Ain't No Half-Steppin'!

Jobs aplenty and conservative agitators complaining.

Okay, once again the agitator dissect the latest job numbers for the month of August. The unemployment rate drops to 5.1% and it's netted a reasonable 176,000 jobs.

The jobs numbers for the final month of Summer netted less than expected. However, hiring is still going on.

Indicating that the slowdown in job growth was likely not reflective of the economy's true health, payrolls data for June and July were revised to show 44,000 more jobs created than previously reported. In addition, average hourly earnings increased 8 cents and the workweek rose to 34.6 hours.

While the report may not change views that the U.S. economy remains vibrant amid volatile global financial markets and slowing Chinese growth, it could make Fed officials hesitant to push borrowing costs higher at a policy meeting on Sept. 16-17.

In the wake of a recent global equities sell-off, financial markets significantly scaled back bets on a September rate hike over the past month. But Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer told CNBC last week it was too early to decide whether the stock market rout had made an increase less compelling.

Still, the labor market is improving and adds to a string of upbeat data, including figures on automobile sales and housing, that has suggested the economy was moving ahead with strong momentum early in the third quarter after growing at a robust 3.7 percent annual rate in the April-through-June period.

The jobless rate's two-tenths of a percentage point drop took it to its lowest level since April 2008 and brought it into the range that most Fed officials think is consistent with a low but steady rate of inflation.

A broad measure of joblessness that includes people who want to work but have given up searching and those working part-time because they cannot find full-time employment fell to 10.3 percent, the lowest since June 2008, from 10.4 percent in July.

Jobs gains were spread across nearly all sectors of the economy in August. The energy and manufacturing sector, which are grappling with last year's sharp drop in crude oil prices and a strong dollar, were the exception.

Construction payrolls rose 3,000 last month on top of the 7,000 jobs added in July. Mining and logging employment fell by 10,000 jobs last month. Manufacturing payrolls fell 17,000, despite robust demand for autos.

The increase in hourly earnings left them 2.2 percent above their year-ago level, still well below the 3.5 percent growth rate economists consider healthy. Some analysts think earnings are being held back by falling wages in oil field services.

But a tightening labor market and decisions by several state and local governments to raise the minimum wage should eventually translate into faster earnings growth and give the Fed confidence that inflation, which collapsed with oil prices, will move closer to its 2 percent target.

A number of retailers, including Walmart, Target and TJX Cos, have increased pay for hourly workers.

Another thing. The idiocy of our politicians and agitators in the junk food media. The 93 million not working comments from concern trolls. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and that network with the many agitators on made this bold claim that 1/3 of the U.S. population is not working.

Okay, there's 323 million Americans.

Let's put it all into perspective. First things first, for every birth. Do you believe that a newborn should be working. There's probably over 145,000 births a day.

Okay there's death. There's probably over 350,000 deaths a day.

Those who are between the age of 1 to 15. There's probably over 80 million children living.

Those who are in the iron college. There's probably over 5 million in iron college.

Those who are in high school or college (age 16 - 25) there's probably 5 million of those not working but attending full time at a high school or college.

Then those who have retired, physically disabled,  laid off or unemployed with no payroll.

Those people make the remaining amount of non-working individuals.

There's approximately 10 million active body people not working in the labor force.

Quit the lying and tell the truth.

Back To The Basics!

Jobs report for July was modest. 

The job report for the month of July will likely be ignored since the nation is talking about the Republican debate. The debate being held in Cleveland was a total train wreck. No frequent mentions of jobs, infrastructure, jobless rate or unemployment.

It's like ever since Barack Obama came into office, the Republicans made opposing him their primary focus. The Republicans have been devoted to stopping Obamacare. The president signed the healthcare law and the Republicans mission is to repeal the whole law despite it being ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court.

The jobs report will determine how our economy is moving.

So it remains at 5.3 percent with July pushing 215,000 jobs. The jobs are coming in steady.

That means the possibly of the federal reserve opening the possibility of raising the interest rate.

Construction and private sector jobs are putting it down. It's coming in with great expertise.

Good for the Congress to get the ball rolling on infrastructure spending. The Congress will spent five weeks with constituents and are under pressure to pass a long term bill for highway funding.

The Congress passed a stop-gap measure. The infrastructure bill had the defund Planned Parenthood and Obamacare repeal attached to it. It was defeated in the Senate.

Some agitators would interject that there are 93 million who are not working. By saying that 1/3 of the nation isn't working is dubious. But since conservatives love to complain, they'll never believe it.

Of course if you blend the numbers, under 16, the disabled, those in the iron college, and retiring age, I am guessing that they'll conclude with that notion. But of course, we can fudge the numbers.

In reality there are 10 million who are not working. The average age of the working class 16 to 54.

Summer Madness!

President and First Lady Obama greet Girl Scouts outside the White House. The best two weeks for the president. Affordable Care Act is here to stay, marriage is equal, and the jobs market is improving. Also the White House now allows photos. Great day for Barack Obama.

The good news is that 225,000 jobs were reported for the month of June. The unemployment rate has dropped to 5.3%. Thus sealing a set of two good weeks for a president most in the media written off as a lame duck.

President Barack Obama's policies have improved the economy.

His executive order also gives salaried workers who make less than $50,000 a pay raise. It's a temporary fix until the lame Congress officially pass a worker's pay bill which includes an adjustment to the minimum wage.

The AP reports the Labor Department said Thursday that the unemployment rate dropped from 5.5 percent in May. The rate fell mostly because many people out of work gave up on their job searches and were no longer counted as unemployed.

Other details in the report were less encouraging: The percentage of Americans working or looking for work fell to a 38-year low. Average hourly pay was flat. And employers added 60,000 fewer jobs in April and May than the government had previously estimated.

For the first five months of 2015, monthly job growth averaged 217,000, a healthy streak that has been steadily absorbing the unemployed as well as part-time workers looking for more hours.

That job growth has raised economists' expectations that the Fed will soon boost the key short-term rate it controls in September or, if not, in December. The Fed has kept that rate at a record low near zero for 6½ years to support the economy. A Fed rate hike would lead to higher rates for mortgages, auto loans and other borrowing.

Strong hiring has endured this year despite a miserable winter, which helped cause the economy to contract 0.2 percent at an annual rate in the January-March quarter.

Politifact rated Stallmigo Ted Cruz (R-TX) statements on unemployment false. He took that talking points from an annoying conservative agitator and used it for his attacks.

The job gains show that employers are increasingly confident that their customer demand will keep growing. Their willingness to hire in anticipation of greater demand marks a shift from earlier in the economic recovery, when many businesses tended to hire only when essential.

A survey of purchasing executives at manufacturing firms released this week found that factories reported a scant rise in orders in June but ramped up hiring anyway.

