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The U.S. Labor Department reports 204,000 nonfarm jobs were created in October 2013. Upward revisions of prior months lead to a level of about 202,000 jobs created in the three months July to October 2013. The unemployment rate goes up from 7.2% to 7.3% in the household survey, with furloughed government employees counted after the temporary government shutdown. The negative part of the picture is that 720,000 persons dropped out of the labor force, a high and puzzling number, and the labor participation rate drops to a 35 year low of 62.8%. This has been a problem since the 2008 crisis as more discouraged workers drop out of the work force, go to school or stay home and care for children, and increasing numbers retire. Some economists now see the Fed waiting till the unemployment rate drops to 6% before withdrawing from the bond buying program in place of the earlier announced 6.5%.

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The title says it all. The Jobs bank the United Autoworkers trade union in the US setup in GM in 1984 threatened American automaker GM's very survival in 2006. It put workers who were not needed at GM in a jobs bank. It basically meant the idled workers -many of them close to retirement -would stay there till they retired doing nothing collecting full salary. As Mohandas Gandhi had done for India in Hind Swaraj in 1910, the American labor movement needs to look at itself in the mirror if labor is to find its way into a world of dignity and fairness in wages that Mr.Biden truly seeks for American workers.   It was setup when GM had 45% of the US market and 415,000 workers. By 2006 113,000 workers were not needed with GM having lost marketshare to Japanese makers and the Jobs bank was costing GM about $10 million a week, half a billion a year threatening its survival. The Labor movement and the UAW union did nothing to fight its own membership and set it on the right course in union with management, putting at risk the very foundation that labor had put in place since Wilson, FDR and Truman for  fairness in wages and working conditions. Jeremy Peters tells the story in the NYT. That it was recent as 2006 and shows how much had gone wrong with the labor movement and the failure of its leaders to do the right thing. The Jobs Bank says NYT was intended to prevent manufacturers from shifting manufacturing overseas, instead it did just that by undermining confidence in unions and the American labor movement, and in American workers. Two crippling wars initiated by Republicans Bush and continued by Democrat Obama, disinvestment in American manufacturing, companies like Apple shifting their entire manufacturing through outshoring to Taiwan and China, the 2009 crisis from deregulation of American banks, led to the loss of not one, but two decades for America. In today's news a modest $2 in minimum wage increase from $15 to $17 over 3 years is all that New York governor Kathy Hochul could get- even though Assembly Democrats were asking for more- to give American workers and families a fair wage to meet the cost of living crisis.  ...

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US inflation drops below 5%, the lowest in 2 years. It was lower than February's 6% increase and the lowest since May 2021, the Labor Department reported.

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The U.S. unemployment rate drops from 5.8% in Nov. 2014 to 5.6% in Dec. 2014, according to the Labor Department. But hourly earnings failed to register growth. Average hourly earnings declined in Dec. 2014 from the prior month, and increased by only 1.7% over the prior year, just a little bit above the inflation rate of 1.3%. Overall 2.95 million jobs were created in 2014. Yet 8.7 million Americans looking for a job could not find one. The U.S. Federal Reserve officials see tepid wage growth as a sign of slack in the labor market. The Dec. 16-17 Fed meeting minutes show that "most participants saw no clear evidence of a broad based acceleration in wages." The labor force participation rate is also stuck at a low level- 62.7% in Dec. 2014. The U-unemployment rate that includes involuntary part time workers and workers marginally attached to the labor force was at 11.2% in Dec. 2014. This includes workers too discouraged to look for work and people working parttime because they could not get full time work. It is steadily dropping from 16.6% in 2010 to 14.4% by 2012, 13.1% by 2013, and now 11.2% in 2014, showing steady improvement but still high....

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Britain's Labor Party leader makes a speech favoring strong Britain- EU relations in an effort to attract support from pro-EU Conservatives in parliament and bring about early elections. Corbyn says he favors Britain's membership in the EU customs union putting pressure on prime minister Theresa May who favors Britain leaving the EU customs union so it can strike free trade deals on its own. A thin majority in parliament for Theresa May means this issue could lead to a parliamentary defeat and early elections.  The other facet of this is that the delicate peace process in Northern Ireland could be upset by having a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which is part of the European Union. Irish peace process and the views of the Republic of Ireland and of Scotland would be respected with the Corbyn approach. Other benefits are keeping good trade relations with the EU intact because 44% of Britain's exports go to the EU and 50% of Britain's imports are from the EU. ...

