It came as no big surprise this morning that the nation's unemployment rate rose above 10 percent in October for the first time in 26 years. The Labor Department also reported that payrolls declined by 190,000 during the month. Interestingly, the unemployment rate for those with college degrees fell in October to 4.7 percent from 4.9 percent.
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There was an immediate kneejerk reaction to the jobs data on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrials, which rose 204 points on Thursday, dropped about 50 points in early trading but didn't stay there very long. Within a half hour of the opening, the index had reversed course and was trading higher.
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It has been suggested that one excellent leading economic indicator is Starbucks. After the close yesterday the coffee company reported that comparable store sales and earnings per share rose in the past quarter. "Improving top line trends, coupled with disciplined operational focus in both our stores and our support organization, position us well for long-term, profitable growth," said executive VP Troy Alstead. My daily conversations with the manager of the Starbucks on Murphy Canyon Road (I'm usually the first customer in the store when it opens at 4:30 a.m.) supports the uptrend in sales. The introduction of the Via instant coffee has been a success and holiday sales are looking up.
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Here it is Nov. 6 and the first semi-serious storm in the Gulf of Mexico this year is on its way. According to AccuWeather.com, "two storms are stirring up weather in the Gulf of Mexico that will affect the production of the energy industry beginning Saturday and continuing into Monday." How serious are these storms? Well, the first one, Ida, is just a tropical storm and the second big blow probably won't even be enough to get named. AccuWeather.com is forecasting winds of 40 to 50 miles an hour and swells of 15 to 20 feet, or as people in California would say, it sounds like a good surfing weekend.
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President Obama came into the media briefing room at the White House yesterday to tell the gathered reporters that AARP had agreed to support his health care legislation. That immediately drew the fire of many organizations like RetireSafe, a grassroots advocacy group. "AARP, easily the most influential senior lobby, is using their clout to get a bill passed that will slash Medicare and ration the health care of seniors," said Thair Phillips. He said AARP sells insurance to seniors and, therefore, has a "dog in the race." RetireSafe does not sell insurance or financial products.
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Times Square in New York is always a crowded place but yesterday there was a longer line than usual. No, it wasn't to buy discounted theater tickets. Rather, hundreds of people were lined up to apply for one of five jobs as a "Charmin Ambassador." The five lucky winners will each be paid $10,000 to work between Nov. 23 and Dec. 31 at the public restrooms that are set up in Times Square each year by Procter & Gamble, the maker of Charmin tissues. The ambassadors will have to have great personal skills as they interact with "hundreds of thousands of restroom guests." The winners -- to be announced on opening day, Nov. 23 -- will be selected by their "Love-of-the-Loo" as expressed in video and online social networks. Somehow I think $10,000 isn't enough.
Nov. 20, 2009, 5 p.m. -- San Diego's web video news: Today's breaking major business events, economic, and financial announcements from the Daily Transcript/San Diego Source newsroom.
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