healing economy
we re getting steady but very slow improvement in the job market said
robert macintosh economist at eaton vance
we are going to have to get used to frustratingly high unemployment rate
cary leahey senior economist at the research firm decision economics called
the data consistent with still sluggish economy
the labor market is struggling and is stuck in the water he said
you are seeing gains in output and manufacturing because of liquidation of
inventories but we haven seen decisive turn in the labor market
the world biggest economy expanded at percent pace in the third quarter
after four quarters of decline in the worst recession in decades
most analysts expect continued growth for the fourth quarter and but say
recovery could be held back by unemployment which hurts consumer spending and
confidence
it is starting to look like those in the shaped recovery camp are in better
shape than those in the shaped recovery camp said ian pollick economics
strategist at td securities
while the worst of the recession is likely over the fact that the duration of
unemployment remains rigid is concern though silver lining is that we are
likely to see net job creation assisted by census hiring in the first quarter of
the december report showed the goods producing sector shed jobs including
in manufacturing and in construction
the services sector lost modest jobs with loss of in retail
offset by gains in education health care and professional services government
sector employment fell by
average hours worked sometimes seen as proxy for economic activity was
unchanged in december average hourly earnings meanwhile rose percent
the civilian labor force fell by in the month suggesting that more
people are stopping their search for employment
the unchanged unemployment rate of percent understates labor market slack
since labor force participation fell sharply said sophia koropeckyj at moody
economy com
accordingly the broader measure of unemployment increased to percent
she said
after positive start wall street eyes retail data earnings
new york jan afp
wall street opened riding momentum from last year strong rally even as
doubts emerge about the market in view of an uncertain pace of recovery from the
brutal recession
in the coming week the focus turns to the health of the american consumer with
data on retail sales for december offering clues on spending which accounts for
two thirds of economic activity
also affecting trade will be the start of corporate earnings season with alcoa
the first of the major blue chip firms to release financial results from the
fourth quarter
in the week to friday the dow jones industrial average of blue chips gained
percent to its best level in months as the market was able to
shake off disappointing report showing ongoing us job losses
the tech dominated nasdaq composite advanced percent for the week to
and the broad standard amp poor index climbed percent to
the positive start for came after dramatic rebound last year that lifted
the dow by percent with the nasdaq up percent and the amp
index rising percent
some analysts say the rally still has legs even after the sizzling gains since
lows of last march
david kotok chief investment officer at cumberland advisors said he sees the
uptrend in place even if there is corrective selloff sometime this year
stocks still have room to go higher before this bull market is over he said
productivity and profits will be unusually high coming out of this post crisis
recession we expect the us stock market to close the lehman gap that could
bring stocks to the pre lehman brothers failure of level of over
on the amp index
but some of the optimism about recovery for the economy and the market were
dampened by friday report showing further loss of jobs with the
unemployment rate holding at percent
the data shows that the labor market recovery is anemic said aaron smith at
moody economy com
until confidence is restored the labor market recovery will be gradual and
uneven although layoffs are slowing the poor hiring environment should remind
policymakers that they need to continue to support the job market
the us economy is growing but mainly due to gains in manufacturing as companies
ramp up to replace inventories after big drawdown
dean maki at barclays capital said key to the recovery is how households
respond to the additional labor income generated by the production rebound
if consumers respond by raising their spending the recovery will likely become
self sustaining as production rises further in response to sales gains
generating additional income and so on
with this in mind the key report for the coming week will likely be thursday
data on us retail sales for december which includes the crucial holiday season
all eyes will be on december retail sales figures said meny grauman at cibc
world markets
despite the fact that unemployment is close to year high consumer
spending has been surprisingly resilient in the early stages of this recovery
we agree that sales likely closed the year by posting another monthly gain but
expect household spending to lose steam later in
on the corporate front alcoa earnings monday will be followed by one from
banking giant jpmorgan chase on friday ahead of flood of results in the
following weeks
david rosenberg at glusking sheff amp associates said the market is too
optimistic about earnings in light of sputtering economy
most economic forecasters see nominal economic growth at percent for this
year but strategists see on average percent profit growth he said
he argued that the economic growth is only enough to boost profits by
percent if the normal relationship holds up
bonds ended the week mixed the yield on the year treasury bond eased to
percent from percent week earlier and that on the year bond
rose to percent against percent bond yields and prices move in
opposite directions
tight security as nigerian bomb suspect pleads not guilty
detroit michigan jan afp
