While walking in EDSA-Crossing in Mandaluyong a few days later, I realized that the notion of inequitable growth seems all too visible. There was a woman with a child begging in the street while in the backdrop were tall polished malls and condominiums serving country’s rich. But instead of cursing in my mind what seems to be an unfair social condition, I found hope. I found an answer that I was looking for. I realized that our country’s economic growth is meant to put an end to the daily struggle for survival of our nation’s poorest. Although it might take time for the poorest members of our society to experience real change in their lives, the improvement of our country’s economy is a signal that the end of their suffering might be forthcoming. We can be assured that that will happen if political reforms made by the Aquino Administration will continue side by side with our country’s rapid economic growth.

Nevertheless, I hope that many of us would see opportunity in this period of our economic development. Opportunity not just for those who are already educated and moneyed who can ride in with progress, but also for those who are not. To do this, we must allow the poor to understand, not just know, the good that our economic growth can bring. So that the poor children who skip school would find inspiration to study hard knowing that there will be a job ahead of them when they persevere. So that those who live in crime would change their ways knowing that there is more incentive in making a living in accordance with the law rather than those which are against the law. So that those who seems to have lost faith in our country’s political system would open their eyes to progress knowing that the government does something to improve their well-being. We should understand that it is not only concrete measures made by the government and the business sector that lead to development. It is ‘inspiration’ that would allow people to work harder and unite together knowing that there’s value in doing and in cooperating with each other. And I could not think of anything that our recent economic growth would serve best than inspiring our people to work harder for our country’s development.

Bubble News (9/13/2012). Poverty in the Philippines. Retrieved from http://www.bubblews.com/news/33789-poverty-in-the-philippines

June 5, 2013 at 6:15 pm

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Salim Furth, Ph.D

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In a bid to support the sluggish economy, South Korea’s government last month unveiled a Won17.3trn (US$15.4bn) supplementary budget. However, a large chunk (Won12.0trn) of the extra budget is being earmarked to cover expected tax revenue shortfalls, and only Won5.3trn is to be used as extra spending. The finance ministry hopes its stimulus package will boost real GDP growth by 0.3% this year and is looking to revitalise the economy through the creation of 40,000 new jobs, providing support for the housing market, as well as low-income households and expanding childcare services. Furthermore, on top of spending geared toward infrastructure projects, trade financing is being extended for small exporters and new businesses will receive funding. The extra budget is set to lift the fiscal deficit from an initially planned figure of 0.3% of GDP this year to 1.8%. It is hoped the supplementary budget will help to inject new life into the stagnant economy. High household debt has weighed on consumer spending, while exporters are losing competitiveness because of the weak Japanese yen.

Judging by preliminary first quarter national accounts data, the economy remained largely lacklustre. Real GDP growth came in at 1.5% (y-o-y), unchanged from the previous quarter. By expenditure breakdown, private consumption showed renewed softness, while fixed investment continued to contract. Externally, weaker growth was noted in both exports and imports of goods and services. However, in q-o-q terms, the headline growth rate did make for better reading as output accelerated to 0.9% in Q1, up from 0.3% in Q4. Still, growth expectations for 2013 have continued to weaken and the central bank recently cut interest rates in a bid to shore up activity.

These survey highlights come from Asia Pacific Consensus Forecasts. You can download a sample of the publication at www.consensuseconomics.com.

A recent article from The Economist is just the latest in a long series of publications describing how Brazil’s economy has been weakening, but when is this going to reach the popular consciousness?

We have many laws in the Philippines because we have a lot of problems and also some of our lawmakers dissect issues and see things one by one. Some laws have been forgotten.  Others haven’t been implemented.  So what happens is that we have laws that don’t solve problems and are just too weak to tackle issues.  Haven’t you wondered why drugs are sold in the Philippine streets like candies?  Are our laws that weak?

Our lawmakers–okay, most of them–enact laws like how some doctors give a pill per ailment.  You have hypertension? Take this pill.  Diabetes?  This pill.  If you have many ailments, you get many pills. Smart doctors see a patient as a whole.  His ailment is systemic. They can give him one or two potent pills, advice him about his diet, recommend exercise routines to generally solve his health problem.  They connect the defect of one body part to the defect of another.  Our government should follow that kind of process–a system of solutions to a systemic problem.  That is what I called in my previous post a web of solutions to a problem that is complicated.

