Posts Tagged ‘unemployment rate’
Why the Best Companies Expand Internationally
By George Leong, B.Comm. for Profit Confidential
There are only two methods to drive revenues: a company can increase its price to the consumer (but this doesn’t always come across as being prudent, especially given the current low interest rate and inflation period), and then there’s the more viable way, which is to expand into foreign markets.
Companies can expand nationwide or internationally like many of the world’s multinational companies. Just take a look around and see how many American companies are found outside of our borders and spread across Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ/WFM) has the majority of its stores in the United States, but also has a small presence in Canada and the United Kingdom. The company just made its first foray into Detroit, Michigan. Now at first glance it doesn’t seem odd but, as my stock analysis suggests, given that the “Motor City” has a massive unemployment rate of 17.5% (source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, last accessed June 18, 2013) and Michigan has more people looking for work than the national average, you have to wonder why the company has decided to expand there. While there may be more economically viable places for expansion, the reality is that the company is searching far and wide for places to expand, as it doesn’t want to face growth issues down the road, as my stock analysis indicates.
The need to expand internationally has made many American companies into global brands and has rewarded shareholders along the way, as my stock analysis suggests.
Expansion is what companies need to do in order to grow and become much bigger companies. Maintaining a … Read More
Finally Some Good News for the U.S. Economy?
By Michael Lombardi, MBA for Profit Confidential
Finally, some good economic news is coming to the U.S. economy…
The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that retail and food services sales for the month of May, adjusted for seasonal effects, increased 0.6% from April and 4.3% from the same period a year ago.(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, June 13, 2013.) This is the first report I’ve seen in a long time that shows increasing consumer spending in the U.S. economy.
And the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index for May showed consumer spending increasing as well. The index registered at 84.5 in May, improving from 76.4 in April. (Source: Bloomberg, May 31, 2013.) This was the highest level the index has been at since July of 2007.
While this is all good news, my concerns about the U.S. economy remain…
Since the financial crisis in the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve has been increasing the size of its balance sheet (printing trillions of dollars in new money) and the U.S. government has been spending rigorously, all for the sake of spurring economic growth. Consumer spending in the U.S. economy makes up 70% of our gross domestic product (GDP); hence, it’s vitally important that consumer spending rises if we are to have a sustainable economic recovery.
As it stands, the Federal Reserve is still creating $85.0 billion a month in new money to purchase government bonds and mortgage-backed securities. This may be the biggest reason why economic numbers like May’s retail sales are looking better.
But the unemployment rate in the U.S. economy is still staggeringly high. According to the most recent jobs market report, there … Read More
Failed Projections or Just Another Government Lie? You Judge
By Michael Lombardi, MBA for Profit Confidential
Boy, were they wrong!
Not so long ago, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said it expected the U.S. government to register a budget deficit in the current fiscal year of $642 billion.
But hold on a minute…
The budget deficit so far (as of May 31, 2013) has already hit $626.3 billion, and we still have four more months to go in the government’s current fiscal year!
Since the beginning of the U.S. government’s current fiscal year 2013, which began in October of last year, the government has posted a budget deficit in six out of the past eight months.
The Department of the Treasury just reported the U.S. government registered a budget deficit of $139 billion for the month of May. The federal government took in $197 billion and paid out $336 billion for the month. (Source: Department of the Treasury Financial Management Service, June 12, 2013.)
Comparing it to last year, May 2013’s budget deficit was 11% higher than that of May 2012.
The government has been raking in a budget deficit of over one trillion dollars in each of the last four years; and with four months still left in this fiscal year, it wouldn’t surprise me to see us register a fifth consecutive year of trillion-dollar-plus deficits, despite being repeatedly told by politicians that our budget deficit this year would come in under $800 billion.
This is troubling news; the more budget deficits the U.S. government registers, the more the national debt will increase, and the more the government will need to borrow to pay for expenses. It’s that simple.
Currently, our national debt stands at … Read More
Don’t Read This if You Thought the Economy Was Improving
By Michael Lombardi, MBA for Profit Confidential
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the U.S. unemployment rate is now 7.6% percent, with 175,000 new jobs created in May. At the same time, the Bureau revised its April numbers down, saying 149,000 jobs were created in April, and not the initial 165,000 it reported.
The unemployment situation in the U.S. in May was essentially the same as in April. (I wonder how the Federal Reserve looks at this. Does it say, “Wow, imagine what would have happened to the jobs market in May if you didn’t create $85.0 billion in new money during the month”?)
My readers know I don’t care much for the “official” unemployment numbers we get from the government statistics office. I believe the official rate doesn’t show the real picture, because it does not include people who have given up looking for work in the jobs market and people who want full-time jobs but can only find part-time jobs.
When we take into consideration these two important figures that the official numbers leave out, the underemployment rate, as it is referred to, was 13.8% in May—it’s been hovering around 14% for years now.
A startling 7.9 million Americans are working part-time, because they can’t find full-time work in today’s jobs market.
In total, there are still some 12 million people in the U.S. jobs market looking for work. What’s most troubling is that 37.3% of them have been unemployed for more than six months! The longer they stay out of the jobs market, the more difficulties these people will face in finding jobs as their skills become obsolete.
Looking closer at … Read More
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