hobbled by leg irons young nigerian accused of trying to blow up us plane
on christmas day pleaded not guilty friday during his first court appearance
amid heightened security
umar farouk abdulmutallab spoke softly from the dock to confirm his name
how it was spelt and his age his expression flat his eyes averted from the
gathered crowd he said he understood the six charges against him
his court appointed lawyer miriam siefer entered the plea of not guilty to all
six charges including attempted murder of people on board the plane and
trying to use weapon of mass destruction he faces life imprisonment if
convicted
at this time our client would like to enter plea of not guilty siefer said
but added we have with our client consent consented to detention
abdulmutallab son of prominent nigerian banker was arrested after the
botched al qaeda plot in which explosives allegedly stitched into his underwear
failed to detonate aboard northwest flight from amsterdam to detroit
he was badly burned when the device sparked fire asked if he had taken any
medication in the past hours he said yes painkillers holding his left
hip
it was not us intelligence that thwarted the attack but passengers and crew
who tackled abdulmutallab before he was escorted off the plane
the foiled bombing triggered global alarm leading the united states to adopt
stringent new screening and security measures at airports around the world
dozens of names have also been added to no fly lists
president barack obama on thursday ordered sweeping overhaul of flawed
intelligence services which he has blamed for missing red flags that could have
detected the plot
obama said spy agencies did not properly connect and understand disparate data
that could have detected the plot during its planning stages by an al qaeda
affiliate in yemen
probes revealed that us analysts knew abdulmutallab was an extremist and that
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula was plotting an attack but did not connect
the dots
ahead of the arraignment us marshals helped local police secure the area around
the ornate marble floored theodore levin courthouse
metal barricades blocked off the street along the austere building inside two
bomb sniffing dogs and their handlers had earlier checked every room and as is
now standard for us courtrooms every visitor to the depression era courthouse
passed through metal detector
man who said he represented the nigerian embassy but would not give his name
told reporters that abdulmutallab family had not attended the hearing
citing british intelligence officials cbs television reported the former
university college london boasted during his interrogation that some others
were being trained to carry out similar attacks
us officials have said abdulmutallab has provided useful leads during
interrogations with fbi and other us agents who are leading the investigation
the head of national intelligence meanwhile named former cia director john
mclaughlin to lead probe into us intelligence failures exposed by the
christmas day attack and us soldier november shooting rampage at texas
army base
both abdulmutallab and major nidal hasan the army psychiatrist who trained his
guns on fellow servicemembers killing soldiers and one civilian are believed
to be inspired by radical us born islamic cleric now in yemen anwar al
awlaqi
in continued sign of the heightened vigilance the fbi arrested two alleged
associates of an afghan immigrant accused of planning bombings in new york
around the anniversary of the september attacks
one of the men taxi driver zarein ahmedzay pleaded not guilty after new york
judged charged him with making false statements to the fbi
in detroit around demonstrators stood shivering outside the courthouse
holding american flags and signs declaring not in the name of islam and islam
is against terrorism
majed moughni who moved to the detroit area from lebanon said he was worried
there would be backlash against muslims
we re trying to unite as muslims and we re going to eradicate all terrorism
from our homes and our mosques and we re going to send terrorists back to the
caves of afghanistan he said
obama love joblessness old folk drive down us crime
washington jan afp
violent crime fell sharply in the united states last year and experts are
pinning the falling numbers on greying population high unemployment
even barack obama election
crimes from murder to robbery to forcible rape from motor vehicle theft to
burglary all decreased sometimes by double digit percentages in the first
six months of last year compared to the same period in preliminary
report by the fbi showed last month
the fall in violent crime was greater in cities compared to rural areas
dropping seven percent in urban areas with populations of one million or more
and by percent in non metropolitan counties
big cities including chicago new york and los angeles have all reported less
murders committed in the first half of last year compared with
and washington once known as the murder capital of the united states saw
murders drop to their lowest level in years with just committed
one factor is that the population is aging said james fox criminal justice
professor at northeastern university in boston
the fastest growing segment of the population is people above the baby
boomer generation is certainly not violence prone he said referring to people
born between and
some million americans around third of the population are over
according to census bureau data
the spike in crime that many including some law enforcement authorities had
predicted would go hand in burglar glove with the current economic slump
never happened but that comes as no surprise to fox
when people lose their jobs they don decide to commit armed robbery to make
ends meet he said
but they might commit crimes such as embezzlement fraud or check forgery
richard rosenfeld criminology professor at the university of missouri said
the high jobless rate brought on by the us economic slump could even have