We should start treating a law as just part of a system called public policy–which is composed of laws, regulatory measures, courses of action, funding allocation, program implementation, performance audit, etc.  It is the role of the executive branch of government  to create and implement such system with the help of the other two branches that enact laws it needs and strengthen it in case its constitutionality is questioned.  Public policy is also a web of government efforts that take on a very important issue.

A pressing issue like unemployment should move our government to plan a public policy that has multiple goals to solve it.  Another thing about public policy is its multiple goals that operate around a working principle.  For example, the government can suggest that from now on when laws, policies, and programs are drafted job creation should be one of their objectives.  Can the Freedom of Information Bill, if enacted into law, create jobs?  Of course, it can if all government corporations, commissions, agencies, departments have information desks that will take charge of information requests.  Those are jobs right there.

Economists understand public policy better because they are used to the interconnections among economic factors and indicators in an economic system.  I have a good example:  government spending without public policy.  The Technical Education and Skills Development Act of 1994 was enacted with these goals:

” a)  Promote and strengthen the quality of technical education and skills development programs to attain international competitiveness;

b)  Focus technical education and skills development on meeting the changing demands for quality middle-level manpower;

c)  Encourage critical and creative thinking by disseminating the scientific and technical knowledge  base of middle-level manpower development programs;

d)  Recognize and encourage the complementary roles of public and private institutions in technical education and skills development and training systems; and

e)  Inculcate desirable values through the development of moral character with emphasis on work ethic, self-discipline, self-reliance and nationalism.”

Where’s the line about employment and employability?  It’s clear that it’s just a law (or act if you know the difference) creating Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).  The government implements what the law says and allocates funds and resources.  That’s it.  If skills development for future employment is a public policy, that law is just a part of it.  The fund allocation is another.  Making sure that vocational students of TESDA are employable should be the big chunk of it.  With public policy, the scope is wide, and the participating stakeholders are many.  It’s not only about the law.

Let’s use this 2010 data from the National Statistics Office’s Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry and TESDA.

The building construction industry hired 9,035 workers

The civil engineering construction industry laid off 16,749 workers

TESDA awarded 28,607 certificates of competency in fields related to construction.

If those statistics are still the trends today,  where will these people with certificates work?  How can the TESDA Act solve that?  Remember the government spends a lot in implementing that law.  If the government cannot give jobs to these people, that’s a wasteful government spending. If skills development and future employment among the jobless poor is a public policy, different government branches, agencies, and departments can contribute to its success.  TESDA won’t be doing it alone.

How can we give jobs to these people?  I mean local construction jobs.  Make regulatory policies and even local ordinances that will force construction companies to hire more workers.  How?  City governments can prohibit construction activities from evening to dawn due to noise and disturbance.  The Department of Labor and Employment should monitor if construction workers and their employers stick to the “eight hours a day” rule and the one-hour off for lunch and rest. The Department of Health can limit construction work to forty hours a week per worker to prevent over-fatigue and work-related accidents.  The Department of Environmental Resources can make guidelines that will push construction companies to adopt early project deadlines so the quality of air won’t be compromised.  They sound funny, but the logic is good: less working hours a day and a week plus early project deadline mean more workers will be needed and hired.

Some of you might wonder why I’m focusing on the building construction industry.  Well, it is a booming industry with high growth rate and profit growth.  They say it will continue to boom until 2016.  The government should do something to make this industry create  a significant number of jobs.  The first thing it should do is make unemployment a matter of public policy before spending more billions on programs that don’t promise local jobs.  Create a system in which different government branches, agencies, and departments have goals to solve the problem.  Employing the poor is the most potent way to end poverty. With that as a working principle, the government’s spending won’t be a waste.

The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, which measures the overall volume of financing to small U.S. companies, rose to 110.5 from an upwardly revised 99 in March, PayNet said on Monday. The March figure was originally reported at 98.5.

Business borrowing can point to trends in growth and employment, because when small firms take out loans they generally spend the money on new tools, factories and equipment. Such capital investment can be a prelude to new hiring.

The Fed is buying $85 billion in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities each month in an effort to boost growth and jobs, but so far that stimulus has done little for small businesses, PayNet president Bill Phelan said in an interview.

Small businesses “are not heading for the exits, but they are not firing up yet either,” Phelan said.

The lending index rose 17 percent from a year earlier in April, but is still shy of the 112.8 level at which it started the year.

“There’s a lot of money being pumped in, but these businesses aren’t biting,” Phelan said, adding that when small businesses do not borrow, they are not as apt to hire.

