plus 4, Canada, U.S. jobs numbers disappoint, but employment growth around ... - Stockhouse

Canada, U.S. jobs numbers disappoint, but employment growth around ... - Stockhouse
Job-Creation Hopes Dashed; 85,000 Shed in December - CNBC
Global Bank Client Selects Global PAYplus As Strategic Payments ... - Investors Business Daily
Frank on board for AIG hearings - Thehill.com
RONNIE ELLIS: The voter mood by BE the issue - Daily Independent

Canada, U.S. jobs numbers disappoint, but employment growth around ... - Stockhouse

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 08:16 AM PST

OTTAWA - North America's labour markets ended 2009 with a whimper, closing the books on a year of massive job losses with a status quo December that economists say nonetheless presages better times.

Both Canada and the United States disappointed expectations for the last month of the year, with Canada shedding a statistically insignificant 2,600 jobs and the U.S. a bigger 85,000.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged in both countries - 8.5 per cent in Canada and 10 per cent in the U.S. - and economists say the data show sustained employment gains are just around the corner.

In Canada, employment is down 323,000 from the peak of October 2008, with 240,000 of those losses in the past year and the vast majority in Ontario's battered manufacturing sector.

The biggest disappointment was that Canada's economy failed to deliver on the promise of sustained gains that many had thought likely following November's teasing 79,000 pickup.

The consensus had expected a 20,000 gain and that the U.S. would have stopped shedding jobs.

Looking on the bright side, economist Douglas Porter says the stabilizing of the job market in Canada means that the unemployment rate likely hit its recessionary peak at 8.7 per cent in August.

"Compared to past recessions, 8.7 per cent is almost a flesh wound," he said. "In the early '80s and early '90s, we got well into double-digits."

Even in the U.S., which lost more than seven million jobs during the recession, there was a silver lining to the report. The Labour Department revised November's numbers into a slight positive.

Scotia Capital economists Derek Holt and Karen Cordes also cautioned against reading too much into December's minor setback, both in Canada and the U.S.

In notes to clients, they said that with growth returning to both economies, sustained job growth will become evident as numbers for 2010 come in.

"Jobs are poised to grow in 2010," they predicted. "As U.S. supply chains heal and start adding jobs, the trickle over across the border into Canada will lead to job gains through seamlessly integrated cross-border production. Fiscal stimulus is also likely to begin raising Canadian and U.S. jobs."

Holt is calling for an employment gain of 300,000 in Canada this year and 2.8 million in the U.S.

But Porter said Canadians shouldn't expect straight-line growth in employment and that monthly setbacks will likely keep occurring.

The markets on both sides of the border barely reacted to the releases, an indication that investors saw the results as a saw-off. Even with December's minor setback, economists noted that taking the last three months of 2009 as a whole, the Canadian economy added 33,000 positions.

"This improvement in the labour market jibes with our forecast for real GDP (gross domestic product) growth of 3.4 per cent annualized in the final quarter of 2009," said Dawn Desjardins, assistant chief economist with the Royal Bank.

December's Statistics Canada report contained some good news.

Overall hours worked have increased by 2.2 per cent since April and more recently full-time employment has also begun to tick up.

By industry, the data showed several offsetting trends that kept the number of employed from changing significantly.

The public sector, which had been the engine of job growth through much of the recession, dropped 22,100 workers during the month.

As well, there were 24,000 fewer jobs in transportation and warehousing, while business, building and other support services saw a decrease of 23,000.

Offsetting the losses were gains of 35,000 in health care and social assistance, and 33,000 in professional, scientific and technical services.

A quick look at December unemployment (previous month in brackets):

Unemployment rate: 8.5 per cent (8.5)

Number unemployed: 1,567,800 (1,574,200)

Number working: 16,871,300 (16,873,900)

Youth (15-24 years) unemployment: 16.1 (15.9)

Men (25 plus) unemployment: 8.1 per cent (8.1)

Women (25 plus) unemployment: 6.0 per cent (6.2)

Here's what happened provincially (previous month in brackets):

-Newfoundland 15.7 (15.9)

-Prince Edward Island 10.7 (11.7)

-Nova Scotia 9.6 (9.5)

-New Brunswick 8.9 (8.8)

-Quebec 8.4 (8.1)

-Ontario 9.3 (9.3)

-Manitoba 5.7 (5.3)

-Saskatchewan 4.8 (5.2)

-Alberta 6.7 (7.4)

-British Columbia 8.4 (8.3)

Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities but cautions the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. (Previous month in brackets.)