Americans are finally spending more after boosting their savings earlier this year, in part because they're growing more confident about the economy. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index reached 101.4, matching March's figure for the second-highest level since the recession.

That's good news for auto dealers and real estate agents. Auto sales jumped to nearly a 10-year high in May. The National Automobile Dealers Association forecasts that sales will top 17 million this year for the first time since 2001.

And home sales are running at an eight-year high and boosting construction. Permits to build homes jumped 11.8 percent in May to the highest level since 2007.

Good news pisses this old fart off.

Most economists now expect economic growth to reach an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the April-June quarter and 3 percent in the second half of the year.

The workforce rate dropped to 62.5%. The lowest since 1977. That means a slight improvement from normal figures.

The jobs report for the month of June comes roaring like a lion and the conservative agitators are still devoted to making the ridiculous claim that 93 million people not being in the workforce. Of course, they don't explain to their stupid followers that it's based on statistics not policies.

The biggest nay sayer in the junk food media is an old fart. That old fart is Rush Limbaugh.

Jobs are being loss. Yeah, because the radio stations keep you and that annoying conservative agitator Sean Hannity on the radio. You squeeze out the local agitators. For you see, if you see an old fart like Rush Limbaugh dominate 573 radio stations across the country, he already destroyed 80 jobs.

It already cost a lot to put this piece of shit on radio. He's not profitable. When they kick him off the radio station, that puts people out of jobs. Matter of fact, the progressive radio stations have to sell their stations to accommodate to you. So that means you put agitators like Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, Bill Press and Alan Colmes on the street. They don't have the 500 stations. They barely have 50 affiliates.

In reality, if you have a bunch of people not in the workforce, I am guessing that some are not looking for service jobs. Many careers for a post graduate are not hiring. Construction is up. I mean when it rains or when the working season is over, construction is halted.

Out of 320 million people, there's over 56 million people who are leaving the job force through retirement. At least 100,000 people die in the United States a day. The baby boomers are retiring at a faster rate. There are 38 million people who are between the age of 16 - 25 either in high school or attending college. There are active college student that don't work.

So lumping in everything would make sense if you count the dead bodies, force the retired back to work, tell the disabled to get to work and tell children under 16 to pick up a job application.

May Day, May Day!

Barack for the win...

The Department of Labor releases the jobs report for the month of April. The job rate is now 5.4%.

The jobs numbers for the month were good. For the month of April, 223,000 jobs.

Not bad at all.

With that being said, who's going to be the first one to complain about the numbers being bad?

I mean the president managed to bring over 7.9 million jobs. The economy is rebounding and the conservatives will continue to complain about it. No matter what President Barack Obama does, they'll find some reason to hate on it.

There's six clowns running for the Republican nomination. Which one will dismiss this as good news?

The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in April, hewing close to expectations from economists, but the numbers fell short of a threshold that forecasters believe would signal an early rise in interest rates.

The unemployment rate dipped to 5.4 percent, according to data released by the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It is a moderately strong showing following on March's weak report of 126,000 new jobs, but the jobs figures for that month were revised downward to just 85,000. February's numbers were revised slightly up from 264,000 to 266,000.

Continuing to stall policies, nominees and proposals. The Republican majority and it's two inept leaders have made the president's second term more contentious.

The labor force participation rate was largely unchanged at 62.8 percent. The average workweek on private non-farm payrolls remained at 34.5 hours in April.

The results were roughly in line with forecasts of between of 222,000 to 228,000 new jobs. As MarketWatch suggested ahead of the Labor Department's release "anything less than a 200,000 increase in April would be viewed as another letdown."

The New York Times added: "A strong number — a jump in payrolls by more than 300,000, for example — could rekindle speculation about when the Federal Reserve will take its long-awaited first step in raising short-term interest rates, which have been near zero since the onset of the financial crisis in late 2008."

The Associated Press says home sales staged a big rebound in March and restaurants, retailers and banks grew at a faster pace in April than in the previous month, according to the Institute for Supply Management.

Sectors that grew the most include professional and business services (+62,000), health care (+45,000). Mining and oil and gas construction both lost jobs.

Spring Backwards!

Since Republicans took full control of Congress, we've seen the beginning of a weaken economy. The president will continue to issue executive orders to get the ball rolling.

Well, we're in the first two months of a full Republican controlled Congress. Since they've taken control of Congress, we've expected that the job market was to start stalling. I am proven right.

The month of March netted less than 126,000 jobs giving this Spring quarter weak growth. That means the unemployment number will stall at 5.5%

Numerous factors come forth. Weather. 

We've experience a rough Winter in the month of March. Many of the factors according to the AP include a weakened U.S. economy. 

The Labor Department says the unemployment rate remained at 5.5 percent. Economic growth has been hammered this year by winter weather, factory slowdowns and lackluster construction activity. The manufacturing, construction and government sectors each shed workers, while hiring at restaurants plunged from February.

Job gains in February and January were revised down by 69,000.

Wage growth remains modest. Average hourly wages rose 7 cents to $24.86 an hour in March.

Past job growth along with cheaper gasoline has yet to significantly boost consumer spending. A continued deceleration in hiring could delay the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates mid-year.

This ends the longest streak of over 200,000 jobs.

See Republicans haven't passed legislation that offers incentives to businesses, a jobs bill,  a student loans bill and unemployment benefits. Things that the spineless Democrats were going to pass until they got fired out of the cannon.

Marching Along!

I know that the Republicans and their conservative allies are not worried about the improving economy. They're concerned about radical Islam and ass kissing Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to them, 92 million are out of work. Again according to the fact checkers, the ones who claim that are wrong, wrong and just plain wrong.

But seriously, the real unemployment numbers are here and for the month of February, the Department of Labor reports 295,000 jobs were added despite bad weather affecting most of the United States. It dropped the job rate to 5.5%.

The Republican-controlled Congress is ineffective. They stalled many of the president's proposals during the Democratic Party control and now they'll try to take credit for it.

 But the decline in the rate occurred mainly because some people out of work stopped looking for jobs and were no longer counted as unemployed.

The strong job gains weren't enough to boost wages by much. The average hourly wage rose just 3 cents in February to $24.78 an hour.

Still, over the past 12 months, 3.3 million more Americans have gotten jobs. More jobs and lower gas prices have led many consumers to step up spending. That's boosting the economy, offsetting sluggish economies overseas and giving employers the confidence to hire.

The strengthening job market could give the Federal Reserve room to move toward raising interest rates from record lows. Most analysts expect the Fed to pave the way for higher rates by adjusting the statement it issues after its March policy meeting, to be followed by the first hike in June or September.