Historically, PayNet’s lending index has correlated to overall economic growth one or two quarters in the future.

Read More:

Small Business expanding into Network Marketing to gain more Customers. Read More:

Pronk Pops Show 111: May 31, 2013

Pronk Pops Show 110: May 24, 2013

Pronk Pops Show 109: May 17, 2013

Pronk Pops Show 108: May 10, 2013

Pronk Pops Show 107: May 3, 2013

Pronk Pops Show 106: April 26, 2013

Pronk Pops Show 105: April 19, 2013

Pronk Pops Show 104: April 12, 2013

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 112-

Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 108-111

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Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 94-97

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Listen To Pronk Pops Podcast or Download Shows 01-09

Segment 3: Official Unemployment Rate Rises To 7.6% With Only 175,000 Jobs Created in May and 11.8 Million Americans Unemployed — Videos

U.S. Unemployment Rate Climbs to 7.6%

PREVIEW: Change in Nonfarm Payrolls – 7th June 2013

Will the Unemployment Rate Stall in 2013? (Full Video) (EiP)

Peter Schiff – The Talk May Be Positive, But The Numbers Are Still Negative

The Coming Total Economic Collapse

Global Depression Predicted In 2013

Art Laffer: State Of Economy Is Terrible

George Soros Predicts Global Economic Collapse

George Soros Predicts Global Economic Collapse trade, stock, market, the financial collapse, crisis, economic crisis, the economic crisis, us economic crisis, global economic crisis, european economic crisis

Gerald Celente 2013 Forecast Iran War, Economic Crisis

Data extracted on: June 7, 2013 (11:43:43 AM)

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

Employment Level

143,898,000

Series Id: LNS12000000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Employment Level
Labor force status: Employed
Type of data: Number in thousands
Age: 16 years and over

Civilian Labor Force Level

155,658,000

Series Id: LNS11000000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Civilian Labor Force Level
Labor force status: Civilian labor force
Type of data: Number in thousands
Age: 16 years and over

Labor Force Participation Rate

63.4%

Series Id: LNS11300000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Labor Force Participation Rate
Labor force status: Civilian labor force participation rate
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 years and over

Unemployment Level

11,760,000

Series Id: LNS13000000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Level
Labor force status: Unemployed
Type of data: Number in thousands
Age: 16 years and over

Unemployment Rate U-3

7.6%

Series Id: LNS14000000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Rate
Labor force status: Unemployment rate
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 years and over

16-19 Years (Teenage) Unemployment Rate

24.5%

Series Id: LNS14000012
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Rate – 16-19 yrs.
Labor force status: Unemployment rate
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 to 19 years

Average Weeks Unemployed

36.9%

Series Id: LNS13008275
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Average Weeks Unemployed
Labor force status: Unemployed
Type of data: Number of weeks
Age: 16 years and over

Unemployment Level New Entrants

1,268,000

Series Id: LNS13023569
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Level – New Entrants
Labor force status: Unemployed
Type of data: Number in thousands
Age: 16 years and over
Unemployed entrant status: New entrants

Not in Labor Force, Search For Work and Available

2,347,000

Series Id: LNU05026642
Not Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Unadj) Not in Labor Force, Searched For Work and Available
Labor force status: Not in labor force
Type of data: Number in thousands
Age: 16 years and over
Job desires/not in labor force: Want a job now
Reasons not in labor force: Available to work now

Not in Labor Force, Searched for Work and Available,

Discouraged Reasons For Not Currently Looking

780,000

Series Id: LNU05026645
Not Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Unadj) Not in Labor Force, Searched For Work and Available, Discouraged Reasons For Not Currently Looking
Labor force status: Not in labor force
Type of data: Number in thousands
Age: 16 years and over
Job desires/not in labor force: Want a job now
Reasons not in labor force: Discouragement over job prospects (Persons who believe no job is available.)

Total Unemployment Rate U-6

13.8%

Series Id: LNS13327709
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (seas) Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers
Labor force status: Aggregated totals unemployed
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 years and over
Percent/rates: Unemployed and mrg attached and pt for econ reas as percent of labor force plus marg attached

Background Articles and Videos

Employment Situation Summary

Transmission of material in this release is embargoed                        USDL-13-1102
until 8:30 a.m. (EDT) Friday, June 7, 2013

Technical information:
 Household data:       (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps
 Establishment data:   (202) 691-6555  *  cesinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact:         (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov

                          THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- MAY 2013

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000 in May, and the unemployment
rate was essentially unchanged at 7.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. Employment rose in professional and business services, food services
and drinking places, and retail trade.