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The lack of sincere intent or the capacity  to  deliver on promises for working class families that Boris Johnson made to win a majority in parliament is evident as the focus shifts to a partygate report in parliament. Boris Johnson resigns as MP. These promises remain unfulfilled and now appear as never really serious. It is left to a Labour administration to help tackle the cost of living and other problems for workers and families in Britain and build a better future for the British people.

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Britain's parliament voted Jan. 15, 2019 to reject the Brexit deal crafted by Theresa May with the European Union by a huge margin of 230 votes. The vote was 432 to 202, with 118 Conservative MP's voting against along with the entire Labour Party members. 

If a no-confidence vote by the opposition Labour Party is defeated as expected with 118 Conservative MP's backing the government in that vote, the uncertainty and rancour and bitterness will continue. May will look for ways to tweak the deal to get it through parliament. If this fails Britain could march out of the EU with no deal on March 29, 2019, or the date is extended. She opposes extending the date or having a second referendum.

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British prime minister Theresa May calls a surprise general election for June 8, 2017, with the hope of winning a new mandate for Brexit negotiations larger than the slim 17 vote majority in the House of Commons. Experts say the disarray in the Labor Party improves chances of Ms. May winning a large parliamentary majority. A YouGov PLC poll shows Conservatives at 44% support, Labor at only 23% and Liberals at 12%.

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This piece in the oped pages of the WPost reminds readers about one conspicuous failure at General Motors, the failure in good labor relations. It quotes columnist Marquis Childs during the booming business years of the war, July 10, 1944. Childs wrote about a visit to Detroit where he saw a broad gulf between business leaders and labor leaders, between management and workers, where he said they could not hear each other except when they raised their voices. By 1958 when the auto sales had dropped and strikes loomed, the union demands during negotiations were described by the WPost in an editorial as extravagant proposals. Elsewhere in the coverage on Alfred Sloan's contribution, one writer describes Sloan's success as a manager but also points to his failure to setup good labor relations. This failure played an important part in GM's eventual failure and filing for bankruptcy on June 1, 2009.

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DJT fires BLS labor statistics Commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, following 258,000 downward revision of jobs added, 90% of the jobs shown earlier in  June-July 2028 disappearing. This BBC report and others say that revisions are common. What it does not say is that revision of this size is rare, almost 90% of the jobs created shown earlier are now shown to be non existent, without any serious effort to give an explanation in the statistical data gathering and how it could have overreported the jobs created by 90%. Imagine Jay Powell at the Fed putting this out and not laboring to explain this as he does so often on inflation. Department of Labor owes an explanation of how it is doing the statistics when- BLS revision 144,000 jobs to 19,000 for May 2025- 87% of jobs reported disappeared. BLS revision 147,000 jobs to 14,000 for June 2025- 90% of jobs reported disappeared.   ...

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Inflation is eating into wages, says Mick Lynch, the head of Britain's Rail Maritime and Transport Workers Union. He is gaining support in the UK as the union stages a rail strike after rejecting a 3% wage increase offer in the middle of 9% inflation in Britain. This report in WSJ says he is a media star after appearing on TV shows and responding to interviewer questions. There is a similar interest in the US labor movement as workers get support for wage increases in Britain, France, Germany and the US to tackle high inflation, and after years of depressed wages in which labor had lost the power to negotiate higher wages.

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Brexit had unintended consequences. Ads on buses showed waves of immigrants pouring into Britain, which was not the case as this was taking place in central Europe under Merkel only for a while till it was reversed.  Yet Brexit happened with support from anti-immigrant sentiment, and working class communities in the north of England left behind by Blair's Labor. This report in the Times of London shows a prime minister from an immigrant family who leads the same Tory party today which has also forgotten working class communities that were never its base, leaving Labor an opportunity to assert its claim to serve the whole British people.

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This is an amazing story of fortitude and resilience not just for Australia but for the world. Not for defeating the Opposition Leader in his parliamentary seat of 24 years on her third try. No, not that. It is her smiling face as she battled the odds, a year into the death of her oldest son to leukemia, a few years after she herself managed to save her son Zac who was in a pram she was moving in a parking lot when hit by a 88 year old who lost control of his car and pinned her. She lost a leg in that accident and saved her son Zac by pushing the pram out of the way just in the nick of time. She has an artificial leg but this has not deterred her, not when she was refused service at a restaurant, and could not find a home in Dickson, Brisbane region which was disability conducive. She is the daughter of Queensland MP Peter Lawlor. She is shown here with her father and her son Zac. She won the seat held by Australia's  Conservatives Opposition leader Peter Dutton in the Brisbane region for 24 years in the Austrlian election won by Labour's Albanese ...