After the jobs report was released Friday morning, investors sold ultra-safe U.S. Treasurys, a sign that many anticipate a Fed rate hike. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.18 percent from 2.11 percent before the report was issued.

The U.S. job market and economy are easily outpacing those of other major nations. Though Europe and Japan are showing signs of growing more than last year, their economies remain feeble. The euro currency union's unemployment rate has started to fall, but at 11.2 percent it remains nearly twice the U.S. level.

The U.S. economy expanded at a breakneck annual pace of 4.8 percent in last year's spring and summer, only to slow to a tepid 2.2 percent rate in the final three months of 2014. Many economists estimate that growth is picking up slightly in the current quarter to an annual rate of 2.5 percent to nearly 3 percent.

Still, economists remain bullish about hiring despite the slowdown in growth. The fourth quarter's slowdown occurred largely because companies reduced their stockpiles of goods, which translated into lower factory output.

But companies focus more on consumer demand in making hiring decisions, and demand was strong in the October-December quarter. Americans stepped up their spending by the most in four years.

And though consumers are saving much of the cash they have from cheaper gas, spending in January still rose at a decent pace after adjusting for lower prices.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, expects the economy to grow 3 percent this year, which would be first time it's reached that level in a decade. That's fast enough to support hiring of about 250,000 a month, he said.

Broken Hearts!

The Republicans spent their first month as a majority in Congress trying to stop the president's first term achievements.

First month since Republicans took control of Congress, I was expecting this to happen. With the Republicans wasting their time on passing bills such as the Keystone XL pipeline, the ban on taxpayer abortion, halting the president's executive order on immigration reform and the 59th repeal of Obamacare, a jobs bill is not likely going to pass.

With that being said, it's been reported that 257,000 jobs were added for the month of January and the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.7%.

Of course, this is going to be challenged by the ney sayers who actually believe unemployment is 23% and 92 million are out of work. And gas prices are down because of fracking.

It's going to be a rough two years.

Non-farm payrolls grew and the government upped the totals by a 100,000. The worker seen a .12 cent increase in their paycheck.

CNBC reports that full-time workers surged, gaining 777,000 and numbering more than 120 million for the first time since July 2008. Their wages grew as well, with hourly earnings up 12 cents an hour, representing an annualized gain of 2.2 percent and the largest monthly gain in the economic recovery.

It was only the second time in the last 11 years that January's numbers beat Wall Street expectations and came amid a powerful run for nonfarm payrolls. Over the past three months, job creation has averaged 336,000, with upward revisions for both November and December, good for a total of just over one million during the span.

Gains came across the board, with retail leading the way in January with 46,000 new positions. Construction added 39,000, while health care grew 38,000.

The report could help ease some anxiety about the pace of growth, particularly in the wake of some mediocre economic reports to start the year.

The Batteries Are Out Over At Radio Shack!

This Radio Shack located in Dayton will likely close. The Montgomery County Sheriff has taken calls over at this location numerous times after reports of burglaries and robberies.

As predicted, the country's most convenient electronics store has officially filed for bankruptcy. The Fort Worth based company is on a downward spiral.

 I am really sadden by this news. Like the demise of Radio Shack is huge. It hits like a cannon.

I am preparing for the news that Kmart is going down hard too. It's one of the many things that happened during the economic recession of 2007.

They couldn't survive the wave....!

On January 15, 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported RadioShack was preparing a bankruptcy filing that could come as early as February. Officials of the company declined to comment on the report.

A separate report by Bloomberg claimed the company might sell leases to as many as half its stores to Sprint.

Later in January 2015, the New York Stock Exchange issued RadioShack a warning stating it would be delisted if its average market capitalization remained below $50 million for longer than thirty consecutive days. RadioShack had received a similar warning in July of the previous year.

The New York Stock Exchange announced that shares of RadioShack were suspended and delisting procedures would commence.

RadioShack died years ago; we're only now holding the funeral. Good active managers have avoided RadioShack for a long time.—Gershon Distenfeld, Director, AllianceBernstein, CBS News.

On February 2, 2015, Bloomberg reported RadioShack was in talks to sell half of its stores to Sprint Corporation and close the rest, effectively rendering RadioShack no longer a stand-alone retailer.

Later the same day, it was reported that Amazon.com and Brookstone were also listed among potential bidders for those same store locations.

The next day, CNN Money reported RadioShack to be in default of its loan from Salus Capital.

Following these reports, some employees were instructed to begin reducing prices and transferring inventory out of stores designated for closing to those that would remain open during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Most employees, however, remained "in the dark" as to the company's future.

Many stores had already closed abruptly on Sunday, February 1, 2015, with employees only having a few hours advance notice.

RadioShack announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Stupid Ted Cruz Takes His Talking Points From Hannity!

The country's most dumbest politico is Stallmigo Ted Cruz (R-TX). He would boldly tell a misleading statement on national television. And who would he get this nonsense from? The country's worst cable news host.

Stallmigo Ted Cruz (R-TX) has to be one of the dumbest politicos to ever be in the Senate. He is basically a talk radio agitator working as a lawmaker. He's bomb-throwing insults at the president and yet has the audacity to never check his facts before he opens his condescending mouth.

He was on that annoying conservative agitator's program discussing his take on the president's State of The Union Address. Added that Cruz is thinking about jumping into the clown car. After all, putting on the makeup and red nose is hard work. He hardly does any work if not at all.

That annoying conservative agitator as well as many others come off with this ridiculous notion that 92 million Americans are not working in the workforce.

Granted that there are some not in the active workforce. But obviously, a majority of them are children under 16. Then you got the baby boomer who are pass 65 years old. They are retiring at a higher rate this time around. Then what about those who are severely disabled. You want them to work?

Seriously, it's about 8 million people (age 18 -54) in the underemployed. About 10 million (age 18 -54) who are not actively working or attending college. So about in a nutshell 20 million are probably not actively working or underemployed.

Politifact gets to the bottom of this.

The total U.S. population age 16 and over is at least 243 million. Subtracting the nearly 156 million Americans in the labor force in June 2013 -- that is, those who were either working or looking for work -- leaves 87 million Americans, which is close to 90 million.

Well on his way to be nominated for being the worst cable news host again.

However, the 90 million number is padded, since this number includes a lot of Americans who wouldn't be expected to be working. Specifically:

• People age 16 to 17, who likely are in high school: 9 million

• People who are enrolled in either two- or four-year colleges: 21 million

• People age 65 and older, who have reached retirement age: 40 million people

That means 20 million people are of normal working age, not in college and not working. That’s less than one-quarter the amount repeatedly cited in the blogosphere.

So the 90 million number is exaggerated. Even so, the idea that fewer people are joining the workforce is something that worries economists.