contributed to the falling crime rate
higher unemployement rates mean people are more likely to be at home and
burglars tend to avoid occupied households rosenfeld told afp
so the more people at home the fewer the burglaries
rosenfeld also noted that unlike the recessions of the and the
current downturn has not been accompanied by the rise of new illegal drug
the period of great economic difficulty in the us in the coincided with
the expansion of the heroin market in the and early economic
decline coincided with the expansion of the crack cocaine market he said
we are not seeing anything like that happening right now
but the abundance of well behaved older americans the greater number of people
at home and the lack of street drug market are not alone in driving back crime
in the united states
there also the obama effect
barack obama election was historic and obviously very meaningful for african
americans and african american young men are disproportionately involved in
serious violent crimes both as victims and offenders rosenfeld said
it certainly possible that obama hope and change message has affected that
segment of the population and has worked to prevent some crime that
speculation and needs to be pursued in research and number of us are doing
that
but if experts find there is an obama effect rosenfeld cautioned it will not
last forever
if there is an obama effect don expect it to last much beyond he
said
when the hope and change rhetoric settles down bit the crooks will get back
to business
italian locals attack migrants nine hurt
rome jan afp
residents of an italian town beat with iron bars shot at and ran over
immigrants friday wounding nine two seriously in second night of
racially charged violence authorities and reports said
the clashes in the southern town of rosarno which erupted thursday during
protest by mainly african farm labourers had injured policemen and
foreigners in two days authorities in reggio calabria province said
around locals armed with batons and metal bars and some carrying clubs and
cans of petrol had meanwhile set up barricade late friday near place where
many immigrants meet italian news agency ansa reported
nine busses with police escorts later evacuated around immigrants in the
early hours of saturday as locals applauded
in separate incidents on friday two immigrants were beaten and seriously
wounded with iron bars media and officials said one of the wounded was
admitted to hospital for brain surgery
two other immigrants were shot in the legs with hunting shotguns and five more
were deliberately run over by vehicles driven by locals they said they were
lightly hurt
police arrested the occupants of one of the vehicles ansa said quoting
investigators
police reinforcements had been sent to the area said police chief antonio
manganelli as italian president giorgio napolitano called for an immediate end
to the violence
the violence broke out thursday when hundreds of immigrants most of them
africans employed illegally as farm labourers demonstrated after some of them
had been shot at with an air rifle ansa said
demonstrators set fire to cars and smashed windscreens before police intervened
leading to scuffle that left several of the demonstrators wounded ansa said
the disturbances continued on friday with about immigrants holding sit
in in the centre of rosarno while italian residents blocked roads and occupied
the town hall
while immigrants were evacuated early on saturday to an emergency shelter
located at crotone some kilometres miles away some were still
holed up on another building in the town according to ansa
police were staying in the town to ensure the immigrants don return and
residents don burn down any buildings
earlier friday the un refugee agency spokeswoman in italy laura boldrini told
afp the body feared an immigrant hunt in rosarno
team from the un high commissioner for refugees was to visit the area on
saturday she said
boldrini said authorities must find those responsible for the air gun shooting
of the immigrants who included political refugees and asylum seekers
she said there should be immediate dialogue including about the inhuman
conditions in which these workers are living the unhealthy cabins without
water without hygiene
interior minister roberto maroni member of the anti immigrant northern league
party said the tensions were result of too much tolerance towards
clandestine immigration
according to italy main trade union cgil about immigrant workers in
italy live in poor conditions similar to those in rosarno
it said immigrants employed as farm labourers earned low wages of around euro
dollars day
the union also accused the mafia of controlling the sector and criticised
maroni statement saying immigrants were paid miserable salaries and have
terrible hours similar to slavery
one dead nine hurt in attack on african football stars
luanda jan afp
gunmen shot at buses carrying togo football team to the african nations cup in
angola on friday leaving one dead and nine wounded but organisers insisted the
tournament would go ahead
two players were among the injured while driver was killed when gunmen
bullets sprayed at the team vehicles after they had crossed into angola
restive cabinda province from congo brazzaville according to togo official
many dived under their seats when the gunfire started squad member thomas
dossevi said the team one of the strongest in african football had been
fired on like dogs
two players goalkeeper kodjovi obilale and defender serge akakpo were
among the wounded dossevi told afp
the assailants were hooded and armed to the teeth we stayed under the seats
for minutes it was horrible
two english premiership players manchester city striker emmanuel adebayor and
aston villa midfielder moustapha salifou emerged unharmed from the attack
their clubs said
angola government denounced the attack by the separatist front for the
liberation of the enclave of cabinda flec and in statement reiterated its
