Day archives: August 2nd, 2012

BLS – July payroll employment rises – jobless rate essentially unchanged

News release: “Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 163,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 8.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment rose in professional and business services, food services and drinking places, and manufacturing…Employment in professional and business services increased by 49,000 in July. Computer systems …

Subjects: Government Documents

Gross job gains decreased in fourth quarter 2011, while gross job losses increased

Business Employment Dynamics Summary – Fourth Quarter 2011: “From September to December 2011 gross job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments were 6.9 million, a decrease of 204,000 from the previous quarter, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over this period, gross job losses from closing and contracting private sector establishments …

Subjects: Government Documents

Comparing Compensation for Federal and Private-Sector Workers: An Overview

CRS – Comparing Compensation for Federal and Private-Sector Workers: An Overview – David H. Bradley, Specialist in Labor Economics – July 30, 2012 “Of the five studies under review, one reports an overall average wage penalty for federal workers (PPA), one reports neither an overall average wage premium nor a penalty for federal workers, and …

Subjects: Government Documents

New GAO Reports – National Defense, Federal Buildings Fund, Federal Fleets, Interagency Acquisitions, Secure Communities

National Defense – Cancellation of the Army’s Autonomous Navigation System, GAO-12-851R, August 2, 2012 Federal Buildings Fund – Improved Transparency and Long-term Plan Needed to Clarify Capital Funding Priorities, GAO-12-646, July 12, 2012 Federal Fleets – Overall Increase in Number of Vehicles Masks That Some Agencies Decreased Their Fleets, GAO-12-780, August 2, 2012 Iraq and …

Subjects: Government Documents

CRS – Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress

Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress – Ronald O’Rourke, Coordinator, Specialist in Naval Affairs, August 1, 2012 “The five Arctic coastal states—the United States, Canada, Russia, Norway, and Denmark (of which Greenland is a territory)—are in the process of preparing Arctic territorial claims for submission to the Commission on the Limits of …

Subjects: Government Documents

Forecasts for the UK economy: a comparison of independent forecasts

Forecasts for the UK economy: a comparison of independent forecasts, July 2012. Compiled by the Macroeconomic Prospects Team, HM Treasury: “This edition of the comparison contains 25 new forecasts, all of which were received between July 2nd and July 11th 2012. The tables below summarise the average and range of independent forecasts for 2012 and …

Subjects: Government Documents

Report – 2012 Election Will Be Costliest Yet, With Outside Spending a Wild Card

“The 2012 presidential and congressional elections will be the most expensive on record, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics estimates – though not by much. The Center predicts, based on data from 18 months of fundraising and spending, that the elections will cost $5.8 billion, an increase of 7 percent from the 2008 cost of …

Subjects: Government Documents

Reforming Wall Street, Protecting Main Street: An Update on Wall Street Reform

“Two years ago [July 2010], President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act – the most significant set of financial reforms since the Great Depression. The landmark law is designed to help protect Americans from the excessive risk, fragmented oversight, and poor consumer protections that played leading roles in bringing about …

Subjects: Government Documents, Legislation

Federal Sector Report – Best Places to Work Snapshot: Achieving a Culture of Innovation

“Given today’s budgetary constraints, federal employees and their agencies are being asked to deliver more with fewer resources, and this means that innovation will be a critical factor for achieving improved performance. Is our federal government innovative? Which agencies are innovating and which are struggling? To gain insight into how the government and its employees …

Subjects: Government Documents