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The Latest Unemployment Numbers and the Loss of Steve Jobs

By: Brad Jackson (Diary)  |  October 7th, 2011 at 10:10 AM  | 

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the latest unemployment numbers, Occupy Wall Street and the passing of Steve Jobs.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Job Creation Posts Jump But Rate Still Steady at 9.1%
September Unemployment Report
Obama Endorses New Tax on Wealthy Earners as Spreading Protests Divide Party
Apple’s Steve Jobs Is Dead
Steve Jobs in his own words
Steve Jobs, One of America’s Brightest Minds, Has Died
Steve Jobs and the American Dream

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  • Death_of_the_Donkey

    because if that were true we wouldn’t be seeing private nonresidential fixed investment accelerating at a pace at least equal to (and likely greater than) the last expansion. What we are seeing is a complete lack of hiring (likely due to many factors, but productivity improvements and anemic demand are two of the big ones) and no recovery in housing (which is typically a big contributor during expansions).

    • JSobieski

      For example, many businesses with 50 or fewer employees figure that staying small is easier than retaining a lawyer to figure a lot of stuff out. The 50 or smaller rule is just a general rule of thumb, but a lot of businesses do live by it (just as there are a lot of copyright infringement rules of thumb that are also eroneous).

      Obamacare is big deterrent to hiring. Whether you would classify Obamacare as a regulatory constraint, I don’t know.

      • Death_of_the_Donkey

        behind our lack of job creation. And even then, no business is going to give up market share or profits to a competitor just to avoid a law (so long as they remain profitable). What I think is going on more profoundly is that businesses are making much better use of productivity gains to minimize the need for hiring and that coupled with weak demand allows those productivity gains to have a much more pronounced effect on employment than they otherwise would.

        • JSobieski

          First, as bad as the government policy is and as bad as some of the economic numbers are, I do think business owners/executives are for lack of a better phrase “in a funk about the economy.” Markets can be unduly positive and unduly negative. The decision makers I know are looking for bad news, discount whatever positive things they do see, and in are in a hunker down mentality. We will need a psychological boost to really get things cooking-and I think Obama’s departure may in fact be that boost.

          Second, small businesses have a lack of access to capital while large businesses are in SQ operating mode, cutting costs to improve margins. The way up will start (i.e. be evident) when we see an uptick in small businesses that help large businesses be more productive. A lot of small to midsize software companies fall into that category of business. Large businesses retain such businesses to improve the dotted line. There is every reason to think that any improvement in the economy will start at that focal point. However, I largely work with clients like that—and I don’t see any improvement yet.