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Reasons to be cheerful
By John M. Berry
John M. Berry, who has covered the economy for four decades for the Washington Post and other publications, is a guest columnist.
Doing more with less is a corporate mantra that some say bodes ill for job growth. Data last week showed that productivity at non-farm business jumped at an extraordinary 9.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter.
Yet the sharp gains in efficiency are helping drive corporate profits and that could be just what’s needed to convince employers that it’s safe to begin hiring again.
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The danger of a lost generation
– Christopher Swann is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own —
NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) – For the first time in three generations, Americans across the nation are facing the threat of long-term unemployment. Already more than one in four jobless Americans have now been out of work for more than six months, the highest level since records began in 1948.
Gloomy employment milestones
There is normally something for both optimists and pessimists in the monthly employment report.
When the payroll figures are disappointing, the unemployment rate is frequently better than expected. This month is no exception. While payrolls plunged by nearly half a million, unemployment barely budged.
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The Wall
