Broader U-6 measure of unemployment falls to 15.6%; retail hiring accounts for most of Nov. job gains

A couple of points that I didn’t have a chance to make in an earlier post. The U-6 measure of unemployment, which according to the BLS includes “total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total…

Unemployment rate falls to 8.6%, but addition of 120,000 jobs is still mediocre

According to preliminary data released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy added a seasonally adjusted 120,000 jobs in November. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 9% to 8.6%. That’s about the number of jobs…

Morning reading on Europe: glass half full? or half empty?

Sorry to make the title so simplistic, but it really does feel like the Eurozone could go one of two ways after the last couple of days. The European Central Bank signaled that it might be more willing to be…

So what lies ahead for the Georgia economy?

As Georgia legislators prepare for the 2012 session, let’s hope they ignore distractions like the proposed bills that would place a heavier burden on the state’s laid-off workers. Lawmakers should be spending their time looking at ways to improve the…

Georgia’s new economic development strategy: blame the jobless

Georgia is the only state in the country to have statistically significant job loss over the last year. A new report from the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia predicts that it will be 2020 before Georgia…

Betsy Cain’s show at the Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center closing on Dec. 4th

Just a heads up about the December 4th closing of Betsy Cain’s show “In Situ” at the Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center for the Arts here in Savannah. I reviewed the show in a Savannah Morning News column in August. I…

Fed, ECB and other central banks buoy markets — but have just kicked the can down the road

Yesterday’s post about the euro ended with brief speculation about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s possible involvement in supporting Europe. And then this morning early, the Fed joined other major central banks in a coordinated move that will add liquidity to…

Savannah Stopover Festival – Various Venues – 03/07/12

The 2012 Savannah Stopover Festival is scheduled for March 7th through 10th. This will be the second installment of the festival, which proved wildly successful in its first year. I made a lot of posts tagged “Savannah Stopover”, which you…

Will it be unlucky 13 for the euro?

The euro was adopted on January 1st, 1999, so the currency is about to turn 13. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, or a numerologist, or a triskaidekaphobe. But 13 might turn out to be a very unlucky number. I’ve written…

Savannah makes another list — a really insipid one; Charleston nowhere to be found

Travel and Leisure’s list of America’s Strangest People ranks Savannah as #7. Ahead of us are, beginning with the top spot, New Orleans, Santa Fe, Austin, Portland (OR), San Francisco, and Providence. What makes Savannahians strange? According to the non-answer…

The world’s largest zombie walk? (video)

A change of pace. (ht to the WonkBlog at the Washington Post) Nearly 10,000 people participated in this zombie walk in Mexico City, according to the BBC: From the BBC: Zombie walks have grown in popularity worldwide in recent years.…

Can today get any worse for state economic news?

Earlier today, I posted the latest data from the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices, which showed Atlanta metro area home prices declining dramatically in September: “On a monthly basis, Atlanta actually posted a record low rate of -5.9% in September…