Household Survey Data

Both the number of unemployed persons, at 11.8 million, and the unemployment rate, at
7.6 percent, were essentially unchanged in May. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.2 percent),
adult women (6.5 percent), teenagers (24.5 percent), whites (6.7 percent), blacks
(13.5 percent), and Hispanics (9.1 percent) showed little or no change in May. The
jobless rate for Asians was 4.3 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from
a year earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

In May, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was
unchanged at 4.4 million. These individuals accounted for 37.3 percent of the unemployed.
Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed has declined by 1.0 million.
(See table A-12.)

The civilian labor force rose by 420,000 to 155.7 million in May; however, the labor
force participation rate was little changed at 63.4 percent. Over the year, the labor
force participation rate has declined by 0.4 percentage point. The employment-population
ratio was unchanged in May at 58.6 percent and has shown little movement, on net, over 
the past year. (See table A-1.)

In May, the number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred
to as involuntary part-time workers) was unchanged at 7.9 million. These individuals were
working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to
find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)

In May, 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down from 2.4
million a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were
not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job
sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not
searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 780,000 discouraged workers in May, little
changed from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged
workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are
available for them. The remaining 1.4 million persons marginally attached to the labor
force in May had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family
responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000 in May, with gains in professional
and business services, food services and drinking places, and retail trade. Over the
prior 12 months, employment growth averaged 172,000 per month. (See table B-1.)

Professional and business services added 57,000 jobs in May. Within this industry,
employment continued to trend up in temporary help services (+26,000), computer systems
design and related services (+6,000), and architectural and engineering services (+5,000).
Employment in professional and business services has grown by 589,000 over the past year.

Within leisure and hospitality, employment in food services and drinking places continued
to expand, increasing by 38,000 in May and by 337,000 over the past year.

Retail trade employment increased by 28,000 in May. The industry added an average of
20,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months. In May, general merchandise stores
continued to add jobs (+10,000).

Health care employment continued to trend up in May (+11,000). Job gains in home health
care services (+7,000) and outpatient care centers (+4,000) more than offset a loss in
hospitals (-6,000). Over the prior 12 months, job growth in health care averaged 24,000
per month.

Within government, federal government employment declined by 14,000 in May. Over the past
3 months, federal government employment has decreased by 45,000.

Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, construction,
manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, and financial activities,
showed little or no change over the month.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in
May at 34.5 hours. In manufacturing, the workweek increased by 0.1 hour to 40.8 hours,
and overtime was unchanged at 3.3 hours. The average workweek for production and
nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.8
hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

In May, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, at $23.89,
changed little (+1 cent). Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 46 cents, or
2.0 percent. In May, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory
employees, at $20.08, changed little (+1 cent). (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for March was revised from +138,000 to
+142,000, and the change for April was revised from +165,000 to +149,000. With these
revisions, employment gains in March and April combined were 12,000 less than previously
reported.

_____________
The Employment Situation for June is scheduled to be released on Friday, July 5, 2013,
at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

• Employment Situation Summary Table A. Household data, seasonally adjusted
• Employment Situation Summary Table B. Establishment data, seasonally adjusted
• Employment Situation Frequently Asked Questions
• Employment Situation Technical Note
• Table A-1. Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age
• Table A-2. Employment status of the civilian population by race, sex, and age
• Table A-3. Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age
• Table A-4. Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment
• Table A-5. Employment status of the civilian population 18 years and over by veteran status, period of service, and sex, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-6. Employment status of the civilian population by sex, age, and disability status, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-7. Employment status of the civilian population by nativity and sex, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-8. Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status
• Table A-9. Selected employment indicators
• Table A-10. Selected unemployment indicators, seasonally adjusted
• Table A-11. Unemployed persons by reason for unemployment
• Table A-12. Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment
• Table A-13. Employed and unemployed persons by occupation, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-14. Unemployed persons by industry and class of worker, not seasonally adjusted
• Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization
• Table A-16. Persons not in the labor force and multiple jobholders by sex, not seasonally adjusted
• Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail
• Table B-2. Average weekly hours and overtime of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
• Table B-3. Average hourly and weekly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
• Table B-4. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours and payrolls for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
• Table B-5. Employment of women on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted
• Table B-6. Employment of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
• Table B-7. Average weekly hours and overtime of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
• Table B-8. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
• Table B-9. Indexes of aggregate weekly hours and payrolls for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)

