Octopus Overlords

If you're a young person about to enter the job market, the skills you have already may give you more job mobility than you think — as long as you're in the right "job cluster".

That's one of the main takeaways from a new report from the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA).

It found the skills you get from working in one job could on average be transferred to 13 other positions. The report suggests in the future young people should be focusing on their strengths and interest areas rather just the one dream job.

The report, The New Work Mindset, looked at 2.7 million job ads. FYA used an algorithm to look at more than 1,000 occupations, and found there were seven large job clusters based on similar skills sought by employers.

The clusters are:

• The Artisans (builders and maintainers)
• The Generators (sellers and servers)
• The Coordinators (balance the books and do repetitive tasks)
• The Informers (teach and provide information)
• The Designers (use expertise to construct or engineer things)
• The Carers (improve the wellbeing of others)
• The Technologists (understand and manipulate digital technology)

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The report said the Artisan cluster — the builders and maintainers — was the most likely to be affected by automation, and had the lowest prospect for growth.

The Technologists cluster — the digital technology specialists — will grow the most.

A drop in U.S. exports last month pushed the country's trade deficit in goods higher while the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week in a positive sign for the labor market.

The two reports released on Thursday suggested that when Donald Trump becomes president next month, the labor market will likely be at roughly full strength and international trade could be weighing on the economy.

In an initial estimate that does not include trade in services, the Commerce Department said America exported $1.2 billion less in November than in October. Imports rose by $2.2 billion during the month. The full trade report for November is due on Jan. 6.
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The dollar has surged about 5 percent since Trump won the Nov. 8 presidential election as investors bet wider budget deficits under his presidency will trigger higher inflation and more interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve.

Separately, initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 265,000 for the week ended Dec. 24, the Labor Department said.

It was the 95th straight week that claims were below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market. That is the longest stretch since 1970, when the labor market was much smaller.
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Labor market strength contributed to the Federal Reserve raising its benchmark overnight interest rate earlier this month by 25 basis points to a range of 0.50 percent to 0.75 percent. The U.S. central bank forecast three rate hikes in 2017.

Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly declined in January as higher mortgage rates, elevated prices and a limited number of listings pushed the index to a one-year low, according to figures released Monday from the National Association of Realtors in Washington.
Key Points

Pending home sales gauge dropped 2.8 percent (forecast was for 0.6 percent advance), the most since May, to a one-year low of 106.4
Contract signings rose 0.8 percent in December, revised down from a previously reported 1.6 percent gain
Index increased 2.7 percent from January 2016 on an unadjusted basis
Pending sales decreased in the Midwest and West

Isgrimnur, Oct 23, 2015 wrote:J. C. Penney

J.C. Penney is laying off 300 people at its Plano, Texas headquarters, making it the latest store chain to shed jobs in a tough environment for retailers.

J.C. Penney on Friday released a list of 138 department stores it plans to close as part of a previously announced plan to shrink its footprint as it grapples with industry challenges.

The company had estimated that it would close 130 to 140 locations. Most stores will begin liquidation sales April 17 and close in June.

The retailer said Friday that the closures would displace 5,000 workers. Some will receive transfer opportunities and some will not.

Penney will continue to operate nearly 900 stores.
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The move followed similar store-closure announcements by Macy's and Sears.

America's unemployment rate has plummeted from 10% during the Great Recession to 4.1% today. Goldman Sachs thinks it's not done falling.

The unemployment rate is likely to tumble to 3.5% by the end of 2019, Goldman Sachs predicted in a report published late Friday.

The last time unemployment was 3.5% was December 1969, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Goldman Sachs explained its economic optimism by pointing to "impressive momentum" that will be bolstered by post-hurricane rebuilding and "tax cuts now on the horizon."

However, the firm said it expects the GOP tax plan will only have a "moderate" impact on the economy.

No matter the cause, Americans may finally get a much-needed raise. Hatzius predicted that "unimpressive" wage growth will finally accelerate thanks to the shrinking pool of available workers. He said wage growth should reach the 3% to 3.25% rate consistent with full employment in 2018.

General Electric plans to cut 12,000 jobs in its power division as the industrial conglomerate's new CEO institutes sweeping changes and the company grapples with a decline in business for coal and natural gas products.

The company will cut nearly one in five positions in its GE Power unit. It was not immediately clear where and when the reductions would occur, though the company said they would include "professional and production employees."

The move comes as CEO John Flannery, who took over for Jeffrey Immelt in August, is aiming to make GE more efficient. He has already earned a reputation for taking a microscope to GE's global business to identify opportunities for savings and changes.

GE said the cuts would contribute to its plans to slash $3.5 billion in "structural costs" in 2017 and 2018. That includes a $1 billion cost-cutting plan in 2018 by the GE Power division, which makes gas and steam turbines, electrical transmission products, nuclear plant infrastructure and other items.

coopasonic wrote: ↑Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:03 am

Isgrimnur wrote:Of course, it's like a 20-minuted drive each way through the heart of the Metroplex.

Are you complaining about a 20 minute commute?

U.S. consumer prices rose considerably more than expected in January, fueling fears that inflation is about to turn dangerously higher.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent last month against projections of a 0.3 percent increase, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the index was up 0.3 percent against estimates of 0.2 percent.

The report indicated that price pressures were "broad-based," with rises in gasoline, shelter, clothing, medical care and food.

Markets reacted sharply to the news. The Dow opened more than 100 points lower, but reversed those losses after the first half-hour of trading. Government bond yields also turned higher, with the benchmark 10-year note most recently trading near 2.88 percent, a gain of about 3.8 basis points.

Investors also began to price in the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at least three times this year.

The sharp drop in January home sales was not due to a shortage of homes for sale. It was due to a shortage of affordable homes for sale.

While real estate economists continue to blame the pitiful 3.4-month supply of total listings (a six-month supply is considered a balanced market), a better indicator is a chart on the second-to-last page of the National Association of Realtors' monthly sales report. It breaks down sales by price point.

Sales of homes priced below $100,000 fell 13 percent in January year-over-year. Sales of homes priced between $100,000 and $250,000 fell just more than 2 percent. The share of first-time buyers also fell to 29 percent, compared to 33 percent a year ago.
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The biggest sales gains were in homes priced between $500,000 and $750,000, up nearly 12 percent annually. Apparently there are more of those homes for sale.

That's a problem, because higher price points are not where the bulk of buyers exist and especially not where most first-time buyers exist. If you look at sales distribution, about 55 percent of buyers are in the below $250,000 category. Just 13 percent are above $750,000.

Unfortunately, the entry-level price point is not where most new home builders exist either today, given the significantly higher costs of construction. The median home price of a newly built home is around $335,000, according to the U.S. Census.

The lower-price tier is, however, where investors exist. During the recession, when the supply of homes for sale was about four times what it is today, investors bought millions of properties, saving the housing market overall by putting a floor on tumbling home prices. Realtors say now is the time for those same investors to sell.
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But investors are still buying at a steady clip. They represented 17 percent of January home sales, unchanged from January of last year. They have put millions of dollars not just into home purchases but into renovations and management infrastructure. Occupancies are still high, and rents are not coming down. There is no compelling reason, save generosity to the rest of the market, for them to sell.

More than half of states lack enough unemployment funding for a recession...

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 23, 2018 6:51 pm The mean for my bracket is $6200?! That is terrifying (for those people). I don’t imagine that I will have six times my salary by age 50, but I feel like I’m doing ok on this front. I cannot imagine only having $6200 saved for retirement by age 43.

I can’t imagine even only having 10 to 20 times that. I would be in a panic mode 24/7.