Money Matters: Brand New Year… Same Old Problems?

It’s the economy stupid!! Don’t keep being manipulated by the media… don’t keep playing the same old script. If it didn’t work in 2011, it’s not going to work in 2012. So it’s time for a new game plan.  Let’s start this “new year” off like a lion on the prowl, and we take no prisoners. I’m down for the struggle… how about you!!!

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The big story last week was in employment, with the unemployment rate for December falling to 8.5 percent, its lower point in the past three years, according to last week’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employers added 200,000 jobs in December, which was double November’s figure.

There were a total of 13.1 million unemployed Americans in December, with the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) at 5.6 million, which accounted for 42.5 % of the unemployed, the Bureau also reported. The number of people employed part time for economic reasons (such as because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job) declined by 371,000 to 8.1 million in December.

In addition to December’s monthly scores, first-time claims for unemployment benefits placed in the week ending Dec. 31 dropped by 15,000 claims to 372,000, the Employment and Training Administration reported. The total of unemployed American workers covered by benefits declined by 22,000 during the week ending Dec. 24, to 3,595,000, the Administration also reported.

Switching to real estate news, construction increased by 1.2 % in November to grow to an $807.1 billion annual rate, according to last week’s report from the Census Bureau. November’s activity marked a 0.5 % gain over November 2010′s rate of $803 billion. Spending on private construction in November gained 1 % over October to reach an annual rate of $522.3 billion. Residential construction in specific grew by 2 % in November over October to reach an annual rate of $243.7 billion.

Turning to manufacturers, new orders for manufactured goods placed in November posted a 1.8 % gain to hit $459.2 billion, the Census Bureau reported last week. That said, their inventories for November saw the 25th increase over the past 26 months. Manufacturer inventories for the month increased by 0.5 % to $609.8 billion, putting the inventories-to-shipments ratio at 1.34. This was the highest level since the series was published in 1992.

In automotive news, 1.2 million cars and light trucks were sold in December, an 8.7 % increase over December 2010, according to last week’s report from Autodata Corp. December’s annual sales rate of 13.56 million vehicles was the second highest for 2011, and December also was the fourth consecutive month in which the sales pace rang in at more than 13 million units.

U.S. manufacturers saw solid gains while Japanese manufacturers, still struggling to repair and retool after the March earthquake disaster, had a tougher December. While Chrysler sales grew by 37 percent, Ford sales gained by 10 % and General Motors sales increased by 4.6, Toyota posted only a 1 % gain, and Honda sales dropped a sizable 19 %.