labor market
Americans saving morePosted by RJ and Makay on Jan 31, 2012 |
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American’s savings rate rose to 4% in December from 3.5% in November of last year as personal income rose 0.5%, the Commerce Department reported. The half-point increase was the biggest month-to-month gain since April 2010, according to economists at Credit Suisse. The gain represents a turnaround from the September to November 2011 period when consumers financed their purchases at a cost to personal savings.
U.S. business activity expanded in August at a faster pace than previously forecasted, alleviating worry that the manufacturing sector was slumping, the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago, Inc. (ISM) said yesterday. The ISM business barometer fell to 56.5 in August, from 58.8 in July, which exceeded the highest estimate of 51 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Women have lost ground to men in the labor market following the 2008-2009 recession, according to a recently published Pew Research Center report. Since the end of the recession in June 2009, men have gained 768,000 jobs while women have lost 218,000 jobs. It marks the first time since the 1960s that men have outgained women in the labor market subsequent to an economic contraction.