All things being equal, economists like to see more people working because it helps economic growth (though not at the expense of dropping out of school, which can limit future employment opportunities and earnings potential).

To gauge these trends, economists can calculate the labor force participation rate, which is the percentage of the population that is either working or looking for work, and they can calculate the employment to population ratio, which is the percentage of the 16-and-over population that is currently employed. Both statistics generally track each other, but not in lockstep.

Here’s a summary of these statistics between the end of the last recession in June 2009 and the most recent month available, June 2013.

Politifact rules this.      

That day will come when the annoying conservative agitator will be fired out the cannon for misleading his audience one too many times. He well on his way to be nominated once again for being the worst cable news host.

Under the First Amendment, he can lie, deceive and mislead his gullible audience. He has a right to do so. That annoying conservative agitator and Cruz can tell the public President Barack Obama done nothing to help the economy.

What do they know? They are not historians nor economists. They are clueless agitators who sole purpose is to rush to the cameras to prove the listeners and viewers their "gotcha moment" fix.

For a lawmaker to agree to come onto a show to spew some totally stupid bullshit shows how serious a Ted Cruz presidency is! That chain email about 92 million people not working is bogus. No right minded individual would believe that 1/3 of the nation's population is not working.

Nevermind, there's those in the Republican Party and their racist right allies.

But to tell a stupid Republican the facts is like telling them that slip proof shoes have no laces.

Oh, I forgot that Loserville may get sued by the mayor of Paris, France. She was pissed that Loserville would suggest that parts of her city have Muslim "no go zones". That was proven false and yet it's still being repeated by the racist right.

Like I've told you in previous stories, Stallmigo Ted Cruz and Rand Paul (R-KY) have NO LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

They have the least amount of time as lawmakers to proposal bills. Cruz was sworn in 2013 and Paul was sworn in 2011, respectively.

Winter Bliss!

The United States capped its best year for hiring in 15 years with a healthy gain in December, and the unemployment rate hit a six-year low. The numbers support expectations that the United States will strengthen further this year even as overseas economies stumble.

The government said Friday that employers added 252,000 jobs last month and 50,000 more in October and November combined than it had previously estimated. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent in November. The rate is now at its lowest point since 2008.

Still, wage growth remains weak. Average hourly pay slipped 5 cents in December. And the unemployment rate fell partly because many of the jobless gave up looking for work and so were no longer counted as unemployed.

Even so, nearly 3 million more people are earning paychecks than at the start of 2014 — the largest annual job gain since 1999. Gas prices have also plunged, which will give consumers — the main driver of the U.S. economy — a further boost in coming months.

"We are in a recovery that is accelerating," said Michael Strain, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

The unemployment rate is now near the 5.2 percent to 5.5 percent range that the Federal Reserve considers consistent with a healthy economy — one reason the Fed is expected to raise interest rates from record lows by midyear.

Yet for now, the plummeting oil prices and weak pay growth are helping keep inflation even lower than the Fed's 2 percent target rate. Many economists think inflation may fail to reach even 1 percent this year. A result is that the Fed could feel pressure to avoid raising rates anytime soon.

"There is still room for stimulus without having to worry about inflation taking off," Strain said.

Most economists forecast that the U.S. economy will expand more than 3 percent this year. If it does, 2015 would mark the first time in a decade that growth has reached that level for a full calendar year.

American businesses have been largely shrugging off signs of economic weakness overseas and continuing to hire at solid rates. The U.S. economy's steady improvement is especially striking compared with the weakness in much of the world.

Europe is barely growing, and its unemployment rate is nearly double the U.S. level. Japan, the world's third-largest economy, is in recession. Russia's economy is cratering as oil prices plummet. China is straining to manage a slowdown. Brazil and others in Latin America are struggling.

Fears about significantly cheaper oil spooked investors earlier this week before financial markets recovered. But most economists remain optimistic that lower energy prices will benefit U.S. consumers and many businesses.

The drop in average hourly pay last month to $24.57 followed a downward revision to November's average pay gain. Hourly pay over the past two months has now risen just a penny.

During 2014, average wages rose just 1.7 percent, not much above the inflation rate, which was 1.3 percent. As hiring ramps up and the unemployment rate falls, those pressures should, at least in theory, compel employers to raise pay to attract workers. But that trend has yet to emerge.

The fall in average pay may actually reflect economic strength, said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo. Silvia suggested that the healthy hiring of recent months means that "many of these new hires are entry-level workers and would be paid less" than experienced employees.

Last month, the number of unemployed fell 383,000 to 8.7 million. Fewer than one-third of people out of work found jobs. The rest stopped looking. The percentage of Americans who are either working or looking for work fell back to a 37-year low last touched in September.

The brightening jobs picture has healed some of the deep scars left by the Great Recession. The number of people who have been unemployed for more than six months fell 27 percent last year. And the number working part time who would prefer full-time work dropped 12 percent.

Still, to keep up with population growth since the recession began, the economy would need to create 4.9 million additional jobs, according to the Brookings Institution.

Economists expect more healing this year. Goldman Sachs estimates that additional spending on restaurants, auto dealers and other goods and services resulting from lower energy prices will lead to 300,000 more jobs this year than if oil prices had remained at their levels of six months ago.

Spending at retail stores and restaurants rose in November by the most in eight months, an early sign that Americans are spending some of the savings they are enjoying on gas-pump prices.

Springfield, Ohio's Upper Valley Mall Declared Dead!

Springfield, Ohio got hit hard with the news of two anchor stores at the Upper Valley Mall closing.

The micropolitian area of Springfield, Ohio got hammered with some of the worst news ever. The only mall in the area is going to lose two anchor stores. The Upper Valley Mall which is located three miles from Springfield will be a "dead mall".

Springfield is 22 miles from Dayton, Ohio. It was part of the Dayton metropolitan area until 2010.

The U.S. Census broke off Springfield from the Dayton area. It also redistrict this area for House Weeper John Boenher (R-OH). 

Wondering what Weeper and insurgent Jim Jordan (R-OH) could do help bring Upper Valley Mall back to its glory?

Built in 1971 by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. from Youngstown, the mall features five anchor stores and offers four sit down restaurants. The Upper Valley Mall is located on the city's west side just off US-68. The mall was owned by Simon Property Group, an Indianapolis, Indiana based company. It is currently bank owned.

J.C. Penny's and Macy's announced their shutting down in late Spring. The stores both along with MC Sports and Sears made up the mall. The mall seen a significant decrease in human traffic since the 2000s. 

The mall had at one time had five anchor stores. It once had Dayton's based Elder-Beerman (Bon Ton, Inc) and Old Navy. 

