Why the Awful Jobs Report Isn’t So Awful for You
There is no sugarcoating it: the March jobs report was bad. The U.S. economy added just 88,000 jobs in March, the fewest since June. The good news: losses didn’t affect the finance industry, and there were some positives.
Employment in financial services stayed relatively static in March compared to the previous month. Employment in the accounting and bookkeeping industry, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics considers to be part of the business services sector, added 11,000 jobs in March.
The unemployment rate in the financial activities sector sits at 4.3%, down from 5.7% a year ago and well below the national unemployment rate of 7.6%. Admittedly, the unemployment rate ticked down due to a large number of discouraged workers leaving the labor force.
It’s not all bad though for the overall job market. Temporary jobs, often considered a precursor to future hiring, peaked in March. The average work week also climbed, as did the revised job numbers for previous months.
What the report really tells us is that increases in payroll taxes, which take away roughly $1,000 per year from an employee who makes $50,000 annually, are starting to take their toll with retailers taking most of the punishment. Now we wait for the effects of the sequester.
Michael Terry, head of global capital introductions at Bank of America, is headed to Bridgewater Associates, where he’ll be a client advisor. Bridgewater is planning the launch of a new fund.
What do you do if you’ve applied for an entry-level position in an investment bank and didn’t get the job? Here are the ten best options.
Similar to the collapse with MF Global, the demise of HBOS was due to “catastrophic failures” of management and oversight. Former HBOS Chief Executive James Crosby resigned from his role at private equity firm Bridgepoint following the issuing of the report.
Stephen Friedman, 75, will retire from the board of Goldman Sachs on May 22. Friedman could no longer serve on the board due to Goldman’s age-based retirement policy.
Traders are soon to have yet another real-time stream of information flooding their terminals. Bloomberg is poised to incorporate Twitter into its platform.
New Euro Head (Financial News)
The next head of Nomura’s European business is likely to be Jeremy Bennett, a veteran of both the UK Treasury and the UK Financial Services Authority.
Buzz Around the Office
More than 3,000 households with adjusted incomes of over $1 million received unemployment benefits worth an average of $12,600 in 2010, the last year the figures were available.
List of the Day: Incompetent Bosses
Have an incompetent boss? Here’s how to make the best of the situation.
1. Learn how to manage up.
2. Be forgiving.
3. Be humble.
