US Job Numbers in June: Part-Time Job Gain 360,000, Full-Time Job Loss 240,000, Number of Bartenders and Waiters All-Time High

Chart from Zero Hedge on this morning's BLS announcement on June job data:

The US now has the highest number of bartenders and waiters in history...

And low-paying job galore...

Feeling the "recovery" yet? The US stock market are feeling it. Has been for the past 4 years.

Just a reminder. Thanks to the unilateral decision somewhere at the White House, employers are exempt from Obamacare mandate and penalty until 2015, i.e. until after the mid-term election in 2014. Citizens aren't. Major insurance companies are exiting from the California insurance market. Penalty for not having a health insurance will promptly start in 2014 for small people, enforced by IRS.

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Ben "Bernank" Hearing on Capitol Hill

The Fed chairman Ben Shalom "Bernank" is on Capitol Hill for his first meeting with the lawmakers this year, in the GOP-majority House. The House Budget Committee has Ben to talk about inflation, and Ron Paul's subcommittee discusses the Fed's role in job disappearance and rising unemployment.

PDs dutifully taking down the US stock indices to create angst among bullish pundits and analysts so that they start screaming "Don't harm the Fed! Ben's been doing the exemplary job!" Dow is currently (3PM EST) down whopping ... 32 points.

That's big, you know. The 1st down day in the last 8 days...

Speaking of Ben's job creation skills, here's a chart from Zero Hedge. He sure created part-time workers...

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Rick Santelli Slams CNBC Panelists for Their Spin on Job Non-Numbers

During Squawk Box at CNBC this morning...

CNBC's parent company, NBC Universal, by the way, is now 51% owned by Comcast while 49% is still owned by GE. GE's CEO is now Obama's Job Czar.

Care to know the job number?

Unemployment rate (U3): 9%

No. of jobs created in January: 36,000

Remember, the consensus was 146,000 jobs, with some so-called economists saying the number might be much higher.

The spin is full-on, and not just at CNBC. The AP's article says:

It conflicts with a business payroll survey last month that showed relatively weak job growth. But that survey doesn't count the self-employed and likely undercounts the nation's smallest businesses. Also, harsh weather disrupted business payrolls in January.

RRRIIIGGGTTT. It's just weather.

By the way, the more frigid Canada created 69,200 jobs in January, 4 times as many as forecasts, while their unemployment rose because more people started looking.

Which would we rather have? Clearly CNBC panelists have us believe a lower unemployment number is good for us.

But as I said, it doesn't matter to the permanently levitating stock market. Dow's up, so is Nasdaq and S&P500. Not by much, but who cares?

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Friday US Job Report Preview (Does It Matter Any More In a Broken Market?)

They will use the job number for January to ramp up the market anyway, whether it is good or bad. If the number is good, they will ramp up the market because, really, the economy is growing rapidly! If the number is bad, they will ramp it up because Ben and the Inkjets at the Fed will surely embark on QE3 to further benefit Primary Dealers. Since PDs are the market and the market is the economy, why we will have an economic miracle this year!

Never mind that cotton is on a tear since August, gas at the pump here is over $3.50, and ...

Anyway, here's the preview from AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Economic growth is gaining momentum, with factories busy and service firms expanding, but one critical area still lags: job creation.

The Labor Department will issue its January jobs report Friday, and economists are forecasting that it will show only modest hiring. Employers are expected to add a net total of 146,000 new jobs. That's barely enough to keep up with population growth. The unemployment rate is likely to tick up to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent in December.

Some analysts are more optimistic and think the job gains could be larger, after several positive economic reports were released Thursday. The service sector, which employs nearly 90 percent of the work force, expanded at the fastest pace in five years last month, retail sales increased, and factory orders grew in December.

"Activity across the broader economy is picking up," said Neil Dutta, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "Momentum is improving."

Whatever. It doesn't matter any more. Have you noticed that the stock market does not respond to the FOMC announcements like it used to do? These days, the FOMC is a non-event. Job numbers are non-events. GDP numbers are non-events. Behind all these numbers is Ben Bernank printing merrily on high. Ben has long broken the market.

The Egyptian Revolution is a non-event, the EU PIIGS debt crisis is a non-event, UFO over Jerusalem is a non-event, and ....

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He's a Joker, He's a Smoker, He's Barack Obama...

(I don't know if he's a "midnight toker".)

According to the government mouthpiece outfit called CNBC citing Reuters, Obama wants to shed rules that hurt job growth, and he so instructs his courtesans by issuing a presidential fiat called "executive order".

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHaaahhhh...

So is he willing to undo all the job-killing, wealth-transferring legislation he and his minions in the House and the Senate enacted in the past two years?

For more on this hilarity, read on:

President Barack Obama Tuesday ordered a government-wide review of regulations with the goal of eliminating those that hurt job creation and make the U.S. economy less competitive.

Obama took action after unveiling his plan in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal in which he said some rules have placed "unreasonable burdens on business — burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs."

The executive order marked Obama's latest move to repair relations with U.S. business, which were frayed amid bitter debate over his overhauls of Wall Street regulations and healthcare that some business leaders said would stymie corporate America.

Obama has struck a more business-friendly tone since his Democrats lost the U.S. House of Representatives and saw their Senate majority reduced in November congressional elections widely seen as a verdict on his handling of the stumbling economy and persistently high unemployment.