J.C. Penny's also decided to close up shop at the Eastland Mall in Columbus and one in Greenville a city that's 35 miles from Dayton. 

Kmart also closed its only Springfield location. There are now five locations in the metro Dayton area.

Me and S. Baldwin follow DeadMalls.com. It's an informative and yes sad take on them days of the great urban retail centers we once grew up knowing.

Holiday Tinsel!

Looks like things are working under a Democratic president. 

The unemployment rate idles at 5.8%. The month of November netted 321,000 jobs. That means seasonal hiring and healthy manufacturing jobs are on the rise. This comes after the Democrats losing control of Congress. After all, Republicans were screaming at the clouds claiming things are bad.

Despite the good news, there's is a bit of bad news. The payroll to job rate is not healthy at all.

The inept lawmakers in Congress will not support a legislative law that advocates for a higher minimum wage.

The Labor Department also said Friday that 44,000 more jobs were added in September and October combined than the government had previously estimated. Job gains have averaged 241,000 a month this year, putting 2014 on track to be the strongest year for hiring since 1999.

The unemployment rate remained at a six-year low of 5.8 percent last month.

The robust job gains come after the economy expanded from April through September at its fastest pace in 11 years. The additional jobs should support steady growth in coming months.

Average hourly wages rose 9 cents to $24.66 last month, the biggest gain in 17 months. Yet in the past 12 months, hourly pay is up just 2.1 percent, barely ahead of the 1.7 percent inflation rate.

The job gains were fueled in part by strong hiring in retail, temporary services and transportation and warehousing. Those increases likely reflect seasonal hiring for the winter holidays. Shipping companies have announced ambitious plans: UPS has said it expects to add up to 95,000 seasonal workers, up from 85,000 last year. FedEx plans to hire 50,000, up from 40,000.

But the hiring also extended across many other parts of the economy. Manufacturers added 28,000 jobs, the most in a year. Education and health services added 38,000. And professional and business services, a category that includes temps but also higher-paying jobs in fields such as accounting and engineering, gained the most in four years.

The data could raise pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates early next year. Many economists have forecast that they won't do so until around June of 2015. The Fed has kept rates near a record low of nearly zero for six years, in an effort to lift borrowing and spending.

"As Fed officials keep stressing, the decision is data dependent and these data are pretty conclusive: Labor market conditions are improving at breakneck speed," said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.

The improving U.S. job market contrasts with weakness elsewhere around the globe. Growth among the 18 European nations in the euro alliance is barely positive, and the eurozone's unemployment rate is 11.5 percent. Japan is in recession.

China's growth has slowed as it seeks to rein in excessive lending tied to real estate development. Other large developing countries, including Russia and Brazil, are also straining to grow.

Most economists say the United States will likely continue to strengthen despite the sluggishness overseas. The U.S. economy is much less dependent on exports than are Germany, China and Japan. U.S. growth is fueled more by its large domestic market and free-spending consumers, who account for about 70 percent of the economy.

Cry now, laugh later. The Republicans working double time on the obstruction.

That trend helps support the steady U.S. job growth. Most of the industries that have enjoyed the strongest job gains depend on the U.S. market rather than on overseas demand. Retailers, restaurants and hotels, and education and health care, for example, have been among the most consistent sources of healthy hiring since the recession officially ended in 2009.

Manufacturing, which is more exposed to overseas ups and downs, has added jobs for most of the recovery but in smaller numbers. That is a likely reason why pay growth has been tepid since the recession ended. Companies and industries that are more exposed to international competition typically pay higher salaries.

Most recent figures on the economy have been encouraging. Americans are buying more cars, which will likely keep factories busy in coming months. Auto sales last month rose to their second-fastest pace this year. Car sales are on track to rise 6 percent this year from 2013.

And a survey by the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, showed that services firms expanded at nearly the fastest pace in eight years last month. Retailers, hotels, construction firms and other service companies added jobs, the survey found, though more slowly than in October.

The ISM's separate survey of manufacturing firms showed that factories are expanding at a brisk pace. New orders and order backlogs rose, pointing to steady growth in coming months.

There have been some signs of moderating growth. Consumer spending rose only modestly in October. And businesses ordered fewer big-ticket manufactured goods that month, excluding the volatile aircraft category. That indicates that companies are holding back on investment.

As a result, most economists have forecast that the economy will slow in the final three months of the year to an annual pace of 2.5 percent. That would be down from a 4.3 percent pace from April to September, the fastest six-month pace since 2003.

Republicans would say: Thanks Obama. You're not responsible for giving the United States a better leg. After all the Republican governors who lead their states with federal aid money to help put people back to work.

Republicans would love to say that the economy is struggling. Yeah, it is. Because these lawmakers are not passing legislation to help move the economy.

Giveaway For The Veterans!

Vice President Joe Biden visits the Arlington National Cemetery for Veterans Day. 

As we mark the all important Veteran's Day: Do you thank a veteran?

Do you visit the grave of a family member or even a stranger who served in the U.S. military?

As we celebrate Veteran's Day is a day that gives thanks to all men and women who served in our military. This is one of the country's most important days. To give time to thank our troops who served in the long fought wars is a honor.

The president delivered his weekend address to thank the men and women actively serving and the veterans. His new Veterans Administration secretary Bob McDonald is working on fixing the hospitals and wait times that cause a great uproar this year.

While the president is overseas, Vice President Joe Biden visits Arlington to devote his gratitude to the unknowns who fought and died for America.

Our conservative agitators are probably bitching about the president being overseas instead of thanking the troops. President Barack Obama heading to Asia instead of visiting troops. Although there's military bases in Japan, South Korea and the U.S. territories, the agitators will ignore the fact that the president delivered an address. He honored five service members (living or deceased) for their service. And First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden are working to help children of military families.

The Republicans devoted their time to give the president a headache this year. They won control of Congress despite them not passing bills to help veterans.

To all our men and women who served or died.

Thank you for your service.

A Turkey In A Black Pot!

Good news at the end of a bad week for President Barack Obama.

The first job report since the Republican wave crashed to shore. The president is meeting with the lawmakers today to discuss the next years with a Republican majority. A historical first, the Republicans managed to win back Congress. They pulled in new House and Senate members giving them the largest majority since the days of Harry Truman.

Of course, the jobs reports are still coming out. Regardless this issue is a very important factor to the president's legacy. President Barack Obama, under his watch has created over 5.5 million jobs. The current jobs rate has went down. The unemployment rate has went to 5.8 percent.

October's job report said that it created 215,000 jobs which helped lower the unemployment rate.

Although good, the negatives should come forth, The underemployed. That's [employees] who work one or more jobs, those who have stagnant wages, and no movement to advancement. That's still relatively high.

