Carl Bonham
Q & A: Unemployment Numbers
1. HAWAII’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE SEEMS TO ALWAYS BE BELOW THE US UNEMPLOYMENT RATE. HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON? Since the mid-1970s. It’s below the US rate in good time and in bad times.Consider the February 2012 unemployment rates for Hawaii and the US: Hawaii: 6.4% US: 8.3%. A difference of 1.9%.. 2. SO […]
Read MoreChinese Saving Dynamics: The Impact of GDP Growth and the Dependent Share
China’s national saving rate rose rapidly in the 2000s after declining through the late 1990s. These dynamics are not explained by precautionary motives, the institutional distribution of income, or reform related processes in general. Rather, we find a compelling explanation lies with GDP growth fluctuations and movement in the dependent share in population. We estimate […]
Read MoreDisappointing Employment Report
The addition of 120,000 jobs in March was much less than expected. The consensus was for an increase of 201,000 jobs and for no change in the unemployment rate. From the US Bureau of Labor Statistics March 2012 Employment Situation: Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 120,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 8.2 […]
Read MoreEmployment Report: US economy adds 227,000 jobs in February
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released the February 2012 Employment Situation this morning with another month of better than expected jobs numbers. The consensus was for an increase of 204,000 jobs and for no change in the unemployment rate in February. From the BLS: Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 227,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was unchanged […]
Read MoreQ & A: Da Budget, Compromise and Policy Failures
1. ANOTHER BUSY WEEK WITH LOT TO DISCUSS. ON MONDAY THE PRESIDENT RELEASED HIS BUDGET PROPOSAL, BY WEDNESDAY HAD PLENTY OF EVIDENCE OF CONTINUED EURO-AREA POLICY FAILURES, AND BY THURSDAY THE HOUSE REPUBLICANS APPEARED TO HAVE COMPROMISED ON THE PAYROLL TAX EXTENSION. SO MUCH NEWS SO LITTLE TIME! LETS START WITH THE BUDGET. The President’s […]
Read MoreStronger than Expected Employment Report
1. THE US BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS RELEASED ITS MONTHLY EMPLOYMENT REPORT THIS MORNING AND REPORTED ANOTHER DECREASE IN THE US UNEMPLOYMENT RATE? Yes, this was a better jobs report than most economists expected. The consensus was for 135,000 jobs to be created in January and the total nonfarm job count posted an increase of […]
Read MoreGDP Release Adds to Speculation of Further Fed Easing
Q1. THERE HAS BEEN A LARGE AMOUNT OF ECONOMIC NEWS THIS WEEK, CAN YOU SUMMARIZE WHERE THINGS STAND? A1. This was a busy week. On Tuesday we found out that Hawaii’s unemployment rate rose to 6.6% in December; on Wednesday the Federal Reserve released their forecast for the US economy and new forecasts of what […]
Read MoreQ & A: Council on Revenues Lowers Forecast for FY2012
1. THE COUNCIL ON REVENUES MET YESTERDAY AND LOWERED ITS FORECAST FOR STATE TAX REVENUES FOR 2012. HOW MUCH WAS THE REVISION, AND WHY DID YOU LOWER THE FORECAST. In the September meeting last year, the Council had forecast tax revenues would grow by 14.5% from FY2011 to FY2012. The council decided to lower its […]
Read MoreQ & A: Super Committee Decisions Due Next Week
1. WE HAVE BEEN HEARING ABOUT THE SUPER COMMITTEE AND THEIR WORK ON A DEFICIT REDUCTION PLAN DUE NEXT WEDNESDAY. WHAT IS THE SUPER COMMITTEE? The Super Committee is the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction that was established by deal reached last July to raise the federal debt ceiling. That deal called for reducing […]
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