Friday, December 13, 2013

Expiring jobless benefits to lower U.S. unemployment rate- Reuters.com

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/03/usa-economy-joblessbenefits-idUSL2N0JI16O20131203

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Starting in early 2014, recipients of long-term unemployment benefits will not longer receive such benefits, and the change is predicted to possibly lower the national unemployment rate by a good amount.  Because over one million people who currently receive these benefits, when they no longer can, they will either have to take jobs that they would not have previously desired, or be removed from the labor force completely.  Either way, this change is bound to reduce the unemployment rate because almost all of these people will no longer be considered unemployed.  The result would be a decrease in the rate by as much as a half of a percentage point.  (NOTE: in my other blog post, it was reported that the rate fell to seven percent, after this article was published.)  Either way, unemployment could be prepared to drop below seven percent for the first time in nearly six years.

Personally, I believe it is good that long-term unemployment benefits are being scaled back.  When a person is taking advantage of long-term unemployment benefits, it frequently means that they are either not willing to find work, or are simply not motivated to find work.  Either way, they do not deserve benefits for doing nothing at all.  The point of having unemployment benefits is to get a person by until they can find a job, not to become their sustainable income for a long period of time.  Hopefully this starts to motivate more people to want to work so that the total amount of unemployment benefits being distributed by the government can be reduced as well.

U.S. unemployment rate drops to 7%, lowest since 2008- LATimes.com

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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-jobs-20131207,0,5416221.story#axzz2nN5Ohxoz

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Over the last month or so, there have been as many as 203 thousand new jobs added to the workforce in the United States, dropping the unemployment rate to seven percent.  The jobs that were added were all in non-farming work, and mostly consisted of higher-paying positions within the national labor force.  The seven percent rate makes unemployment drop to its lowest rate since 2008, and also brings optimism due to the government implications this holds.  With unemployment on the fall, economic recovery shows to be on a track back towards success, and the government now moves closer to easing its stimulus efforts as the country begins to function better with a lesser need for them.

The information presented here gives a very optimistic look for the near future for the United States' economy.  As unemployment is scaled back, the economy begins to gain steam, thus making the overall condition of the country improve economically and socially.  Hopefully this success continues, and if it does, the United States could be approaching a time of general prosperity that was seen in times like the 1920's and 1990's.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

U.S. Dollar Decline- November 4, 2013 Update- EconomicGreenfield.com

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http://www.economicgreenfield.com/2013/11/04/u-s-dollar-decline-november-4-2013-update/

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http://www.economicgreenfield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/EconomicGreenfield-11-4-13-USD-Monthly.png

The chart shown above is a long-term look at how the dollar has changed in value over the past thirty years.  As the trends show, the dollar has been very inconsistent, but has trended down in value.  The red line shows the best fit for the overall trend of the value, and shows how the value of the dollar has greatly declined since the eighties.  Overall, the dollar is facing a major issue, and there is a lot of work that needs to be done to improve its condition.

What this graph shows is that as time has went on, the value of the dollar has fallen, while very little proactive action has been taken to improve its condition.  While it is not reasonable to think that the dollar could get back to its value that was present around 1985 or so, the downward trend is what really needs to be changed.  If the financial and economic world can begin to put some effort into place and make decisions that could benefit the overall fate of the dollar, it could begin to stabilize and even trend back upwards again.  Otherwise, the dollar may very likely continue to slide and fall in value.  This would consequently have an even more significant international impact, and could alter the success of the international financial and economic fields.

Why the dollar has to decline in the long term- theHinduBusinessLine.com

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http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/investment-world/why-the-dollar-has-to-decline-in-the-long-term/article5251686.ece

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Throughout the last few decades, the value of the dollar has slowly decreased as the national debt has increased.  In recent years, the value decrease has become more rapid, and the national debt has skyrocketed to very alarming levels.  This has affected international markets as much as it has affected the national economy.  For example, the Indian rupee has had a very significant decline in value in the last few years as well, which has been greatly theorized to be due to the decline of the dollar in some way.  The reasons for the decline of the dollar are abundant, but one of the biggest began around 2008.  During the financial crisis of that year, investors, domestic and abroad, became apprehensive and less likely to trade with the dollar.  However, because the dollar is the international standard for trading, its financial woes have negatively impacted international markets as well.

The issues that the dollar has faced in the recent years are very worrisome, but the issue has taken on a new factor.  Because the decline of the dollar is now becoming more and more negative in other international trading markets, it shows that the United States is not the only country facing issues with currency.  This is an issue with international implications.  If the trends of the economic and financial worlds allow for the decline to continue, there are many countries around the world that will feel the consequences.  The problem cannot be taken care of quickly, but if there is no effort put forward towards a gradual increase in the viability and overall value of the dollar, the world as a whole could be in a large amount of trouble. 

Thursday, October 31, 2013

The sun is setting on the U.S. dollar’s global supremacy- Business.FinancialPost.com

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http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/15/us-dollar-supremacy-decline/

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In today's world, the U.S. dollar currently serves as the monetary standard when it comes to international trading and business.  It is the form of currency that traders and investors alike look to when they desire a secure and credible form of currency with which to use in an international market.  However, due to the declining value of the dollar, the days in which this is the standard may be coming to an end.  The unpredictability and insecurity of the dollar's future has traders nervous, and looking for a new means of secure currency.  Currently, the dollar holds the majority of the world's exchange reserves, along with being responsible for around 80 percent of the world's exchange trading.  The only major factor holding back the dethroning of the dollar as the global reserve currency is the lack of a suitable alternative that the market can agree on.  Regardless, the dollar is in serious trouble in the international market, and things are getting worse as more time goes by.

The fact that the dollar is being threatened with removal as the global reserve currency and the international standard shows just how bad the current situation is.  If this trend continues, it may not be long before the dollar is no longer the international standard for currency, which could plunge the United States into a very unsettling situation.  Something needs to be done soon, otherwise, the future will look to be a very humbling time for the United States and the global economy.

Dollar at Almost 2-Year Low as U.S. Confidence Sags: Peso Climbs- Bloomberg.com

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-24/dollar-near-two-year-low-against-euro-before-confidence-data.html

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For the last few years, the dollar has continued to decline in value, especially when compared to the euro and other international monetary units.  The dollar reached a level that approached a two-year low in value during the week of October 21, while the euro, yen, and even the Mexican peso experienced small gains in value.  In opposition, the euro reached its highest value in over two years, furthering the gap in value between the euro and the dollar.  The dollar's 1.1 decrease in value within the previous month made it the worst- performing form of currency among the ten developed nation currencies followed by Bloomberg's currency index, and there are few signs of any significant increase in value for the dollar within the near future.

The current situation of a sagging dollar, among other issues, is one that needs to be proactively worked on.  If the value of the dollar continues to slide, it is very likely that it will lose its place as the standard for trade in international markets, which would be a disaster especially for the United States economy.  Although this is not an issue that can be solved overnight, the government and international traders need to take action now in efforts to change the current issue.  Otherwise, it may be too late to do anything and the country could end up facing an even more dire situation.