Postal workers worry about job security

Via CNN Money

When Edward Dyer started work as a letter carrier 18 years ago in New York City, job security was one of the selling points.

“It was one of the most secure jobs that people looked up to,” said the Bronx resident who has a route in Manhattan. “You didn’t need a college degree, you could get a job paying a good amount of money, plus benefits that you need to raise a family.

Dyer’s job supports a family of five, and has helped pay for his oldest daughter’s college tuition. Despite almost two decades of seniority under his belt, Wednesday’s announcement that Saturday service is being eliminated has made Dyer fearful. He worries that the job won’t last long enough to get him to retirement as he has always assumed.

“Once they do this, they can make any change they want,” he said. “I don’t know what it’s going to turn into. Is it going to cut from five days down to four days or three days? I need another 20, 25 years to get to retirement. I don’t know if it will be there that long.”

[Full article here]

Payroll tax holiday’s end could weigh on weak economy

Via MSNBC

A tax break that’s added about $19 a week to many paychecks for the last two years looks like it’s going away in January. While most taxpayers may not notice the difference, it’s a good bet the economy will.

To help offset the income lost during the surge in unemployment following the 2007, Congress and the White House gave American households a small “tax holiday” starting in 2011 and followed it up again this year.

While unemployment remains high, consumer spending has perked up strongly in the last few months. That extra spending power could take a big hit if, as now appears likely, the Obama administration’s payroll tax holiday expires at the end of this year.

“The payroll tax holiday was intended to be temporary and there is strong bipartisan support to let that tax provision expire,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate FinanceCommittee. “The continued extension of a temporary payroll tax holiday has serious long-term implications for Social Security and, frankly, it’s not even clear that it has helped to boost our ailing economy.”

[Full article here]

Investing in commodity futures markets: can pricing models help?

Via The European Journal of Finance

By Raphael Paschke & Marcel Prokopczuk

Abstract

This article empirically investigates whether continuous time pricing models are able to help reveal mispriced commodity futures contracts. Mispricings are identified based on the difference between model and observed prices, using four different pricing models for four different commodity markets, namely crude oil, copper, silver, and gold. Pricing errors are found to carry informational content for future price movements in excess of the overall market. Investment strategies based on these pricing errors yield significant excess returns, particularly for the relatively small copper and silver markets.

[Full article here]

State unemployment rates rise in 44 states

Via CNN Money

The state unemployment picture worsened last month, with jobless rates creeping higher in 44 states, according to a government report released Friday.

Only two states and the District of Columbia saw unemployment rates edge lower in July, while four states saw no change in rates, according to the Labor Department’s monthly report on state unemployment.

That’s worse than the previous month, when far fewer states recorded increases in unemployment rates. In June, jobless rates rose in 27 states, while 11 states and the District of Columbia reported rate declines and 12 states had no change.

Nevada, a swing state in the upcoming presidential election, posted the highest unemployment rate last month, at 12%. Rhode Island and California followed, with rates of 10.8% and 10.7%. North Dakota, where an oil boom has led to a flurry of new jobs, had the lowest unemployment rate in the country last month, at 3%.

Full article here

Romney adviser praises Bernanke and the Fed

Via CNN Money

The Federal Reserve and its chairman Ben Bernanke received a surprising endorsement from one of Mitt Romney’s top economic advisers, despite the fact that Romney has been critical of both.

Glenn Hubbard, the dean of Columbia University’s business school and part of Romney’s inner circle of economic advisers, told Reuters television that Bernanke has “done a very good job” running the nation’s central bank. He especially praised the steps that Bernanke and the Fed took in the wake of the financial meltdown in the fall of 2008.

“You have to give Ben Bernanke and the Fed high marks for much of their actions,” he said.

Bernanke is deeply unpopular with many Republicans, including Romney. In June, Romney told CNN’s Piers Morgan, “I’m not saying who I would appoint to the Federal Reserve, but it’s not likely to be the same person.”

Full article here