The Radford Free Press – Page 398 – All life is problem solving.

Economics / home prices, inventories, jobs, pending home sales, recovery, service sector /

Good News: The Service Sector Springs to Life

April 5, 2010

Two relatively minor reports this morning both have the same message: the economy is growing and that growth is spreading across all sectors. Good news all around. The first report is the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing activity index, which captures the trend in basic business activity across all aspects of the service sector. This […]

Economics / banking, jobs, recovery, unemployment /

Jobs: Beware the Optimists!

April 2, 2010

Well, at last we have jobs data that are reasonably pleasant to talk about. Today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics release of its monthly ‘Employment Situation’ report tells us that non-farm payrolls grew by 162,000 in March, the biggest jump in jobs for three years. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held constant at 9.7%. Taking a look […]

Economics / accounting, AT&T, Chamber of Commerce, health care, health care reform /

Corporate Losses Due To Health Care Reform?

March 31, 2010

You may have read that some big companies are announcing very large charge-offs in their quarterly income statements due to the passage of health care reform. AT&T, for instance, took a $1 billion hit to its income. 3M, Boeing, Caterpillar, Deere, and Prudential are all among the companies who have announced similar charge-offs. So, you […]