• Access to historical data for the “A” tables of the Employment Situation Release
• Access to historical data for the “B” tables of the Employment Situation Release
• HTML version of the entire news release

Employment Situation Summary Table A. Household data, seasonally adjusted

CategoryApr.
2012Feb.
2013Mar.
2013Apr.
2013Change from:
Mar.
2013-
Apr.
2013Employment status Civilian noninstitutional population242,784244,828244,995245,175180Civilian labor force154,451155,524155,028155,238210Participation rate63.663.563.363.30.0Employed141,934143,492143,286143,579293Employment-population ratio58.558.658.558.60.1Unemployed12,51812,03211,74211,659-83Unemployment rate8.17.77.67.5-0.1Not in labor force88,33289,30489,96789,936-31 Unemployment rates Total, 16 years and over8.17.77.67.5-0.1Adult men (20 years and over)7.57.16.97.10.2Adult women (20 years and over)7.47.07.06.7-0.3Teenagers (16 to 19 years)24.925.124.224.1-0.1White7.46.86.76.70.0Black or African American13.113.813.313.2-0.1Asian (not seasonally adjusted)5.26.15.05.1-Hispanic or Latino ethnicity10.39.69.29.0-0.2 Total, 25 years and over6.86.36.26.1-0.1Less than a high school diploma12.511.211.111.60.5High school graduates, no college7.97.97.67.4-0.2Some college or associate degree7.56.76.46.40.0Bachelor’s degree and higher4.03.83.83.90.1 Reason for unemployment Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs6,8806,5226,3296,41081Job leavers989956986864-122Reentrants3,3363,3403,1763,151-25New entrants1,3621,2791,3161,280-36 Duration of unemployment Less than 5 weeks2,5672,6672,4642,474105 to 14 weeks2,8412,7822,8382,8481015 to 26 weeks1,9841,6951,7371,96723027 weeks and over5,0404,7974,6114,353-258 Employed persons at work part time Part time for economic reasons7,8967,9887,6387,916278Slack work or business conditions5,2105,1364,9065,129223Could only find part-time work2,3932,5782,5762,527-49Part time for noneconomic reasons18,86818,90818,74518,908163 Persons not in the labor force (not seasonally adjusted) Marginally attached to the labor force2,3632,5882,3262,347-Discouraged workers968885803835– Over-the-month changes are not displayed for not seasonally adjusted data.
NOTE: Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the various series. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

Employment Situation Summary Table A. Household data, seasonally adjusted

CategoryMay
2012Mar.
2013Apr.
2013May
2013Change from:
Apr.
2013-
May
2013Employment status Civilian noninstitutional population242,966244,995245,175245,363188Civilian labor force154,998155,028155,238155,658420Participation rate63.863.363.363.40.1Employed142,302143,286143,579143,898319Employment-population ratio58.658.558.658.60.0Unemployed12,69511,74211,65911,760101Unemployment rate8.27.67.57.60.1Not in labor force87,96889,96789,93689,705-231 Unemployment rates Total, 16 years and over8.27.67.57.60.1Adult men (20 years and over)7.76.97.17.20.1Adult women (20 years and over)7.37.06.76.5-0.2Teenagers (16 to 19 years)24.424.224.124.50.4White7.46.76.76.70.0Black or African American13.613.313.213.50.3Asian (not seasonally adjusted)5.25.05.14.3-Hispanic or Latino ethnicity11.09.29.09.10.1 Total, 25 years and over6.96.26.16.10.0Less than a high school diploma13.011.111.611.1-0.5High school graduates, no college8.27.67.47.40.0Some college or associate degree7.86.46.46.50.1Bachelor’s degree and higher3.93.83.93.8-0.1 Reason for unemployment Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs6,9686,3296,4106,147-263Job leavers90298686494480Reentrants3,4503,1763,1513,333182New entrants1,3471,3161,2801,268-12 Duration of unemployment Less than 5 weeks2,6022,4642,4742,7062325 to 14 weeks3,0072,8382,8482,669-17915 to 26 weeks1,7031,7371,9671,950-1727 weeks and over5,3854,6114,3534,3574 Employed persons at work part time Part time for economic reasons8,1167,6387,9167,904-12Slack work or business conditions5,1744,9065,1294,841-288Could only find part-time work2,6932,5762,5272,721194Part time for noneconomic reasons19,35618,74518,90818,93426 Persons not in the labor force (not seasonally adjusted) Marginally attached to the labor force2,4232,3262,3472,164-Discouraged workers830803835780– Over-the-month changes are not displayed for not seasonally adjusted data.
NOTE: Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Detail for the seasonally adjusted data shown in this table will not necessarily add to totals because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the various series. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

