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Fresh Paint
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
 
A Brighter Day
Maybe tomorrow will be.... had 4 inches of rain in the past 12 hours or so. Certainly, when Kerry and Edwards take over we can count on one.

Good morning my friends. Durable goods report out showing factory production up, though inventories also up, so look for price slashing soon. However, they're apparently doing it with less people -- ungrateful people too busy to get a job themselves as they stuff their faces in the service sector at McDonalds, served by former colleague-refugees from higher-paying jobs. [ed. it took me a half hour to write that sentence. please admire it.]

Services, Factory Orders Brighten Outlook:
One disappointing aspect of the ISM survey was a decline in its employment component to 50.0 from 57.4, a worrying sign on the heels of a Tuesday report from outplacement specialist Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc. showing that companies are still cutting payrolls.

Jobs growth is seen as the linchpin of the expansion and financial markets will pay close attention to the July employment report, due on Friday, which is forecast to show the economy created 228,000 new jobs after a disappointing 112,000 in June.
What Challenger, Gray and Christmas report? Guess they were still too busy arguing about bounces and whether terrorists were ready to blow up the ATM on the corner through mind control to report the following very widely:
U.S. layoffs increase 8.1% in July

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- U.S. corporations announced 8.1 percent more job reductions in July than in June, according to a monthly tally by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas released Tuesday.

Corporations announced 69,572 job reductions in July, up from 64,343 in June, Challenger reported.
...
Meanwhile, corporations announced plans in July to hire 26,880 workers, down 30 percent from the 38,377 in June.
...
Cobb said a surprising 43 percent of human-resources executives said their firms could be altered based on the outcome of the November election.
Hmmmm......

- posted by Cynthia @ 12:57 PM | | | Link |

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