The economy gained 216,000 jobs in March. That breaks down to an increase of 230,000 private-sector jobs and a loss of 14,000 public-sector jobs. It’s … not bad. Particularly given that February was also not bad, with a gain of 194,000 jobs. Two not-bad months in a row are good for business confidence. Just as no one wants to start hiring too early, no one wants to start hiring too late. The recovery is a bit like Tinkerbell; for it to thrive, business has to believe.
But not-bad is also not good enough. Look at the graph atop this post. We’re the light gray line that climbs slowly. At this rate, getting back to the 5 percent unemployment rate we saw in early 2008 will take us till 2018. By any measure, that’s too long. The news, however, isn’t good for those who’d like to move faster. The Federal Reserve remains too cautious. Whatever the final deal between Congress and the White House, it will cut spending at the cost of jobs — a headwind, rather than a tailwind, for the labor market. There’s a good chance the government will shut down, either in a week or when we have to raise the debt limit, and that would do real damage to the economy. And then there are all the threats outside of our control: earthquakes in Japan and debt crises in Europe and slowing growth in China.
On the bright side, such threats were present in February and March, too. It has not been a quiet few months in the world economy. And yet the recovery is grinding along, absorbing bad news with relative calm and uncertainty with relative ease. That’s perhaps the best potential news in this report, and in the market’s performance in recent months: The economy is less fragile than it once was, and job growth might persevere despite bad decisions and bad luck. We’d better hope so, because we can count on plenty of both over the next few months.
Graph credit: Hamilton Project
New York Times (blog) |
Opening Day 2011: Fans flock to Yankee Stadium despite rain for Yanks' home …
New York Daily News Play Ball! Fans brave the rain to enjoy Opening Day festivities at Yankee Stadium Thursday. Will Derek Jeter have a bounce-back year in 2011? Absolutely. With the new swing, he'll be back at, or over, .300 this season No … Tigers fan? A fan's guide to all action on opening day 2011 in Detroit Yankees Opening Day begins as scheduled despite rain in forecast Mark Teixeira's homer puts Yankees ahead of Tigers |
New York Times (blog) |
Opening Day 2011: Fans flock to Yankee Stadium despite rain for Yanks' home …
New York Daily News Play Ball! Fans brave the rain to enjoy Opening Day festivities at Yankee Stadium Thursday. Will Derek Jeter have a bounce-back year in 2011? Absolutely. With the new swing, he'll be back at, or over, .300 this season No … Tigers fan? A fan's guide to all action on opening day 2011 in Detroit Yankees Opening Day begins as scheduled despite rain in forecast Mark Teixeira's homer puts Yankees ahead of Tigers |
Hmmm.
They’re not just blindly defying the order here. The argument, as it was last week when the Legislative Reference Bureau published the law, is that the TRO only names certain parties and therefore only those parties are enjoined by it. There’s no mention of the Department of Administration in the order, so hey — the [...]
Hmmm.
They’re not just blindly defying the order here. The argument, as it was last week when the Legislative Reference Bureau published the law, is that the TRO only names certain parties and therefore only those parties are enjoined by it. There’s no mention of the Department of Administration in the order, so hey — the [...]
Hmmm.
They’re not just blindly defying the order here. The argument, as it was last week when the Legislative Reference Bureau published the law, is that the TRO only names certain parties and therefore only those parties are enjoined by it. There’s no mention of the Department of Administration in the order, so hey — the [...]
![]() USA Today |
VCU not yet satisfied despite remarkable run to Final Four
SportingNews.com Bradford Burgess had another destination in mind after his VCU Rams pulled off the stunning Elite Eight upset of top-seeded Kansas—“shocked the world but didn't shock us,” as teammate Brandon Rozzell said. VCU senior Brandon Rozzell lifts the NCAA … George Mason paved the way for Butler, VCU Misfits, misdeeds and outright shock make way to Final Four VCU celebrates everyone knowing its name |
Washington (CNN) – The White House issued a statement Saturday from President Obama on the death of former Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro, praising her as a “trailblazer who broke down barriers for women, and Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life.”
“Whether it was as a public school teacher, assistant district attorney, Member of Congress, or candidate for Vice President, Geraldine fought to uphold America’s founding ideals of equality, justice, and opportunity for all. And as our Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission, she stood up for those ideals around the world. Sasha and Malia will grow up in a more equal America because of the life Geraldine Ferraro chose to live,” the statement read.