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U.S. unemployment declined to 7.7% in November 2012 from 7.9% the prior month, with 146,000 jobs created, according to the Labor Dept. The rate for the prior two months was revised downward by 49,000 jobs. The labor force dropped by 350,000 jobs, with fewer people looking for work, which suggests continued problems in finding jobs. The number of people saying they had a job fell by 122,000. The retail sector added 53,000 jobs, leisure and hospitality 23,000 and professional and business services 43,000.

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Jack Welch, former head of GE (General), says there is something that does not add up in the Labor Dept numbers for unemployment in Sept. 2012 showing that the unemployment rate declined from 8.1% to 7.8%, because experts estimate the economy has to generate more than 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth. The number of jobs generated for 2012 are lower than this number. Another measure of unemployment which shows the underutilization of labor in America, which the U.S. Federal Reserve's Bernanke looks at because it is ameasure of how effectively the U.S. is using the productive resources of the country, is U-6. U-6 covers people in parttime jobs who cannot find full time jobs and this has remained unchanged at 14.7% for Sept. 2012 according to the Labor Department.

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Britain's general election results show Conservatives losing their majority in parliament. Conservatives gained 318 seats, but only because voters in Scotland voted tactically for Conservatives to avoid Scottish independence, leading to 19 fewer seats for the Scottish National Party. Labor gained seats in England and Wales. The Liberals added 3 seats. The final tally was Conservatives 318 seats, Labor 260 seats, Scottish National Party 35 seat, Liberals 12 seats Democratic Unionist Party 10 seats, others 13 seats, UKIP 0 seats. Conservatives can form a government only by joining with the Unionist Party based in Northern Ireland to have the 226 seats for forming a government. This election creates questions about the whole idea of Brexit, as a majority of the voters supported Labor, SNP and Liberal Democrats, with a total of 50.4% of the vote, according to BBC, for parties that did not see Brexit as the priority for Britain. Labor 40.0%, SNP 3.0% and LD 7.4%. By contrast UKIP, Conservatives and DU, pro-Brexit together had total of 46.1% of the vote. Any Conservative government is likely to be weak, and according to this report in WSJ may lead to new elections by the end of the year. The high turnout of 69% shows voters wanted to send a message about their doubts on Brexit. A Labor government cannot be ruled out. ...

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The Economist magazine says Boris Johnson with his booming cheerleader habits is an attractive choice for 124,000 members of the Conservative Party as they contemplate a new leader. Now that the new Brexit Party and Mr. Farage are taking votes from Conservatives and the party polling just 11% ahead of the EU elections, with Brexit Party at 34%, the Conservatives could see his faction of no-deal Brexit as a good choice to lead the Conservatives in the battle with Labour party. Not so hastily it says. Because of three reasons. The EU is not likely to negotiate concessions to Boris Johnson, much the reverse is true. A no deal Brexit would hurt the British economy, and lacks support in parliament. The Scottish people are not represented in the leadership ranks of both parties, so there is a danger of breaking up the UK, as Scots oppose Brexit. Mr. Johnson is also seen as a risky gamble because of the mess Conservatives find themselves in, handing Labour Party under Corbyn a win. Johnson could restore Conservative Party as a campaigning machine and a governing force, even with his bumbling style, yet it could all go wrong. ...

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It all ends as expected. Another chapter in the Brexit saga ends with the mutiny in the Conservative Partyl, the resignation of Ms. Leadsom, the party's leader in the House of Commons. WIth most Conservative Party members abandoning the approach of Theresa May of putting unpopular Brexit deals to votes in parliament, the latest planned for June 7. Conservative Party members have already shown their support for Mr. Boris Johnson, who leads by a wide margin in a leadership contest. Johnson supports a no-deal Brexit and once said that would only mean a shortage of Mars chocolate bars. This faction in the Conservative Party including Jacob Rees-Moog believes that Brexit without a deal with the European Union will work. It opposes a customs union arrangement following Brexit. The only problem is that earlier votes have not shown a majority of members of parliament support no-deal Brexit because of fears about the British economy. The fall in the British pound exchange rate shows this is expected. This could mean fresh elections, yet both Conservatives and Labour Party face voter skepticism about their handling of Brexit and loss of support to Liberals in the case of labour and to the Brexit Party in the case of the Conservatives, leaving more uncertainty. Conservatives polled about 11% in advance of European Union elections in Britain, unheard of in modern British politics. ...

