Greek Unemployment Soars To New Record, 56% Of 15-24 Year Olds Without Job

Judging by ongoing momentum moves in various European stock and bond market indicators, one could be left with the impression that something in the continent is actually improving.

And while hope of improvement is certainly be high, the reality is vastly different as confirmed by the just released Greek unemployment data, which saw the broad unemployment rate soar to a fresh record high of 26.8% in October (24.1% males, 30.4% females - that's nearly one in three), up from a pre-revision 26.0% in September, and up from 19.7% a year ago, the youth (15-24 age group) unemployment rising again to a new all time high of 56.6% (up from 56.4%), and the ratio of those employed (3.68MM) to unemployed (1.34MM) plunging to a record low 2.75x.

At this rate it may well hit 1.00x quite soon. But even sooner, perhaps in a few months, the total number of inactive workers (3.34MM) will surpass all those who are working. In short, the Greek collapse is just getting worse and worse. Read more >>

Consumer Spending in U.S. Declines - blamed on Sandy [wink, wink]

Spending by U.S. consumers unexpectedly declined and incomes stagnated in October as superstorm Sandy kept some in the Northeast from getting to work or from shopping at malls and car dealerships.

Purchases decreased 0.2 percent, the weakest reading since May, after a 0.8 percent gain in the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for no change in so-called nominal sales. Incomes were unchanged, held down by a drop in wages caused by Sandy, Commerce said.

The storm shuttered hundreds of retailers when it made landfall on Oct. 29, temporarily countering the benefit from rising consumer sentiment that has brightened the holiday- shopping outlook. Faster job and wage gains would help stoke household spending after a third-quarter slowdown, helping explain why the Federal Reserve is pursuing policy aimed at spurring employment. Read more >>

Minnesota employers cut 8,100 jobs in October

Minnesota employers cut 8,100 jobs statewide in October, by far the worst monthly job report of the year.

A massive positive revision to the September numbers helped offset the loss, but the state’s employment and economic development agency, DEED, reported major losses in administrative support and lower-paid business services jobs, which shed 4,800 jobs. State government lost 1,900 jobs, mostly in education, and durable goods manufacturing lost 800 jobs.

“Employment data for October does certainly reinforce the concerns we’ve expressed here, that the recovery, while it does continue, is a fragile one,” said Steve Hine, DEED’s labor market economist. “We’ll be paying a great deal of attention to Congress as they grapple with the so-called fiscal cliff.”

Hine said the weakness in business-to-business service jobs is a bad sign for the economy, even though many of the positions are on the low end of the pay spectrum and a large portion of them are temporary positions.

 “You could see it as a leading indicator,” he said. Read more >>

Banking job cuts near 160,000

Banks worldwide are shedding jobs as stricter regulations and euro zone worries take their toll on trading income and investment banking units. Many began outlining layoffs plans 18 months ago and are now cutting more deeply as they reassess their entire business to cope with tougher capital rules, while some are cutting because of acquisitions or mergers they are involved in.

Switzerland's UBS in October added 10,000 job cuts to the 3,500 it had earmarked last year, after deciding to exit most of the rates and debt trading. Staff cuts announced since mid-2011 or reported to be in the works at major banks have now reached 158,000.

Below are aggregates of various redundancy rounds. They are likely to be conservative figures, as not all banks have announced lay-offs publicly, and the number does not take into account smaller investment banks, boutiques and brokers. Read more >>

Incomes Continuing to Decline

Noel Sheppard
One of the negative features of the current economic recovery has been declining incomes of average Americans. This trend continued in October.

The Labor Department reported Friday that despite 171,000 jobs being added to nonfarm payrolls in October, average hourly earnings for such employees edged down by 1 cent to $23.58. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees also dropped by 1 cent to $19.79.

This continues a trend reported by the Census Bureau in August finding that since the recovery began in June 2009, median household incomes have fallen 4.8 percent adjusted for inflation.

Also of note, the manufacturing workweek edged down by 0.1 hour to 40.5 hours. The average
workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls also edged
down by 0.1 hour to 33.6 hours.

As such, despite the positive headline numbers in this report, this is by no means a strong jobs market this far into an economic recovery.

Consumer Confidence Falls to Two-Year Low

Consumer confidence unexpectedly slumped in October to the lowest level since March 2009, when the U.S. economy was in a recession, as Americans’ outlooks for employment and incomes soured.

Limited job availability, deteriorating home values and the threat of a European debt default are weighing on sentiment. A drop in optimism helps explain concern among some companies like Levi Strauss & Co. that spending will falter during the holiday shopping season.

“Dysfunctional labor and housing markets and the turmoil in Europe all are drags on confidence,” Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Inc. in Dallas, said before the report. “Consumers are fundamentally constrained, and consumer spending won’t be leading the economy forward.” More...