Alcoa Has Profitable Third Quarter

English: HABS No. PA-6724-2. View of entrance to ALCOA Building from southwest. ALCOA Building (a.k.a. Regional Enterprise Tower), 425 Sixth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Entrance pavilion built of glass and aluminum. Design by Harrison and Abramovitz. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alcoa today reported a small profit in the third quarter, saying productivity improvements offset lower sales and falling aluminum prices.

The company said it earned $24 million, or 2 cents per share, on sales of $5.77 billion vs. a loss of $143 million, or 13 cents per share, and sales of $5.83 billion in the year-ago quarter.

The results included $109 million in after-tax restructuring charges related to shutting down smelters in the face of a glut in aluminum supply. Alcoa said it has idled 274,000 metric tons of high-cost capacity in the last five months.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/alcoa-has-profitable-third-quarter-706729/#ixzz2hARy0Nrl

US Employers Add 169K Jobs; Rate Falls To 7.3 Percent

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers have yet to start hiring aggressively — a trend the Federal Reserve will weigh in deciding this month whether to slow its bond buying and, if so, by how much.

Employers added 169,000 jobs in August but many fewer in June and July than previously thought, the Labor Department said Friday. Combined, June, July and August amounted to the weakest three-month stretch of job growth in a year.

The unemployment rate dropped to 7.3 percent, the lowest in nearly five years. But it fell because more Americans stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed. The proportion of Americans working or looking for work reached its lowest point in 35 years.

All told, the report adds up to a mixed picture of the U.S. job market: Hiring is steady but subpar. Much of the hiring is in lower-paying occupations. And many people are giving up on the job market in frustration.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-employers-add-169k-jobs-rate-falls-73-pct

US employers Add 175K Jobs, Rate Up To 7.6 Percent

(AP) The U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs in May, a gain that shows employers are hiring at a still-modest but steady pace despite government spending cuts and higher taxes.

The unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent in April, the Labor Department said Friday.  The rate rose because more people began looking for work, a healthy sign.  About three-quarters found jobs.

The government revised the job figures for the previous two months.  April’s gain was lowered to 149,000 from 165,000.  March’s was increased slightly to 142,000 from 138,000.  The net loss was 12,000 jobs.

Stocks jumped when the market opened at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, an hour after the report was released.  The Dow Jones industrial average surged 150 points in the first hour of trading.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/apnews/951674514947994523/US-employers-add-175K-jobs-rate-up-to-7.6-pct.

Economy Adds 163,000 Jobs; Rate Ticks Up

WASHINGTON – U.S. employers added 163,000 jobs in July, a hopeful sign after three months of sluggish hiring.

The Labor Department said today that the unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent in June.

July’s hiring was the best since February.  Still, the economy has added an average of 151,000 jobs a month this year, roughly the same as last year’s pace.  That’s not enough to satisfy the 12.8 million Americans who are unemployed.

The government uses two surveys to measure employment.  A survey of businesses showed job gains.  The unemployment rate comes from a survey of households, which showed fewer people had jobs.  Economists say the business survey is more reliable.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=405824

July’s Economic News Better Than June’s!

The economy fared better in July than it did in June.  117,000 jobs were added in July as opposed to only 18,000 in June.  Also, the unemployment rate inched down one tenth of one percent from 9.2 percent in June to 9.1 percent in July.

In order to substantially reduce unemployment 250,000 jobs a month would be need to be added to bring the unemployment rate down quickly.  As you can see, we are nowhere near that level.

In August we will have to wait and see if the reduction of the U.S.credit rating and Thursday’s stock market plunge will have an adverse effect on job creation and unemployment.