-St. John's, N.L. 9.2 (9.1)

-Halifax 6.8 (6.9)

-Saint John, N.B. 6.8 (6.0)

-Saguenay, Que. 7.4 (7.6)

-Quebec 4.9 (5.3)

-Trois-Rivieres, Que. 8.9 (8.9)

-Sherbrooke, Que. 5.4 (5.7)

-Montreal 9.0 (9.1)

-Gatineau, Que. 6.0 (5.8)

-Ottawa 6.1 (5.3)

-Kingston, Ont. 5.4 (6.2)

-Toronto 9.5 (9.5)

-Hamilton 8.5 (8.0)

-Kitchener, Ont. 9.5 (9.1)

-London, Ont. 9.0 (9.9)

-Oshawa, Ont. 9.8 (9.2)

-St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 10.8 (10.4)

-Sudbury, Ont. 9.8 (9.4)

-Thunder Bay, Ont. 8.2 (8.5)

-Windsor, Ont. 13.3 (13.5)

-Winnipeg 5.7 (5.4)

-Regina 4.9 (4.9)

-Saskatoon 4.6 (4.6)

-Calgary 7.3 (7.0)

-Edmonton 7.6 (7.7)

-Abbotsford, B.C. 7.3 (7.8)

-Vancouver 7.8 (7.5)

-Victoria 7.6 (7.1)

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Job-Creation Hopes Dashed; 85,000 Shed in December - CNBC

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 07:48 AM PST

U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 85,000 jobs in December, government data showed on Friday, cooling optimism on the labor market's recovery and keeping pressure on President Barack Obama.

The Labor Department said November payrolls were revised to show the economy actually added 4,000 jobs rather than losing 11,000 as initially reported. With revisions to October, however, the economy lost 1,000 more jobs than previously estimated over the two months.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 10 percent in December. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected nonfarm payrolls to be unchanged last month and the unemployment rate to edge up to 10.1 percent.

"The American economy is clearly not going to burst out of the gate with growth and job creation but it will perform better than its major competitors in Europe and Japan," said Joseph Trevisani, chief market analyst at FX Solutions in Ridgewood, N.J.

U.S. stock futures turned negative on the data, while government bond prices erased losses. The U.S. dollar fell against the euro.

High unemployment is one of the toughest domestic challenges facing Obama. The administration's success in getting people back to work will shape prospects for Obama's political future.

Obama's popularity has steadily fallen, knocking his approval ratings down to around 50 percent. This could dim the election prospects for his Democratic Party in the November congressional elections. Obama is scheduled to make a statement on the economy at 2:40 p.m.

Unemployment remains the Achilles heel of the economic recovery, which started in the third quarter of 2009 following the worst recession in 70 years. Creating jobs is critical to sustaining the economic recovery when government stimulus fades.

For the whole of 2009, the economy shed 4.2 million jobs, the department said.

Still the job market continued to show broad improvements last month, with a number of sectors showing gains.

Professional and business services added 50,000 positions, while education and health services increased payrolls by 35,000. Temporary help employment rose by 47,000.

Manufacturing payrolls fell 27,000 after dropping 35,000 in November. The construction sector lost 53,000 jobs, while the service-providing sector shed only 4,000 workers.

The average workweek was unchanged at 33.2 hours, while average hourly earnings increased by $18.80 from $18.77 in November.

The state of the job market is among the key factors that will determine the timing of the Federal Reserve's first interest rate increase since cutting benchmark overnight borrowing costs to near zero percent in December 2008.

The U.S. central bank has vowed to keep rates low for an extended period, and the jobs data supported that expectation.

Slideshow: Best Degrees for Next-Generation Jobs

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Global Bank Client Selects Global PAYplus As Strategic Payments ... - Investors Business Daily

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 08:09 AM PST

Jan 08, 2010 (FinancialWire via COMTEX) -- (Comment on this article at http://www.financialwire.net/2010/01/08/global-bank-client-selects-global-payplus-as-strategic-payments-platform/)

January 8, 2010 (FinancialWire) -- Fundtech Ltd. (FNDT), a market leader in global transaction banking solutions, said a top 20 global Bank has extended its Fundtech relationship by signing a strategic contract for a multi-year roll out its Global PAYplus payments solution.

This implementation of Global PAYplus will initially focus on two operating regions and ultimately support global payment operations.

Global PAYplus is a rule-based and highly scalable payments platform which supports multiple payment types across domestic and international payment operations allowing consolidation, while at the same time, significantly improving straight through processing . Available Global PAYplus components include: high value payments, mass payments, SEPA, liquidity management, UK faster payments, customer payments hub, and STP Accelerator.

