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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Economy shows its pain, rebound will take time

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The economy was in deep pain even as the government pushed forward Wednesday with its latest financial rescue plan to exchange taxpayer money for stakes in the nation's banks.

On Wall Street, the Dow shed more than 500 points on worries the U.S. was in a recession or soon would be, despite the plan announced Tuesday. The market for lending between banks - a key gauge of the plan's effectiveness - remained tight, although there were some signs of improvement.

And the Federal Reserve's snapshot of business conditions nationwide showed that the economy continued to lose traction, reflecting mounting damage as financial and credit problems took a turn for the worse.

President Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke sought to reassure anxious Americans that relief will come. But they said it will take time and patience for the plan's unprecedented steps to stabilize the system, induce banks to lend again, and - in time - help improve the economy.

Bush, in a meeting with his Cabinet, said he's confident that “in the long run, that this economy will come back.”

But the economy was showing the hurdles it has to leap to meet his prediction. Retail sales dropped in September and wholesale prices remained high.

The Fed said economic activity weakened across all of its 12 regional districts, according to the report commonly known as “The Beige Book.” Consumer spending - the lifeblood of the economy - slumped in most Fed regions. Manufacturing also slowed in most areas.

“This will take time. There will be challenges,” Paulson said on ABC's “Good Morning America.”

Bernanke also called for patience. He said the economy was currently battling a severe credit crunch, slowdowns in consumer spending and business investment and rising unemployment.

“Stabilization of the financial markets is a critical first step, but even if they stabilize as we hope they will, broader economic recovery will not happen right away,” Bernanke said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York.

The Fed chairman, who has worked closely with Paulson in the current crisis, said the government's new powers under the $700 billion financial bailout package passed by Congress on Oct. 3 should help reduce risks and restore confidence.

But investors weren't able to cast off their worries that the lack of credit in the system would continue to pound the economy, forcing businesses to cut jobs and reduce spending on supplies, equipment and raw materials.

Unprecedented steps recently taken - including hefty interest rate reductions by the Fed and other major central banks in a coordinated assault just last week - have failed to break through the credit clog and the panicky mind-set gripping investors.

Sales at U.S. retailers fell with a thud in September, dropping by 1.2 percent, the most in three years. Retail sales have fallen for three consecutive months, the first time that has occurred on government records dating back to 1992.

Uncertainty about the economy - and their own financial fortunes - probably will force consumers and businesses alike to hunker down further even as the important holiday shopping season begins.

“The consumer shut up shop even before the markets got crushed and that is not good news for the economy,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors. “What is ominous is that the declines in spending were broad based.”

As consumers pull back, it raises the odds the economy will contract later this year and early next year. Some think the economy may have jolted into reverse in the recently ended third quarter. One classic definition of a recession is two straight quarters of contracting economic activity.

Another report showed wholesale prices dropped for the second straight month, as energy costs retreated from record highs. Yet many other prices are up sharply over the past year and are squeezing businesses. When energy and food prices are stripped out, all other wholesale prices tracked posted their biggest annual increase in more than 17 years.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said businesses increased their inventories in August by the smallest advance in five months. That data, gathered before the financial markets recently had some of their worst days ever, reflects the serious problems in the market for commercial paper, where businesses obtain short-term loans to fund their day-to-day operations.

The stew of bad economics news pushed the Dow Jones industrials down about 500 points in afternoon trading, giving back a chunk of the index's huge 936-point advance from Monday. Broader indexes also slumped: The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 6.5 percent and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.5 percent.

Credit markets also remain strained and demand for safe assets remains high. The three-month Treasury bill's yield slipped on Wednesday. Low yields show that investors are willing to earn meager returns as long as their investment is preserved.

Key lending rates between banks in the U.S. and Europe inched down after major central banks offered the banking sector unlimited amounts of short-term loans in dollars. This was meant to keep credit markets flowing while lenders regain confidence in the interbank lending system and came on top of government rescue packages. Across different national plans, European governments and the U.S. have over the past several weeks committed some $3 trillion to bank guarantees, equity injections and other assistance.

Anxiety about the economy is the No. 1 concern of voters. With the presidential election just weeks away, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican rival John McCain are working furiously to convince voters that each is the best choice to steer the economy through these perilous times.

Many economists believe the country is on the edge of - or already in - its first recession since 2001.

If the government's new plan works - it will merely cushion the blow. Democrats on Capitol Hill are pushing for another round of stimulus that could cost as much as $150 billion, an effort to provide additional relief and lift the country out of the doldrums.

Big U.S. banks started falling in line Tuesday behind the rejiggered bailout plan.

Initially the U.S. government will pour $125 billion into nine major banks with the hope that they will use the money to rebuild their reserves and to increase lending to consumers and businesses. Another $125 billion will be made available this year to other banks with potentially thousands of institutions eligible to receive cash infusions.

