ADP, a private organization, released their private payrolls jobs report. This month ADP is reporting a gain of 201,000 private sector jobs in March 2011. Below are the reported private sector jobs from ADP. This report does not include government, or public jobs.
It used to be if a corporation wanted to practice the dark art of extortion, it would do so well outside of the public eye. Not these days; company CEOs are out in the open and proud of it when they want to extract yet more money out of the taxpayers.
Take the case of Caterpillar CEO Douglas Oberhelman. He wrote a letter to Illinois state governor Pat Quinn, complaining about the state’s recent increase in the corporate tax rate from 4.8% to 7.0%. He said at least four other states have approached the company offering generous allowances if Caterpillar would move its headquarters out of Peoria, Illinois. Neighboring states of Indiana and Iowa have admitted to lobbying Caterpillar, as has the far-away state of Texas. The company said it wasn’t threatening Gov. Quinn over the tax increase, but it had “to do what’s right for Caterpillar.” That’s corporate-speak for “we’re threatening to leave the state if you don’t rescind this tax increase.”
You know an economic report is bleak when the title contains dismal start. Such is the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price indexes report for January 2011. The composite indexes hit new lows, with the home prices of the 20 cities composite index being down -3.1% and the composite-10 dropping -2.0% in comparison to January 2010.
The personal income & outlays BEA economic report for February 2011 is out. PCE or personal consumption expenditures increased 0.7%. Personal Consumption Expenditures are part of GDP, which had increased 4.0% for Q4. Take away inflation and PCE increased 0.3%. In January real PCE was 0%.
A poster at The Agonist, Joaquin, published an elegant and important analysis this weekend. His tightly packed, brief post made three key points. We're headed for an ugly future with nuclear power based on shortages and future fuel cycles more volatile than those imploding and exploding in Japan. Governments, the nuclear industry, and the media are avoiding this issue entirely. As a result, the rulers and technocrats who got us to the latest meltdown cannot be trusted to make any more decisions about energy needs. (Image)
"The truth is, there is a big fat lie that the nuclear power industry and the media are foisting on the public and that has not changed." Joaquin
Q4 GDP 2010 was revised up to 3.1%. The 2nd revision was 2.8%, and the Q4 advance estimate was 3.2%. The strong upward revision to 3.1% is a result of a revision reduction in the negative GDP contribution changes in private inventories made and a upward revision in nonresidential investment. Here are the BEA GDP releases and website.
Michael Collins
According to an international scientific group monitoring radiation around the world, the Fukushima reactors are emitting nuclear toxins at levels approaching those seen in the "aftermath" of Chernobyl. The Chernobyl disaster began with an explosion, Fukushima is a smoldering cauldron of toxins. Chernobyl had 180 tonnes of nuclear fuel on site. Fukushima has 1700 tonnes of nuclear fuel on site. (Image)
This isn't the beginning of the end as hoped. It's looking like the end of the beginning.
CounterPunch ran an interview wit Japanese nuclear industry author Hiroshe Takashi just yesterday in which the author lamented the poor reporting of the tragedy in the Japanese press:
"Really, they talk this nonsense, trying to reassure everyone, trying to avoid panic. What we need now is a proper panic. Because the situation has come to the point where the danger is real." Hiroshe Takashi, March 22
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