The Labor Department also said a combined 31,000 more jobs were added in August and September than it had previously estimated. Employers have now added at least 200,000 jobs for nine straight months — the longest such stretch since 1995.

The burst of hiring lowered the unemployment rate to 5.8 percent from 5.9 percent. It is the lowest rate since July 2008. Yet workers' average hourly pay rose only slightly, a glaring weak spot in an otherwise solid report.

Voters identified the economy as their top concern in Tuesday's elections. That suggested that economic improvement hasn't yet been felt by many Americans. The sluggish pace of pay growth is a likely factor.

Average hourly pay rose 3 cents in October to $24.57. That's just 2 percent higher than the average wage was 12 months earlier and is barely ahead of the 1.7 percent inflation rate.

"While the labor market is improving and in many respects has already healed, employee bargaining power remains virtually nonexistent," Dan Greenhaus, an analyst at the brokerage firm BTIG LLC, said in a research note.

Still, the brightening jobs picture led more people to start looking for work last month. The percentage of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one rose in October to 62.8 percent. And 267,000 people who had been out of work said they were now employed. Their hiring reduced the number of unemployed to just under 9 million.

The job gains were broad-based, though many lower-paying industries posted especially large increases. Retailers added 27,100 jobs. Restaurants, hotels and entertainment firms gained 52,000.

Some higher-paying industries also showed progress. Manufacturers added 15,000 jobs, up from 9,000 the previous month. Transportation and shipping companies gained 13,300. And professional and business services, which includes accountants, engineers and other higher-skilled fields, added 37,000.

Analysts say the economic expansion remains strong enough to support the current pace of hiring. Over the past six months, the economy has grown at a 4.1 percent annual rate.

U.S. manufacturers are expanding at the fastest pace in three years, according to a survey by the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group. A measure of new orders showed that factory output will likely continue to grow in coming months. A separate survey by the ISM found that retailers, restaurants and other service companies grew at a healthy pace last month.

Home sales rose in September at their fastest rate this year, a sign that housing could pick up after a sluggish performance for most of this year.

Still, faltering global growth could create trouble for the U.S. economy in the months ahead. Exports fell in September, the government said this week, widening the trade deficit. That led many economists to shave their predictions of economic growth in the July-September quarter to an annual rate of 3 percent or less, down from the government's initial estimate of 3.5 percent.

October Surprise In A Harvest Basket!

The jobs report is looking pretty damn good. Is it good enough to save the Democrats chances to hold on the U.S. Senate?

Jobs report out for the month of September. The president's last chance to win over the support from his base and those valuable independents who may tilt the Congress into Republican control.

For the month of September the unemployment rate drops to 5,9%. The gains of 248,000 is mighty impressive and the critics will mock it regardless.

The Associated Press reports that the Labor Department report Friday also showed that employers added a combined 69,000 more jobs in July and August than the government had previously estimated.

The unemployment rate fell from 6.1 percent in August and is now close to 5.5 percent, which many economists consider a healthy level. The lower rate, combined with the surge in hiring, could ratchet up pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate earlier than expected. Most economists have predicted that the Fed would start raising rates in mid-2015.

The job gains were broad-based and included many higher-paying industries. Professional and business services, which includes engineers, accountants and architects, added 81,000 jobs, the most in seven months. Construction companies added 16,000 jobs, manufacturing 4,000.

Economists noted, though, that average hourly wages didn't budge last month, a surprising trend in light of the healthy job growth. Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist for the consulting firm McGladrey LLP, suggested that more jobs in better-paying industries haven't yet translated into higher pay because employers still have so many applicants to choose from.

"Policymakers will certainly be worried by the lack of wage growth," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. "Without substantially higher wage growth, the fear is that households will pull back on consumption if interest rates and borrowing costs start rising, snuffling out the wider economic recovery."

Stock futures rose after the news was released, a sign that investors are optimistic about the U.S. economy.

The improved job growth comes after President Barack Obama touted his administration's economic achievements in a speech Thursday. The economy is the top issue in voters' minds as the November elections near.

The number of unemployed fell in September by 329,000 to 9.3 million. Most of them found jobs. But nearly 100,000 stopped looking for work. Their exodus lowered the percentage of Americans working or looking for work to 62.7 percent, the lowest proportion since February 1978.

Friday's report will likely intensify debate among Fed policymakers over how close the job market is to full health. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said she is tracking many other gauges besides the unemployment rate, most of which still show scars from the Great Recession.

For example, there were 7.1 million people working part-time jobs last month even though they would prefer full-time work. That figure is up from just 4.6 million before the recession.

Republicans will keep the pressure up on issues not relevant to the economy. They're on this Islamic State fixation.

And there are 3 million people who have been out of work for more than six months. That figure has declined steadily in the past three years but is still more than double its precession total.

A broader measure of unemployment that includes part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs, as well as those who have stopped searching, fell to 11.8 percent last month from 12 percent in August.

September's job gain means that more Americans are earning paychecks and can spend more. The annual pace of economic growth is expected to remain above 3 percent for the rest of the year. Business investment is picking up, and consumer spending is growing at a steady if modest pace.

Joseph LaVorgna, an economist at Deutsche Bank, notes that productivity - the amount of output per hour of work - is rising 1 percent annually. LaVorgna thinks the economy is expanding at a 3 percent annual pace and that hiring should grow roughly 2 percent a year. That would translate into 230,000 jobs each month, he calculates.

Just 287,000 people sought unemployment benefits last week, not far from a seven-year low reached in July. The number of people receiving benefits has reached an eight-year low, a sign that companies are confident enough in their customer demand to retain their staff levels.

Business investment in equipment and buildings rose 9.7 percent in the second quarter, the second-highest figure in the past three years. And orders for capital goods, a sign of future business spending, rose in August.

Americans have generally spent cautiously this year, held back by sluggish wage growth. Average hourly pay has barely kept up with inflation in the past three years.

Somewhere In September!

Nothing is working. Second term curse in full steam.

We're less than a few months from election day. The Democrats are on the verge of losing control of Congress. The president's job approval is worse. The president and his party have not accomplish much during the time Republicans took control of the House of Representatives.

Although, the Congress is equally worse than Obama, the Republicans actually have more enthusiasm when it comes to voting this session. They want to beat Obama.

This jobs report is perfect for the Republicans to win on the message that "Obama is not working". 

Again the mood of the country sour. On not only the president, but the Democrats and Republicans as well. The constant gridlock and the president's refusal to go after the Republicans left us in the mess.

The president is probably glad to go overseas. He is trying to get aid in the fight against the Islamic State and Boko Haram. He wants the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to stop the fighting in Israeli/Palestine and the Russian Federation/Ukraine crisis.