In return, the government will get ownership stakes in the financial institutions. Banks, meanwhile, will have to accept limitations on executives' compensation.

The first bank to take advantage of the program was Bank of New York Mellon which announced it would sell $3 billion in preferred shares to the Treasury. Other banks initially participating include Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America Corp., including the soon-to-acquired Merrill Lynch, Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., and State Street Corp.

Besides Bank of New York Mellon, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo expect to each receive $25 billion of the government investment. The remaining six largest institutions haven't confirmed their slice of the $125 billion to be split up among the group of nine, but the pie is expected to be divided according to the banks' sizes.

Preparing For a Job Interview? Make Sure You Know This

We have tons of great advice for all job seekers, not just minorities, and all our information is FREE! Check it out at www.minorityjobs.net.

Interviews, for a lot of people, are the hardest part of a job search. Not to worry my friend, with a little preparation, you will ace the interview and then some. Just like when you take an exam, you have to study to be confident in getting a good grade. Interviews are no different, except not as nerve wrecking. It's rather simple to prepare for an interview and I have listed them for you.

Interview Preparation

First off, you have to have an idea of the questions you will be asked. Sit down and think about the questions you would ask if you were the one conducting the interview. As a note, you can't possibly anticipate every question, but think of the biggest ones. Doing this little exercise will provide you with a base to answer whatever the employer throws at you.

Key, first impressions are everything. When it comes to an interview, being presentable can make or break your chancing of getting the job. This includes showing up clean shaved, showered, haircut, in other words look professional. Just make sure you don't over do it (too much perfume).

Even though what you say will sell you the most, body language has a huge affect on you communication. An experienced interviewer can read your body language like a professional poker player. While you may not be able to hide the messages your body sends, you can still control the things you say.

On Hiring Minorities

This is a great article, one of many from our site at www.minorityjobs.net. All our articles are free, and we have a free resume builder and job search there too! Employers can benefit as well by utitlizing our unique service!

Diversity Hiring Practices

Many employers retain consultants or establish in-house diversity staffs (which often operate separately from HR departments) to institute such programs in their organizations. A diversity program is usually intended to help organizations perform the following tasks: (1) identify diversity problems within the organization; (2) set general or concrete diversity goals; (3) formulate specific diversity programs and procedures designed to meet those goals; and (4) train management personnel to successfully manage diversity in the workplace.



Diversity Audit. A common first step is to conduct a "diversity scan" or "diversity audit" of the organization. A diversity scan primarily is designed to help the employer create a "diversity profile" of the workplace. This might include analysis of data, surveys, or interviews to obtain demographic and other information relative to race, sex, ethnicity and other profile information of the work force. It might also include survey information or anecdotes about perceptions of employees regarding diversity issues (perceived attitudes of management, perceived obstacles to advancement, perceived bias, etc.), the perspective of managers on diversity issues, and the current practices and procedures in place that may create unintended barriers to the progress of women and minorities within the company.



The audit might first involve a statistical review of the work force in order to determine the number of women and minorities and the positions they hold. This statistical analysis also can serve as a "baseline" against which an organization can measure its future progress in promoting diversity. It is common for many employers to already possess some of this information as part of their reporting requirements under federal EEO statutes (e.g., the EEO-1 Form) or as part of an affirmative action plan (AAP) under Executive Order 11246.



A second step may include employee interviews and surveys. Staff will interview or survey employees, individually or in groups, about such topics as the company's "corporate culture"; the ways employees are selected, assigned jobs and promoted; whether extroversion is valued over introversion; whether employees' ideas are routinely sought; and the perceived institutional obstacles to the success and advancement of women and minorities within the organization. The employees interviewed sometimes may be broken down into same-gender or same-race "focus groups" (e.g., black female supervisors, Asian non-management personnel, female managers, etc.).



A third step in the internal diversity audit may consist of an analysis of the organization's systems, policies and practices, and identifying those that may have an adverse impact on establishing and managing a diverse work force. For example, it may be determined that certain positions have educational degree requirements that are not actually necessary to successfully perform the job, but that work to the disadvantage of otherwise capable women and minorities. Or, it may be determined that office politics and personal favoritism play too great a role in deciding which employees receive promotions, and that this may hinder employees who are of a cultural background different from that of the relevant decision-makers.



Another diversity activity may involve training employees with the goal of "valuing diversity." The methods used to "train" employees in diversity may vary greatly. The primary goal of diversity training is to eliminate conscious or unconscious prejudices by: (1) making employees aware of their own biases; (2) sensitizing employees to cultural differences; and (3) teaching employees to value cultural differences.

Trying to help find jobs for minorities

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