Employment Situation Summary Table B. Establishment data, seasonally adjusted

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It’s Time to Focus on Jobs & Growth

For the better part of three years Washington has been gripped by an obsession with the deficit, but a new paper out from the Center for American Progress today argues that it’s time to abandon austerity, ditch deficit hysteria, and instead focus on jobs and economic growth.

What’s changed since Washington caught deficit fever in 2010? A lot, as it turns out.

• The deficit has been significantly reduced and stabilized.

• We have already enacted significant deficit reduction: $2.5 TRILLION worth, three-quarters of which has come from spending cuts.
• Health care spending has grown much more slowly than expected, due in part to Obamacare.

• The intellectual argument in favor of austerity collapsed in a somewhat spectacular fashion.
• The implementation of austerity in Europe has been nothing short of disastrous. Unemployment in the Eurozone is at a record high and the UK’s austerity almost resulted in triple-dip recession and has actually resulted in more, not less debt.

What hasn’t changed? We continue to have tepid growth and the economy is not creating nearly as many jobs as it could or should be.

• $50 BILLION to fix our crumbling infrastructure.
• $20 BILLION for early childhood education.
• $12 BILLION  for the “Pathways Back to Work Fund,” which would help provide opportunities for the long-term unemployed, young people, and low-income people.

Now is the perfect time to make these kinds of investments as interest rates on government bonds are unusually low right now.In addition to all of these key facts, it’s also time to recognize some political realities. Since Republicans refuse to negotiate in good faith toward a so-called “grand bargain” there is no point in continuing to pursue one. Instead, we ought reset the debate, replace the sequester for three years with an achievable package of cuts and revenue increases, and turn our attention toward making the investments we need to fuel jobs and growth.You can read the entire report in all of its wonky goodness HERE.

BOTTOM LINE: Austerity is dead — or at least it should be.

State must step up, advises Marcus.

By Ethel Hazelhurst .

Johannesburg – South Africa faced “challenges of crisis proportions”, Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus said on Thursday. And she called on government to “act coherently and exhibit strong and focused leadership from the top” to deal with the situation.

Marcus, who has spoken out against unions making unrealistic wage demands and overpaid bosses in the past, put the government in her sights in her keynote speech, at a conference in Johannesburg hosted by the Bureau for Economic Research. She said “decisive leadership that consistently demonstrates a co-ordinated plan of action” would go “a long way to restoring confidence, credibility and trust”.

The comments came after months of ongoing labour unrest, including often violent and unprotected strike action, which have created investor uncertainty and helped push the rand from R8 to the dollar last August, when unrest emerged at the Marikana platinum mine in Rustenburg, to more than R10 last week.

Currency weakness has compounded the problems of low economic growth – less than 1 percent annualised in the first quarter – and a chronically high official unemployment rate of about 25 percent. A weak rand, a key driver of inflation, has kept the bank from cutting it’s repo rate from 5 percent to stimulate growth.

Marcus noted the solution to the country’s low growth rate and high unemployment lay “way beyond the scope of monetary policy” and the situation required “clear actions to stabilise the labour relations environment”.

She referred to “deep-rooted structural problems” caused by, among other things, “weak competitiveness, a poor skills profile and an educational system that in parts is dysfunctional”. These failings resulted in “high unemployment and massive inequalities”.

Chris Hart, the chief strategist at Investment Solutions, said her “sober analysis had highlighted deficiencies in government policy and policy outcomes”. He said Marcus had been diplomatic but nevertheless her comments were “hard hitting” and “not something the ANC would like to take into the election as a manifesto”.

And he said the governor’s remarks on the ability of monetary policy to stimulate growth in the current environment had “pulled the plug on the possibility of a further rate cut”.

Like Marcus, labour economist Andrew Levy called for “strong and effective leadership” at the conference.