The job market was lousy again in August after several months of decent growth. Employers added just 142,000 jobs to non-farm payrolls, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, the worst month for job growth this year. It fell short of the 223,000 economists expected, according to a Briefing.com tally. It was also well below the recent pace of job growth, which had averaged more than 200,000 jobs per month so far this year.

The unemployment rate dipped to 6.1 percent from 6.2 percent in July, matching the lowest rate in nearly six years. But that was mainly due to the fact that 64,000 people gave up looking for work, taking themselves out of the ranks of the officially unemployed.

The Fruits Of Labor!

Oregon people are fighting against unfair work practices.

As the unofficial end of summer comes to an end, the American media and the agitators will return well rested to debate the latest issues facing our country.

Terrorism overseas, immigration reform and now wage hikes.

President Barack Obama is an advocate for raising the minimum wage for working class Americans.

But could the president's plan do more harm than good?

I mean is it worth it for the next hired employee to make $10 an hour to the 14 years of you working for the very same?

Anyway, the Huffington Post and some are focusing on wage theft.

A practice common among business such as Walmart. Where a worker must work off the clock without getting paid. This happens in America and it's an illegal move.

Wage theft is the illegal withholding of wages or the denial of benefits that are rightfully owed to an employee. Wage theft, particularly from low wage legal or illegal immigrant workers, is common in the United States.

Wage theft can be conducted through various means such as: failure to pay overtime, minimum wage violations, employee misclassification, illegal deductions in pay, working off the clock, or not being paid at all. These violated rights have been guaranteed to workers in the United States since 1938 by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

More #Workers Claiming ‘#Wage Theft’ http://t.co/RYOnmtAxk2 #labor #WageTheft #McDonalds #FedEX #Walmart #DoubleTree pic.twitter.com/X9RXLCt0pu
— Ⓐniktwit (@aniktwit) September 1, 2014

All That Hard Work Kills!

We here at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to the family of Maria Fernandes.

There are so many Americans between the age of 18 - 34 who have one or more jobs and still can't managed the rent, the luxuries of success. This woman worked over four jobs and slept between each shift. This one time she decided to take a nap, she wouldn't wake up.

The New Jersey woman worked hard and never missed a day of work. Until that day where her quick nap became her death sentence. The woman was in the car and left the engine running. She was unaware of the tipped over gas can and the carbon monoxide looming in the car.

The Associated Press reports that Maria Fernandes worked four jobs, including shifts at two different Dunkin Donuts.

Often she drove from job to job, stopping along the road to catch a couple hours sleep, police said. She kept a container of gasoline in her 2001 Kia Sportage because occasionally she ran out of gas, authorities said.

The type of sport utility vehicle Maria Fernandes drove.

Early Monday, the 32-year-old Newark woman pulled into a lot off Route 1 & 9 in Elizabeth for a nap. She apparently left the car running and was overcome by carbon monoxide mixed with fumes from the gas can that had overturned, police said. Fernandes was found dead in the car about eight hours later.

"This sounds like someone who tried desperately to work and make ends meet, and met with a tragic accident," Elizabeth police Lt. Daniel Saulnier said.

An autopsy today failed to determine the cause of death, and police are awaiting results of toxicology tests, Saulnier said. He said no foul play is suspected.

At 3:51 p.m., city EMTs responded a 911 call of a woman found in a vehicle in a corner of the WAWA convenience store on the northbound side of Routes 1 & 9. Emergency workers found all the windows and doors on the vehicle closed and when they got inside, they were hit with a chemical odor, authorities said.

After determining the woman in the vehicle, later identified as Fernandes, was dead, the emergency responders called in Union County's Hazmat workers.

Dunkin Donuts in Dayton, Ohio.

City police and firefighters, and staff from the county medical examiner's office, waited four hours while Hazmat members monitored the levels of the odors until they determined it was safe for others to enter the Kia, authorities said.

New Jersey has tens of thousands of people working multiple jobs, said Carl Van Horn, director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

"These are are folks who would like to work full-time but they can't find the jobs," Van Horn said. "They wind up in these circumstances in which they are exhausted. More commonly it creates just an enormous amount of stress," he said.

Many people have been forced to work two or three part time jobs after losing a full-time position in the recession of 2008.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 7.5 million people nationwide are working more than one job, Van Horn said, and those jobs still leave people with less income than their full-time work.

"The average person who lost their job took a 10 percent pay cut (after returning to the workforce)," Van Horn said.

Elizabeth police reached Fernandes's sister in Portugal this afternoon, Saulnier. They were still seeking a brother, who is an over-the-road trucker and out-of-state, the lieutenant said.

Tom Haydon the contributor of this article wrote that Maria was the "true face of the recession".

She and millions of others including myself work two or more jobs. It's a shame that even in America, some have to work more than two jobs to have a decent life.

Dog Days Of Summer!

No good news for President Barack Obama is helpful for a Republican sweep of Congress.

The president is down in the dumps. It's seems like the bad news is getting worse for Mr. Obama.

Unemployment has ticked up slightly. But don't threat none it's seems like a good thing. The month of July netted over 200,000 jobs and the rate went up to 6.2%.

The Associated Press reports that a sixth straight month of solid 200,000-plus job growth in July reinforced growing evidence that the U.S. economy is accelerating after five years of sluggish expansion.

Employers added 209,000 jobs last month. Though that was fewer than in the previous three months, the economy has now produced an average 244,000 jobs a month since February — the best six-month string in eight years.

At the same time, most economists don't think the pace of job growth is enough to cause the Federal Reserve to speed up its timetable for raising interest rates. Most still think the Fed will start raising rates to ward off inflation around mid-2015.

The Labor Department's jobs report Friday pointed to an economy that has bounced back with force after a grim start to the year and is expected to sustain its strength into 2015. Economists generally expect it to grow at a 3 percent annual rate in the second half of this year after expanding 4 percent in the second quarter. Consumer spending is rising, manufacturing is expanding rapidly and auto sales are up.

"There is no doubt that the economy and the labor market have been strengthening," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at California State University's Smith School of Business. "People are rejoining the labor force. All these factors point to moderate, but sustained economic growth in 2014."

Speaking with reporters Friday afternoon, President Barack Obama declared that the economy "is clearly getting stronger. ... Our engines are revving a little bit louder."

Congress goes on vacation leaving a mess of responsibilities on the table. Unemployment is one of the country's most important things.

In an encouraging sign, more people without jobs have started to look for one — a shift that nudged up the unemployment rate in July to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent in June. Most of those who began searching last month didn't find jobs. But the increase suggests they're more optimistic about their prospects. The jobless aren't counted as unemployed unless they're actively seeking work.