It looks he wants to remain president for another term. Anything to get elected again, to feel that lovin' feeling of an enthusiastic crowd cheering him on and on and on and on ....

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Dem Senators Want to Pass Another Jobs Bill

As the financial markets wobbles under the weight of debt (sovereign and otherwise, around the world), the tone-deaf US Senate is trying to come up with enough votes to pass a 'jobs bill' to the tune of $100 billion.

The bill is awkwardly titled "The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act".

Senate Democrats have come up with a new talking point to push their bill: It will reduce deficit!

(Yeah right. Do they even know how much deficit they've racked up already?)

Jobs Bill Will Help Reverse Deficit, Say Senate Democrats
(6/9/2010 Talk Radio News Service)

"The Senate continued to look for ways on Wednesday to muster the votes needed to pass a jobs bill filled with tax breaks, unemployment benefits and aid packages to states.

"With the House having passed a jobs bill before the Memorial Day recess, Senate Democrats this week have proposed making changes to their bill, such as restoring $24 billion in Medicaid funds, money that was dropped from the House’s package. Additionally, in a move designed to court moderate support, the Senate bill now features a softer approach on taxing investments than does its counterpart legislation.

"... At stake are several programs that need funding legislation to stay alive. In addition to the Medicaid dollars for states, there are matching $23 billion initiatives to prevent education layoffs and to reimburse physicians that accept Medicare. Stabenow said she supports the so-called “Doc-Fix,” and added that she plans on putting forth an amendment to extend COBRA benefits for the unemployed. She also downplayed concerns that the bill, totaling over $100 billion in cost, would add to the nation’s already-massive deficit."

Medicaid support, tens of billions going to save public union jobs (teachers), Medicare reimbursement, extension of COBRA. Other than saving union jobs, how are the other programs going to create jobs and reduce federal deficit?

According to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.),

“The reality is that this legislation is part of turning things around and I would argue lowering the deficit,” she said. “When people are working, they are paying taxes…and that’s part of how you lower the deficit.”

(Who voted for this woman?)

According to CNN, this 'deficit reducing' job bill will add $50 billion to the federal deficit.

I happened to be looking at FY2010 Supplemental Appropriations Bill summary, and I noticed that funding for saving the pubic union jobs like teachers, police, firefighters was already included in the bill. Lucky for teachers, policemen, and firefighters. With this 'jobs bill', they'll get double.

Securing the government jobs is a matter of national security, I suppose.

I have a better idea on how to reduce deficit and create jobs. Well, not really reduce but more like "not add". DO NOTHING, GET OUT. Don't crowd the capital market with huge issuance of debt that sucks up available money only for the federal government to squander. Don't create more bureaucracy to manage ever-growing subsidy and wealth-transfer schemes, which actually help keep the poor remain poor.

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Employment Grew by 431,000 Jobs in May

411,000 of them were the census workers who may have been counted double or triple (if not more) if this allegation is true ("Census Worker Claims Job Numbers Are Being Inflated", 6/3/2010 Real Clear Politics).

Job creation in the private sector was statistical zero.

The president hails the report as the evidence as "the economy is getting stronger by the day".

He must be wagging his finger at the private sector for not doing enough, like he has done so successfully. (OK, let's have the census every single month.)

The stock market isn't sharing his optimism. Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently down 223 points. When I heard the other day about the 'whisper' number for the job creation in May from Goldman Sachs (which was a whopping 700K, 200K above consensus), I had my doubts, to say the least.

(Sad, isn't it, when you cannot take the words from the government and from the premier crime organization, oops banking institution, in the world at face value?)

I'm sure those algo bots who ended up causing the 'flash crash and dash' in May will try their best to salvage the market today, so that we can have a peaceful weekend. I'm not sure they will succeed.

Investors are running for liquidity (US Treasury) and quality (gold) and away from just about anything else.

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ISM Report for March: Service Sector Expanded, But Not Jobs

The US stock market continued its amazing run today, with Dow threatening to break above 11,000. One of the reasons offered by analysts and pundits was the ISM (Institute of Supply Management) non-manufacturing index released today, which rose to 55.4 in March from 53 in February - bigger gain than expected.

As this AP article reminds us, "The service sector is important as it accounts for about 80 percent of U.S. jobs excluding farmworkers. It includes jobs in areas like health care, retail and financial services. The sector is highly dependent on consumer spending, which powers about 70 percent of the economy."

The article make it sound like the service sector expansion means job creation in the sector.

But does it? What exactly is expanding? What is this index measuring?

Looking for answers to my own questions, I went to the ISM website. Here's what I found:
[Clicking on the table will open a new window.]


The number in each category is essentially a sentiment expressed by the survey respondents. Yes, business activity seems to be picking up, backlog orders, export orders and import jumped, new orders accelerating, prices increasing. So far so good. Now, has it translated into creating jobs?

The answer seems NO. The direction is still "contracting". It may be very very slowly turning to "not contracting" but despite the accelerating pace of the recovery in other categories the employment was basically unchanged.

Business may be expanding, but companies are in no hurry to hire. They seem to make the existing resources (including human resources) work more efficiently. The recently-passed health care deform bill doesn't give any incentive for businesses to hire in America.

Without a job, how could one spend? Banks are not lending. Something doesn't quite add up, does it?

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