Job openings continue to grow at a breakneck pace in the United States as the job market continues to repair itself.
Five million job openings were available in the United States in January, the highest number since January 2001. While the figure was a slight increase from December, it was a 28% increase from the same period a year ago.
The US Dollar continued appreciating over the last several months and most see this as a positive for the American economy. But, a number of prominent US CFOs, recently surveyed by Duke University, have pointed out a down side to this upturn. The increased value of the dollar is actually making it harder for US exporters, and could hamper their investment plans for the next year.
Nokia is shifting operations from China to Vietnam because sales of the Lumia smartphone have not increased domestically, forcing the company to slash 9,000 jobs. Analysts point to a larger trend of foreign companies turning away from the Chinese.
The Vietnamese government and the ADB agreed to a $230M loan package to make the country more competitive worldwide. The loan means to boost economic development in such areas as finance and public administration.
In an effort to recover from the worldwide financial calamity, Vietnamese officials look to the future by growing the economy for the long-term. Tomoyuki Kimura of the ADB said the Southeast Asian country hopes to integrate into the international community by becoming a formidable economic competitor.
Vietnam Economy Rises
A new study by the CBO projects a smaller budget deficit thanks to lower spending on health insurance due to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
The report saw a decline in the budget deficit of $455 billion, or 13% of the total budget in 2014. Projected Federal government spending in 2015 remains uncertain, but President Obama has submitted a budget requesting $3.9 trillion in spending, or an increase of just over 10% from the prior year.
Millions of people around the globe have become increasingly concerned about environmental changes brought about by global warming. Ironically, the brutal winter of 2014-15 is an example of this “global warming” in action. Brought about largely by carbon emissions, many are trying to find practical ways to encourage companies to reduce their carbon footprint without cutting into their bottom line.
American companies gain more confidence in the economy by adding in 295,000 jobs in February. This marks the continued addition of jobs added above the 200,000 mark for 12 months.
Liberals carrying water for the Obama administration will tout this jobs report as a major success for the president, and it is typical for every president to get his due when the economy improves. But this development comes with some drawbacks. For one thing, these jobs did not boost wages, something that forces many Americans to work two or three jobs to make ends meet.
Turkish authorities are pointing fingers at one another and scrambling to try to keep investors from rushing to the U.S. Dollar over the Turkish Lira. The Turkish Lira has plunged several times in recent weeks, bringing it to historic lows. This has left the Turkish President and Central Bank at odds with one another and investors skeptical about the long-term health of the Lira.
American wages are rising at a sharply slower pace despite a rise in job gains, indicating deflationary pressures could force the Federal Reserve to delay an interest rate hike.
In last week’s employment report for February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that average hourly earnings for private nonfarm payrolls rose 3 cents, or an annualized increase of 1.45%. While still positive, the growth is a sharp decline from a year ago, when hourly earnings were rising by as much as 2.5%.
In recent years, as a greater focus has been placed on the environment, many have become aware of something called “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” It is not really that great, nor a patch, but it is made of garbage and it is in the middle of the Pacific (two out of four is not that bad), and the origin of this man made mass is quite telling about the economies of the world.