Americans' paychecks, though, are barely growing. That helps give the Fed leeway to keep its benchmark short-term rate near zero without worrying so much about higher inflation.

Investors were unimpressed by Friday's data. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 69 points, and broader indexes also dropped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped, suggesting less concern about a Fed rate increase.

Encouragingly, a higher proportion of July's job gains were in higher-paying industries. That's a shift from much of the recovery, which has been marked by outsized gains in lower-paying fields such as restaurants, retail and home health care aides.

Manufacturing added 28,000 jobs in July, the most in eight months. Construction added 22,000 and financial services 7,000, its fourth straight gain. Accounting, bookkeeping and computer networking jobs also showed gains. And architectural and engineering jobs jumped 8,800, the most since January 2007.

"This is particularly important for new college graduates as it suggests that the market for individuals with higher education is finally firming," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial.

Job growth is pushing up wages in some sectors. But the increases haven't been widespread.

Ted Toth, vice president of a factory in Pennsauken, New Jersey, that makes parts for satellite, radar and GPS systems, says he has four available jobs that pay from $20 to $32 an hour. But he hasn't been able to find employees qualified to fill them.

His company, Rosenberger North America, raised wages 6 percent earlier this year to fend off efforts by competitors to poach its employees.

"Everybody's stealing from each other," he said.

As hiring has increased and more people have begun seeking work, the proportion of working-age adults who either have a job or are looking for one rose slightly in July from a 36-year low to 62.9 percent. It was the first increase in four months.

The number of unemployed rose 197,000 to 9.7 million. Nearly three-fourths of that increase represented people who resumed their job hunts after previously giving up. The number of people who were unemployed because they had been laid off actually declined in July.

The lack of significant pay increases for most Americans has been a factor hobbling the recovery. Higher pay is needed to fuel consumer spending, which makes up nearly 70 percent of economic activity.

In July, average hourly earnings ticked up just a penny to $24.45. That was just 2 percent more than it was 12 months earlier and was slightly below inflation of 2.1 percent. In a healthy economy, wages before inflation would rise 3.5 percent to 4 percent annually.

Pay has failed to accelerate in part because many Americans are still uncertain about the economy's long-term health, said Mike Schenk, a senior economist at the Credit Union National Association.

Schenk expects wages to pick up once the unemployment rate falls to around 5.5 percent — a level at which some businesses will have to increase pay to keep workers and some employees will be more confident asking for a raise.

"People are still bruised," Schenk said. "I don't think they feel comfortable, generally speaking, walking in and asking for raises at this point."

Many more people are either out of work or are underemployed than the unemployment rate indicates, economists note. That can also keep a lid on pay.

Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial Corporation, notes that 7.5 million Americans who are working part time would like full-time work, up from 7.3 million in January. An additional 2.2 million have stopped searching but would take a job if available.

On top of the 9.7 million people the government counts as unemployed, an additional 9.7 million either want a job or would like more hours. Combined, the three categories make up an "underemployment" rate of 12.2 percent.

That "is still far above any level that could be considered normal in a healthy labor market," Moody said.

Those are the kinds of figures that Fed policymakers were reviewing at a meeting this week, after which they concluded that "there remains significant underutilization of labor resources."

The challenge for the Fed is timing when to raise short-term rates. If it moves too soon to raise rates, the Fed risks choking off early signs of rising wages. If it acts too late to raise rates, it risks causing inflation to surge.

Zach Pandl, a strategist at the financial firm Columbia Management, expects the Fed to start raising rates next spring.

"Wages are a lagging indicator, always the last piece of the puzzle in a recovery," Pandl said.

Summer Swirl!

Jobs report good but.... The junk food media will find some reason to complain about it.

July brings the best news so far for the embattled president. The jobs report shows that we gained a net job growth. The Department of Labor reports that the net gain was 288,000 jobs for the month of June.

The unemployment rate is now 6.1%. The lowest since September 2008, right before the global collapse of Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers.

However, there are some still giving up on the workforce.

It was the fifth straight monthly job gain above 200,000 - the best such stretch since the late 1990s tech boom. Over the past 12 months, the economy has added nearly 2.5 million jobs - 208,000 a month, the fastest year-over-year pace since May 2006.

Friday's report from the Labor Department made clear that the U.S. economy is moving steadily closer to full health after having shrunk at the start of the year.

June's job gain followed additions of 217,000 jobs in May and 304,000 in April, figures that were both revised upward. Monthly job gains so far this year have averaged 230,833, up from 194,250 in 2013.

The unemployment rate dipped last month to its lowest level since the financial crisis struck at full force in the fall of 2008 with the bankruptcy of the Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers.

The gains were widespread. Factories added 16,000 workers. Retailers brought on 40,200. Financial and insurance firms increased their employee ranks by 17,000.

Vice President Joe Biden (right) with the members of the inept Congress.

Job growth has averaged 272,000 over the past three months. In May, the economy surpassed its jobs total in December 2007, when the Great Recession officially began.

The number of long-term unemployed has dropped by 1.2 million over the past year to just under 3.1 million. That is half what it was three years ago.

Still, economists at the liberal Economic Policy Institute estimate that 7 million more jobs would have been needed to keep up with population growth.

The challenge is whether the job gains will pull more Americans back into employment and lift wages that have barely budged. Many people who lost jobs during the recession and were never rehired have stopped looking for work. Just 62.8 percent of adult Americans are working or are looking for a job, compared with 66 percent before the recession.

Average wages, meanwhile, have grown just 2 percent a year during the recovery, below the long-run average annual growth of about 3.5 percent.

Many economists predicted late last year that the steady but tepid recovery would accelerate in 2014. The steady gains over the past four years will finally unleash more hiring and higher wages, they said.

But the economy actually shrank in the first three months of this year at an annual rate of 2.9 percent. That's the sharpest quarterly contraction since the recession. Ferocious winter storms and freezing temperatures caused factories to close and prevented consumers from visiting shopping malls and auto dealers.

Still, the winter failed to freeze hiring and job growth has continued with little to no interruption. This should help to speed economic growth because more jobs lead to more paychecks to spend.

Most economists say annualized growth is tracking 3 percent to 3.5 percent in the current second quarter. Growth over the course of the entire year should be closer to 2 percent for the entire year, roughly similar to the 1.9 percent increase in gross domestic product achieved last year.

Other than the weak growth at the start of the year, several other signs point to the improving health of the economy.

Auto sales rose at the fastest pace in eight years in June. Dealers unloaded vehicles at an annual pace of 16.98 million last month. Factory orders picked up last month as well, according to a report this week by the Institute for Supply Management.

Home sales also strengthened in May, after having sputtered in the middle of last year when higher mortgage rates and rising prices hurt affordability.