total commitment to guaranteeing everyone security
flec embroiled in decades long separatist struggle said the team military
escorts were the intended target saying one person had been killed and three
seriously injured
this operation is only the start of series of targeted actions that will
continue in all the territory of cabinda it said in statement on portugal
lusa news agency
flec signed peace deal with angola government in but in recent months
has claimed spate of attacks on the military and foreign oil and construction
workers in the province which is physically separated from the rest of the
country by strip of the democratic republic of congo
togo football federation said members of the team sporting administrative
and medical staff were injured all were being treated in hospital in cabinda
city
adebayor the togo team captain said that he would convene meeting at which
the squad would discuss whether or not to stay for the tournament
think lot of players want to leave he told bbc radio five live in
britain
they have seen one of their team mates have bullet in his body who is
crying who is losing consciousness and everything said adebayor who was
shown on angolan television looking dazed and in tears shortly after the attack
we will discuss everything as team and we will take decision that we think
is good for our career is good for our life and good for our family he said
if the security is not sure then we will be leaving tomorrow don think
they will be ready to give their life
his concerns about security echoed across the continent but organisers said the
games would go on
our great concern is for the players but the championship goes ahead said
souleymane habuba spokesman for the confederation of african football
he said the group vice president had set off for cabinda to find out first
hand what had occurred but questioned why togo had elected to travel by road
rather than flying
caf regulations are clear teams are required to fly rather than travel by
bus he said
member of the local organising committee virgilio santos said all teams were
requested to provide their travel plans
togo was the only team that did not respond and did not notify us they were
coming by road he told afp
togo one of africa top sides and who appeared in the last world cup in
germany were scheduled to start their campaign against ghana on monday in
cabinda
the other teams in their group are burkina faso and the star studded ivory coast
squad which includes chelsea striker didier drogba and barcelona midfielder yaya
toure
despite long running security concerns oil rich cabinda is to host seven
nations cup matches this month
angola as whole is only just emerging from year civil war which erupted
shortly after it received independence from portugal and finally ended in
corrected us plane plot suspect says more in training report
washington jan afp
young nigerian charged with trying to blow up us airliner boasted during his
interrogation that some others were being trained to carry out similar
attacks cbs reported friday
british intelligence officials said umar farouk abdulmutallab had boasted
that close to other young muslim men were being prepared in yemen to use the
same technique to blow up airliners cbs reported
abdulmutallab earlier pleaded not guilty to six charges arising out of the
botched christmas day bombing of northwest flight from amsterdam to detroit
he allegedly stitched two highly explosive substances into his clothes and
tried to detonate them as the plane carrying people approached detroit
but the device failed and instead abdulmutallab was arrested after being
overpowered by passengers and crew
he has since been interrogated by fbi and us agents who are leading the
investigation us officials have said he is providing useful leads
three arrested after london airport scare operator
london jan afp
three people were arrested at london heathrow airport on friday after
security scare on dubai bound emirates flight police said amid reports
officers stormed the plane and took the suspects off
three people have been arrested at heathrow this evening they are currently in
police custody the airport remains open statement from london
metropolitan police service said
passenger on the flight cameron mclean told sky news armed police burst onto
the plane before making arrests and the broadcaster showed photograph
purportedly of officers in black overalls inside the aircraft
some special police just came on the plane and arrested these two guys few
rows in front of me said mclean who sky said had supplied the photograph
the passenger added he saw one man being taken off in handcuffs
sky said police intervened after verbal threats were made and that the men
arrested were english and appeared to be drunk
spokesman for airport operator baa spokesman confirmed security incident
on the plane but said it only affected the dubai bound plane
the baa spokesman said the plane involved was owned by emirates
the alert came amid heightened security at airports around the world following
an alleged attempt by young nigerian to bomb plane landing in detroit on
christmas day by concealing explosives in his underwear
jordan acknowledges counter terror role in afghanistan
washington jan afp
jordanian foreign minister nasser judeh on friday openly acknowledged that
jordan had counter terrorism role in afghanistan and planned to enhance
operations there
jordan presence in afghanistan was thrown wide open when suicide bomber blew
himself up last week at us base in afghanistan killing seven cia agents and
his jordanian handler top intelligence officer and member of the royal
family
our presence in afghanistan today is twofold judeh told reporters during
press briefing with us secretary of state hillary clinton
number one to combat terrorism and the root causes of terrorism but also to
help out in the humanitarian effort that is needed there jordan top diplomat
said
