I read today that the New Mexico unemployment rate was 6.6% in the month of December as compared to an unemployment rate of 4.7% nationally. If you’ve lived in New Mexico for any length of time, you know that this is a relatively poor state, traditionally ranking in the bottom tier for state GDP, employee […]
Economy
December Employment Weaker Than Expected
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly employment report last Friday. I have been tracking the BLS employment data for many years and have been writing about it on Financial Slacker. In prior articles, I discussed how one indicator of the health of an economy is the employment growth rate of that economy. […]
Healthcare Cost Problem – Who Can Fix It?
I have a story to share about the problem controlling healthcare cost. Yesterday, I received a call from my son’s school nurse telling me that he had been accidentally kicked in the face during PE class. She was worried that he might have broken his nose and might have a concussion. So on the way to […]
Key to Surviving an Economic Downturn
This may sound pathetic. I have seen it many times. Folks who are well educated, have great families, a great job earning a good income, yet they’re miserable. How could that be possible? They’re caught in the success trap. I was one of those people. After business school, I got a great job in consulting. […]
Private Sector Employment Growth Rate Declining
Earlier today, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, released its monthly employment report. Those that follow Financial Slacker, know that I have started commenting on this highly anticipated monthly report. As a reminder, I use this data to gauge where I think the economy is headed. I primarily look at the year-over-year growth percentage each […]
Employment Growing…But At A Slowing Pace
Yesterday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly employment report for November, 2015. As it is every month, this report is a highly anticipated monthly release from BLS and will often have an impact on the market. Whereas while it seems most of the market focuses on unemployment as an indicator of economic […]