Free annual reports and company filings for companies mentioned in the news are available through the Investrend Information Syndicate (at http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279). Recently issued reports and filings include Weatherford International Ltd. (WFT), UQM Technologies, Inc. (UQM), Panhandle Oil and Gas, Inc. (PHX), Encore acquisition Company (EAC), Altius Minerals Corp. (ALS), PKC Group Oyj (PLUS: PKC1V) and Standard Life Investments European Private Equity Trust PLC (SEP) (PLUS: SEP).

FinancialWire(tm), in cooperation with the Investrend Broadcast Syndicate, also provides complete, daily conference call and webcast schedules as a service to shareholders and investors via the FirstAlert(tm) Network's "FirstAlert(tm) Daily" (http://www.financialwire.net/news-alerts/). Recently webcast company presentations, financial results & earnings calls now available include Rick's Cabaret International, Inc. (RICK) and Applied Signal Technology, Inc. (APSG). Recordings are accessible via the search function at http://infoescrow.net/f/?u=http://www.investorcalendar.com by entering any company's ticker symbol into the search field.

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Frank on board for AIG hearings - Thehill.com

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 08:52 AM PST

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, says his committee may hold hearings about Tim Geithner and his role in supressing disclosure of AIG bank payments.

Reports from Thursday indicated that the New York Fed, then headed by Geithner, urged AIG not to disclose that it had paid banks 100 cents on the dollar for "credit default swaps" after its bailout.

"Did they have the authority to tell AIG to pay less than 100 percent or not?" Frank said in an interview with Business Week. "That's an interesting debate. But the important point to make is that we are making sure that that debate will never happen again."

Frank said he still supports Geithner.

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RONNIE ELLIS: The voter mood by BE the issue - Daily Independent

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 08:38 AM PST

Published: January 08, 2010 11:36 am

RONNIE ELLIS: The voter mood by BE the issue

By RONNIE ELLIS
CNHI News Service

FRANKFORT — Could both major parties be misreading the public mood?

The point at which the mood and likely the political landscape shifted isn't as difficult to pinpoint: October 2008 when the government moved to prop up the credit and financial markets. Despite fears of professional economists – from both sides of the ideological divide – that inaction might prompt the collapse of the world's financial systems, impacting all of us in dreadful ways and perhaps plunging the world into a depression, most of the public reacted angrily to the "government bailout of Wall Street."

They became angrier with the Obama administration's and Congressional Democrats' measures to stimulate the economy, bail out state budgets and rescue the housing, auto and banking industries. The TEA Party movement grew and politicians took notice, especially in the Republican Party. Town hall meetings turned angry as the country debated health care reform. While some critics dismissed a lot of the protestors as fringe fanatics or organized by special interest groups, the angry nonetheless included some mainline Republicans and independents from "Main Street" and was becoming a force.

National Republicans responded, opposing all Obama initiatives, especially health care reform. Many began railing against bailouts – even though the first, the Troubled Assets Recovery Plan or TARP was passed under a Republican administration with the support of people like Kentucky Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell who justified it as a response to "a once-in-100 years crisis."

Everyone expects the coming election cycle to be a good one for Republicans and a bad one for the Democrats in power. I think that is accurate, but I'm beginning to suspect it has more to do with Democrats more often being the incumbents rather than a preference for Republicans. Voters are angry and they may be more inclined to take it out on incumbents, regardless of party or philosophy. There's clearly a shift to the right which should benefit Republicans but there is polling which should concern the GOP as much as it does Democrats.

A recent NBC/Wall Street poll actually shows more Americans have a positive view of Democrats than Republicans (35 percent versus 28 percent, respectively). But the same poll showed 41 percent view the TEA Party movement favorably. I've attended TEA Party rallies where I've heard social security recipients and retired career military officers complain bitterly about funding government employees' salary increases and health care "with my tax dollars." Those statements may seem inconsistent but their anger is real and more and more it appears to form a widespread, powerful political force.

That helps explain the success of Rand Paul's conservative, libertarian-leaning campaign in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. Many of Paul's positions would seem to make a lot of conservative Republicans nervous (they certainly make some establishment Republicans nervous, but they're too nervous to say so publicly). Opposition to any deficit budget, to all earmarks, and internationalism seems inconsistent with positions of Kentucky Republicans and likely to relegate Paul to a back corner in the U.S. Senate if he's elected.

Paul supporters don't seem to care.

His main opponent, Secretary of State Trey Grayson who was supposed to be the clear favorite among Republicans, is likely soon to fight back by attacking Paul for "flip-flops" on some key issues, especially on those about terrorism. Some say Paul will falter as the primary election draws closer and the media pay more attention and focus on issues.

But what if the voters' anger IS the issue? Maybe the only one that counts in this environment. That could be bad for incumbent Democrats and incumbent Republicans alike.

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.