Nine in 10 Americans have no confidence in Congress

Nine in 10 Americans say they have no confidence in Congress, ranking it last on a list of 16 institutions for the fourth straight year, Gallup said Thursday. The 10 percent confidence level is the lowest level registered for any institution since Gallup began this poll in 1973, Gallup said.

At 76 percent, Americans said they were most confident in the military. Small business and the police also ranked high, at 65 percent and 57 percent, with Americans expressing "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in these institutions, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

Also at the bottom of the list were health maintenance organizations, at 19 percent, and organized labor, at 21 percent. Confidence in Congress has been at its lowest points for several years, Gallup said. The high point was in 1973, when 42 percent of Americans said they had confidence in Congress.

Results are based on nationwide phone interviews with 1,529 adults conducted June 1-4. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.

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Spanish Unemployment Tops Record, Rising At Fastest Rate In A Year

In yet another worse-than-expected macro data point, Spain has just breached the 27% unemployment level - the highest since at least 1976, when data began following dictator Francisco Franco's death. At 27.2% this is already higher than the IMF's year-end estimate of 27% suggesting growth estimates are already overly optimistic.

What is more concerning is the rate of increase in the joblessness is rising once again. The 1.1 percentage point rise is the largest in a year and 177,700 more households now have no actively employed members than a year ago. The greatest fear though, for European leaders and the Spanish people themselves, is the surge in youth unemployment.

As we have noted a number of times in the past, the possibility of social unrest is exaggerated significantly by this number and at an incredulous 57.2% of under-25s out of work, Spain is closing in on Greece, according to official data, for the worst youth unemployment situation in Europe. Read more >>

MI jobless rate raises to 9.4 percent

Michigan authorities say the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage points in the latest month to 9.4 percent.

The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget released the August jobless figures Wednesday. The nation's August unemployment rate was 8.1 percent, down from 8.3 percent in July.

The state's jobless has fallen 1 percentage point over 12 months from an August 2011 level of 10.4 percent. But it has risen for four straight months from April's 8.3 percent. Read more >>

Americans' Confidence in Television News Drops to New Low

Lymari Morales
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' confidence in television news is at a new low by one percentage point, with 21% of adults expressing a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in it. This marks a decline from 27% last year and from 46% when Gallup started tracking confidence in television news in 1993.

The findings are from Gallup's annual update on confidence in U.S. institutions, conducted June 7-10 this year. As such, the findings preceded the erroneous initial reports by cable-news networks CNN and Fox News regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's June 28 decision about the constitutionality of the U.S. healthcare law.
Among 16 U.S. institutions tested, television news ranks 11^th, following newspapers in 10^th place. The 25% of adults who express a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in newspapers is down slightly from 28% last year. Confidence in newspapers is now half of what it was at its peak of 51% in 1979.

This year's updates mark a setback from last year for both television news and newspapers, when Americans appeared to be regaining some confidence in these institutions, though they are more in line with 2007-2010 readings. Read more >>

Spanish unemployment rate rises to new eurozone record of 21.3 percent

Image via WikipediaSpain’s unemployment rate jumped in the first quarter to 21.3 percent, a eurozone record and the country’s highest since 1997, with over 4.9 million people out of work, the government said Friday.

Joblessness during the January-March period jumped 1 percentage point from 20.3 percent at the end of 2010, and adds pressure on Spain as it tries to recover from nearly two years of recession and convince investors that it can handle its heavy debt load.

“This data is very negative and grave,” said Labor Minister Valeriano Gomez.

The country is struggling to shift away from dependence on the construction sector, which supported growth for years until the financial crisis popped the Spain’s real estate bubble, as well as make the economy more competitive and reduce national debt. More...

Gallup Finds U.S. Unemployment Hitting 10.3% in February

Dennis Jacobe, Chief Economist

PRINCETON, NJ -- Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, hit 10.3% in February -- up from 9.8% at the end of January. The U.S. unemployment rate is now essentially the same as the 10.4% at the end of February 2010.

The percentage of part-time workers who want full-time work worsened considerably in February, increasing to 9.6% of the workforce from 9.1% at the end of January. A larger percentage of the U.S. workforce is working part time and wanting full-time work now than was the case a year ago (9.3%).

Underemployment Surges in February
Underemployment, a measure that combines part-time workers wanting full-time work with those who are unemployed, surged in February to 19.9%. This resulted from the combination of a sharp 0.5-point increase since the end of January in the percentage unemployed and a 0.5-point increase in the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work. Underemployment is now higher than it was at this point a year ago (19.7%).

Jobs Situation Deteriorates in February
There is essentially no difference between the unemployment rate now and the one at this time a year ago; January's rate, in contrast, showed a 1.1-percentage-point year-over-year improvement. This suggests that the real U.S. jobs situation worsened in February. That is, jobs are relatively less available now than in January. Read More...