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Factory Orders Climb 1.6%; Service Sector Shows Strength
A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP
WASHINGTON -- Orders to U.S. factories rose for the third straight month in July, offering further evidence of a rebound in the manufacturing sector. The service sector also continued to show strength. ***************************************
The class which owns U.S. factories has been selling more of the commodities which they buy/pay/employ their wage-slaves to produce.
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In other reports released Thursday, second-quarter worker productivity was revised to show its biggest gain in more than a year, and jobless claims last week jumped to their highest level since mid-July. The data underscored some of the strains facing workers even as the economy shows signs of gaining momentum. ***********************
Since output per wage-slave has increased so much, there is no need to hire more of them.
***************** Factory orders rose 1.6% to $329.39 billion in July, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The July increase followed a revised 1.9% rise in June, previously estimated as a 1.7% climb.
July durable-goods orders, first reported Aug 26, were unrevised at up 1.0%. ****************************************************
Owning the social product of labour is becoming more lucrative. Unfortunately for the wage-slaves, they don't own it and because they're ever so much more productive there are more of them in the ranks of the reserve army of labour, thus driving down their price in the *free*- market of commodities.
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The factory data was much stronger than Wall Street had expected. Analysts had predicted factory orders would rise by 0.8% for the month. *********
Capitalists are salivating at the prospect of selling even more of the commodities which they have their cheaper wage-slaves producing. Rate of profit issue....
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The factory orders numbers add to recent economic reports pointing to continued firming in the manufacturing sector. The Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday that manufacturing activity grew for the second straight month. ******
A photo of a worker at a sewing machine here, frantically trying to keep up the killer pace, so that she can continue to pay for daycare.
****** The ISM's index for nonmanufacturing activity came out Thursday, and it showed that the service sector expanded last month at the same rate -- 65.1 -- as in July. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. ********
Mmmmmmmmmmm. good............yum, yum, eat 'em up.
********** Productivity Improves
Growth in nonfarm worker productivity was revised to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.8% from the 5.7% previously estimated, marking the largest increase since the first quarter of 2002. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and CNBC had forecast productivity growth of 6.3%. *******
Silly creatures of the dismal science. They were probably liberal economists.
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In a separate report, the Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose by 15,000 to 413,000 in the week ended Saturday. Economists had projected claims would fall by 4,000. ***********
Ditto. A good thing that you're on top of things and read the "WSJ"--ad not intended, but what the heck!
********* The jump propelled the four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly fluctuations, to 401,500, the first time in five weeks that it cracked the 400,000 mark that economists say indicates a stabilizing job market. Claims below that threshold had fueled hopes that the pace of layoffs was stabilizing.
Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said the underlying trend in claims is still downward. He said that while it will take a while for the average to get below 350,000 claims, he predicted that favorable seasonal-adjustment factors will put the figure back below 400,000 next week.
The big upward revision in productivity -- a measure of output per hour worked -- stemmed from revised estimates of U.S. economic growth that showed higher output, the Labor Department said. Output grew 4.4% in the second quarter, instead of the 3.4% gain first reported. ********
Gosh, that's great. Regular Stakonovites we US workers are.
******** Over the long run, productivity growth increases prosperity by allowing businesses to raise wages without boosting prices. But the increasing efficiency of workers has proved to be a threat to their own job security. Since the start of the year, businesses have cut nearly half a million jobs. They have done so despite stronger economic growth and rising consumer spending -- and producing more with fewer workers is one of the reasons. **********
Capitalists are no fools. They are free to choose. Why hire wage-slaves to produce more than you can successfully market. ********
Although recent economic reports have signaled that the economy may be rebounding, businesses remain cautious when it comes to hiring workers, preferring to see profits improve and to feel more confident about the recovery before boosting payrolls. ******
Oh yeah, so that explains why.......
****** The Labor Department said unit labor costs fell 2.3% in the second quarter, revised from an initial estimate of a 2.1% drop. *********
God, we're good. We make 'em cheaper and cheaper so big boss can get richer and maybe let some of the wealth trickle down his pantleg.
********** Workers hours fell 2.8% in the second quarter, revised from an initial estimate of a 2.2% drop. **********
Gosh, *WE*'re going to have some high times ahead.
******** The manufacturing sector saw a revised productivity gain of 3.7%, revised down from an initial estimate of 4.2%. *********
Uh-oh.......oh well, just another dizzy spell,
Mike B)
===== ***************************************************************** "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity."
Albert Einstein
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