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The labor force participation rate in Canada dropped by only about a half of the drop in the U.S. since the 2008 financial crisis, even though the population in Canada is slightly older there than in the U.S. This suggests that discouraged people who have stopped looking for work is more of a factor in the decline.

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The U.S. Mexico, Canada trade agreement USMCA is now seen as a model for future trade agreements with China, Japan, Germany, the EU, and Britain as it leaves the EU. It is based on a pro-growth, labor protections, higher wages in America model. The USMCA provisions to raise American wages for workers, improve labor protections in developing countries, pro-growth, and level playing field, are portable and can be transferred to other trade agreements. The USMCA now has support from all parties and is expected to become law when it passes Congress next week. The USMCA when applied to countries that favor or subsidize their businesses also provides a template to level the playing field and ensure fair competition.

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Britain's parliament voted 328 to 301 to take control of the agenda on Brexit. This includes 21 rebel Conservative Party MP's including Mr. Hammond and Ken Clarke. This means parliament can now set the January 2020 new date to replace October 31, 2019, as the date for Brexit. A new general election would also be called in the event that Labour party cannot form a new unity government under Mr. Corbyn. A no confidence motion on the minority government of Mr. Johnson would be the next step after putting off Brexit to January 2020.

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Gerald Seib of the WSJ describes the huge wave of young supporters who helped Labor party leader Corbyn in Britain's 2017 general election. He cites an analysis by the Financial Times that shows young people backed Labor over the Conservatives by 51 points more than the national average. People over age 65 backed Conservatives by 32 points more than the national average. This points to a staggering age gap of 83 points, said the Financial Times. Young people failed to turn out in large numbers during the Brexit vote, and this was a large factor in the pro Brexit win. One exit poll shows turnout went up by 12% in 2017 compared to the 2015 parliamentary election. Only 26% of voters in a WSJ/NBC poll for ages 18-34 years say they approve of U.S. president Trump's performance, 64% disapprove. Seib says the movement of Corbyn is similar to the Bernie Sanders movement in the U.S. and has implications for a similar surge of support showing up in the U.S.

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The US consumer price index went up at the fastest rate since 1990. The Labor Department says consumer price index was up 6.2% in October 2021. This is the fifth month it is up by over 5%.

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Labor leader Keir Starmer has this to say about chancellor Rishi Sunak. He says Sunak is completely out of touch with the day to day experiences of ordinary people who struggle to pay for the rising cost of living.

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Matina Stevis provides this exceptional account of 3 Greek leaders who fought hard for reforms to put Greece in the right direction for euro currency membership responsibilities, and lost. They tell Stevis they were savagely attacked in the media, by labor unions, and in their own party, so that the fight came at a high personal cost. The 3 politicians now mentioned inside Greece as having done the most to ensure euro currency responsibilities were taken seriously are- Alekos Papadopoulos, who as finance minister fought with Pasok party premier Simitis in 2002 about the dangers of cheap credit coming with the euro currency, Tassos Giannitsis who as labor minister was driven out of Pasok for proposing pension reforms in 2001, and Stefanos Manos who was driven out of New Democracy Party in 1998 after warning of risks in the economy from wasteful spending, including mismanagement of railways, and proposing changes. As Greece commits to a new program under the Syriza left government as a matter of "national responsibility," with reforms to pensions, fixing tax evasion to ensure the tax burden is evenly distributed, reduced military spending, and changes in other areas, the questions in the EU about Greece are about the degree of commitment to changes. In an intervew with WSJ's Bret Stephens Tsipras is candid about the situation when he says the country on its current course would build up the debt all over again, if the debt were to be written off. Problems Tsipras cited in that interview- bribery in health care, tax evasion, burden of taxes on the middle class and honest citizens, large inefficient bureaucracy. Yet 2 years after that intervew in the WSJ, Jan. 28, 2013, Tsipras headed a Syriza government that had no proposals on tackling tax evasion, aggravating the problem of moral hazard seen by the Europeans and the IMF under Lagarde. Stefanos Manos writes in the foreword to his book that its incomprehensible how the public good is ignored by so many people who seek only individual gain. ...