Kansas City Star |
Florida State Seminoles program still moving up despite loss to VCU in NCAA …
Tampabay.com SAN ANTONIO, Texas — You learned to love their devotion to teamwork. You came to appreciate the sensibility of players putting egos aside. For that is what made Florida State different. All season long, it is what … VCU Edges Florida State, 72-71, to Advance to Elite 8 VCU Continues Its Unlikely Run Even when the going gets tough, the Rams get tougher |
Kansas City Star |
Florida State Seminoles program still moving up despite loss to VCU in NCAA …
Tampabay.com SAN ANTONIO, Texas — You learned to love their devotion to teamwork. You came to appreciate the sensibility of players putting egos aside. For that is what made Florida State different. All season long, it is what … VCU Edges Florida State, 72-71, to Advance to Elite 8 VCU Continues Its Unlikely Run Even when the going gets tough, the Rams get tougher |
In a “stunning twist,” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) legislation “limiting collective bargaining for public workers was published Friday despite a judge’s hold on the measure, prompting a dispute over whether it takes effect Saturday,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R): “It’s published. It’s law. That’s what I contend.”
The New York Times notes the Walker administration issued a short statement: “The administration will carry out the law as required.”
Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
After a Democrat judge put a restraining order on the Wisconsin collective bargaining law passed by the State legislature that prohibiting it from being published as per state law, it looked like a court battle was upcoming.
But in an interesting twist, the legislation was published Friday to the Legislature’s website with a footnote that acknowledges the restraining order by a Dane County judge. But the posting says state law “requires the Legislative Reference Bureau to publish every act within 10 working days after its date of enactment.”
The Legislative Reference Bureau was not named in Judge Sumi’s restraining order!
Walker’s top cabinet official, Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch, gave only a brief statement:
“Today the administration was notified that the LRB published the budget-repair bill as required by law,” he said. “The administration will carry out the law as required.”
Bill Cosh, a spokesman for Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, said in a statement that no action is needed for the reference bureau to publish the law, and noted that Democratic Secretary of State Doug La Follette is not in violation of the restraining order ( which was actually issued against him) because he didn’t direct the reference bureau to publish the bill.
“The Wisconsin Department of Justice will evaluate how the lawful publication of Act 10 affects pending litigation. We have no further comment at this time,” Cosh said.
Needless top say, the Democrats and the public employee unions are going absolutely bananas over this.
It will certainly be interesting to see where this goes…and I predict the Obama Department of Justice will likely try to intervene to attempt to kill the law.
(Jonathan H. Adler)
The Journal-Sentinel reports that the controversial bill limiting public employee collective bargaining rights has been published by the Legislative Reference Bureau. State law requires that the Bureau publish newly enacted bills within ten days of passage. What about the county court’s TRO? Apparently the Bureau was not subject to the order, which was directed against the Secretary of State. Does this mean the law is now in effect? Good question. From the Journal-Sentinel story:
Laws normally take effect a day after they are published, and a top GOP lawmaker said that meant it will become law Saturday. But the nonpartisan legislative official who published the law disagreed.“I think this is a ministerial act that forwards it to the secretary of state,” said Stephen Miller, director of the Legislative Reference Bureau. “I don’t think this act makes it become effective. My understanding is that the secretary of state has to publish it in the (official state) newspaper for it to become effective.” . . .
The law has not been printed in the Wisconsin State Journal, the official state newspaper, as other laws are. Late Friday, State Journal publisher Bill Johnston said in an email that the notice for the law had been scheduled to run but had been canceled. He did not elaborate.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) claimed it didn’t matter that it hasn’t appeared in the paper.
“It’s published,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s law. That’s what I contend.”
Change.
This has nothing to do with Walker or the GOP, it seems, although it’ll surely be demagogued that way by Democrats looking to keep the fires of outrageous outrage burning in their newly motivated base. The Narrative for the past month has been “Rogue Republicans!”, and ignoring a judge’s order certainly sounds roguish — except, [...]
Kansas City Star |
Aztec spirit alive and well on campus despite loss to UConn
KFMB SAN DIEGO (CBS NCAA tournament: Kemba Walker leads U-Conn. to victory over San Diego State Connecticut's Kemba Walker is the star of this NCAA tournament Walker, Huskies know how to take a shove, punch back |