He said: “Ultimately the greatest threat our society faces is unemployment. This is a war we must win. A stable civil society cannot be built in the face of unemployment levels close to [an effective] 50 percent. South Africa is at a cross roads insofar as labour relations is concerned, Marikana is a turning point with the potential to yield some good if the lessons are learned and the opportunities seized.”

He proposed structural reforms of the labour market and its institutions to deal with the “escalating threat” that would strangle foreign investment in the economy. Without reforms, he said, there would be no prospect of dealing with unemployment, strikes and violence.

He predicted his proposals would be resisted by unions “simply because it will reduce the institutional power that has been handed them on a plate and require that they ensure that both their members and themselves behave constitutionally and within the law”.

On the government’s role, he said reform would require “demonstrative political will and a time-based programme for its achievement”. – Business Report

Source: IOL Business Report

World-watchers say China’s expanding middle class will become the most influential bloc on this planet very soon. But in the meantime, they are the ones who have to struggle most with new expectations, higher benchmarks and also battle ingrained lifestyle traditions.

China Daily

Read the article here.

The schemes backed by the London Enterprise Panel (LEP) are in areas where ambitious regeneration plans are in place and where transport infrastructure will help unlock significant economic growth.

These schemes are set to deliver improved rail links between Tottenham Hale and the Upper Lee Valley; major road improvements in Bexley and support Ealing to harness the economic opportunities coming from Crossrail.

Collectively the projects could safeguard existing or create an estimated 45,000 jobs, support the construction of tens of thousands of homes and attract significant private investment into deprived areas.

The LEP’s adoption of these bids is a significant milestone for these projects and the proposals will now progress to a final stage, including more detailed work developing business cases, technical modelling and delivery mechanisms.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Transport links are a vital precursor to economic development. This money is earmarked for investment into transport schemes which have significant potential to stimulate growth and job creation.

“I welcome the London Enterprise Panel’s assessment of which projects are best placed to do this and City Hall will now be working with the bid teams to progress these ambitious proposals.”

The bids approved by the London Enterprise Panel will provide extra services at Northumberland Park and Tottenham Hale, improving rail links between Stratford, the Upper Lee Valley and beyond including Stansted Airport.

Collectively with Angel Road Station improvements, this will support the commencement of the Meridian Water development and regeneration at Northumberland Park where there are plans for an estimated 3,500 homes and 500 jobs.

It will also support the development of an estimated 15,700 new homes, 21,900 new jobs in the Lee Valley and up to 15,000 jobs in adjoining areas.

£2.5 million allocated to upgrade Angel Road station and support regeneration in Enfield (bid from Enfield Borough Council). Angel Road station is vital to the regeneration of Enfield and specifically to support the Meridian Water development and regeneration in the Lower Lea Valley more widely.

Station improvements will increase passenger capacity through an enhanced commuter rail service and boost employment across wide range of trades in the building construction industry.

“The progress that countries have made against hunger and extreme poverty show that we can reach the hunger-free and sustainable world that we are committed,” the FAO chief, Jose Graziano da Silva, wrote in an article “Lessions from China’s Success in Reducing Hunger” that was published in Xinhuanet before his visit to China on June 4-7.

“To get there, we need to reinvigorate broad-based economic growth by creating the conditions for development of the productive sectors, including smallholder agriculture. It will also mean designing, financing, and implementing social protection for the most vulnerable since the main cause of hunger today is not insufficient production but lack of access to food“, he continued.

In his signed article, the director-general stressed that the experience of China offers valuable lessons in this regard. Economic growth in China has been rapid for the past three decades. Growth has been especially buoyant in urban areas, but over the past 10 years, real incomes have also grown nearly 8 percent per year in rural areas, and there are now signs that the urban-rural gap in incomes is narrowing.

Because of this broad-based economic growth, “dollar-a-day” poverty declined from 84 percent in 1981 to just 12 percent in 2009.

As one of the powerhouses of the world’s economy, the head of the Rome-base UN food agency said, many are turning to China to see how it has managed such impressive economic growth. This interest also extends to the fields of food security and agriculture.

That is why, he said , in view of China’s rapid growth in agricultural production, consumption and trade, and in the context of the issues the country may face in the future and their implications for the rest of world, the OECD and FAO decided to produce a special chapter on China in its 2013-2022 Agricultural Outlook, which will be launched in Beijing on June 6.

Related articles

• Make food security, nutrition priority – UN agencies (times.co.zm)
• FAO urges end of malnutrition as priority (civilsocietynow4u.wordpress.com)
• Making FAO more effective (devex.com)