How the World Works

By Andrew Leonard
Thursday, July 3, 2008 05:58 PDT

Oil up, jobs down

If anyone still listened to vinyl any more, we'd call this a broken record.

  • For the sixth straight month, U.S. payrolls declined. The Labor Department reported that nonfarm employment in June dropped by 62,000. Significant losses in construction (43,000) and manufacturing (33,000) were only partially offset by an 8000 job gain in the mining sector, and a 15,000 job boost in the ever-popular health care sector.

  • Crude oil futures set another record, breaking $145 a barrel.

Maybe it's a good thing the New York Stock Exchange is closing three hours early today, as part of an extended July 4th weekend. The less time to mull these figures, the better.

― Andrew Leonard

Posted in: Economy

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A conversation about globalization.

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Swayed by GOP attacks, independent voters are abandoning ship. But the summer of stimulus love has hardly started
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