and would like to say that our presence in afghanistan will be enhanced and
increased in the coming phase this is something that is ongoing jordan was one
of the first countries there he said
we are not only part of network of countries that are trying to assist
afghanistan and afghanis but also trying to combat terror and terrorism judeh
said
but we re also there to defend jordan national interests and to defend
jordanians and safeguard them against this growing threat he said
after the attack at the us base in khost near the pakistani border western
diplomats said that the revelation of jordanian involvement in us intelligence
operation in afghanistan was blow for the amman government
jordan is likely to be embarrassed by the fact that captain ali death has
revealed its cooperation with the cia which is not going to go down well with
predominantly anti american public opinion one western diplomat told afp
information minister nabil sharif earlier rejected as baseless reports that
the bomber was jordanian and again denied jordanian role in the coalition
operations in afghanistan
schwarzenegger unveils budget cuts amid fiscal emergency
los angeles california jan afp
california governor arnold schwarzenegger friday declared fiscal emergency as
he unveiled deep cuts to the state budget aimed at plugging whopping
billion dollar deficit
as we face another year of fiscal challenges we must immediately focus on our
state priorities and put the people of california first he told the state
legislature
my budget proposal protects education and reprioritizes our funds reducing
taxpayer dollars going to prisons and keeping funding in classrooms
the republican governor who is in his last year in office called special
session of the state assembly to get down to tackling the budget deficit which
threatens to balloon even more
california is the richest state in the united states but also has the largest
population and has been hit hard by the recession and the crisis in the property
market that has aggravated an already chronic deficit
the measures set out by schwarzenegger include percent cuts in the salaries
of state employees and percent mandatory increase in retirement plan
contributions
in return tens of thousands of local government employees who were forced to
take three months of unpaid leave in will be allowed to return full time
from june
in order to devote more funds to education the governor plans to cut the
prisons budget by reducing the medical coverage allocated to prisoners
he also plans to ask the federal government in washington to pay california some
billion dollars that he says are owed to the state
if the money is not forthcoming schwarzenegger warned he will then have to make
cuts in other key programs such as medical help for needy children poor
families and those with mental health issues state employees would face
further percent pay cut he said
in some good news for residents the governor proposed reducing prices at the
pump
on wednesday he had called for reform of california tax and budget system
saying sweeping changes were necessary to break the state endless cycle of
fiscal problems
addressing california lawmakers in his final state of the state address before
leaving office schwarzenegger said he would push for the adoption of recent
recommendations put forward by the state tax reform commission
the commission has recommended reducing personal income tax across all income
groups eliminating state sales tax changing business tax and strengthening
rainy day fund
schwarzenegger said the overhaul was needed to combat the kind of multi billion
dollar budget deficits that have paralyzed his second term in office since his
re election
the basic problem is that our tax system does not reflect our economy
schwarzenegger said our economy is diverse whereas our tax system is not
taxpayers pay almost percent of all personal income taxes
last year the state was forced to close billion dollar gap in the state
finances with brutal cuts to services such as education and health care
attracting howls of protest
ex cia chief to lead probe of intelligence failures blair
washington jan afp
the head of national intelligence on friday named former cia director to lead
probe into us intelligence failures exposed by an al qaeda attack on an
airliner and shooting rampage at an army base
john mclaughlin who was acting director of the central intelligence agency
briefly in after having served as deputy director will head small group
of national security experts who will look into recent challenges facing the
intelligence community national intelligence director dennis blair said in
statement
the team will examine the christmas day bombing attempt on northwest flight
bound for detroit and the november shootings at fort hood army base in texas
an army psychiatrist major nidal hasan has been charged with carrying out the
fort hood shooting spree that killed soldiers and one civilian
both alleged attackers were believed to be inspired by radical us born islamic
cleric now in yemen
the dni has requested careful examination of the sequence of events leading
up to both incidents as well as proposals to remedy potential weaknesses in
intelligence systems and procedures that these incidents exposed blair
statement said
mclaughlin was especially well qualified to lead an independent assessment in
this area and provide candid constructive guidance to improve our future
performance blair said
the announcement came day after president barack obama ordered urgent action
at security and intelligence agencies to fix flaws exposed by the december th
attack that was narrowly averted
releasing two reports on the thwarted christmas day bombing obama said spy
agencies did not properly connect and understand disparate data that could
have busted the plot as it was planned by an al qaeda affiliate in yemen
afp
afp world news service no unauthorized reproduction
killed in northern mexico drug violence
ciudad juarez jan afp
