Tim McMahon, Editor of UnemploymentData.com

My grandfather lived through the Hyperinflation in Weimar, Germany--to say he was an original “gold bug” would be an understatement. I began reading his “hard money” newsletters at the age of 16 and the dividends from gold stocks helped put me through college. I began publishing the Financial Trend Forecaster paper newsletter in 1995 upon the death of James Moore editor of Your Window into the Future and the creator of the Moore Inflation Predictor©. FTF specializes in trends in the stock market, gold, inflation and bonds. In January of 2003, I began publishing InflationData.com to specialize in all forms of information about the nature of Inflation. In 2009, we added Elliott Wave University to help teach you the principles of Elliott Wave analysis. In January 2013, we began publishing OptioMoney. Connect with Tim on Google+.

April Unemployment Report “Disappointing”

May 10, 2021 by Tim McMahon

Highlights from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment / unemployment report for April released on May 7^th.

Unadjusted U-3 was Down from 6.2% to 5.7%
Adjusted U-3 was Up from 6.0% to 6.1%
Unadjusted U-6 was Down from 10.9% to 9.9%
Labor Force Participation rose from 61.5% to 61.7%
Unadjusted Employment rose from 143.309 million to 144.398

MSN classified this unemployment report as “disappointing” and the “greatest test yet of President Biden’s strategy to revive the pandemic economic recovery“.
There has been speculation that expanded unemployment benefits are making people reluctant to renter the labor market since generous unemployment benefits are more than they earn at minimum wage jobs. To counteract this, states like Montana are canceling Federal COVID unemployment benefits in an effort to encourage people to go back to work.

According to CNBC: “Montana opts to end $300 unemployment boost. Other states may, too.”

CNBC KEY POINTS:

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, is ending participation in federal programs that expanded and raised unemployment benefits on June 27.
The American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill President Joe Biden signed in March, offered them through Labor Day.
Gianforte is instead offering a $1,200 return-to-work bonus to address a labor shortage. Some experts question the move.

Buried in the middle of the article is this quote:

“Montana is turning down expanded federal benefits to address a “severe workforce shortage,” Gianforte said. The state’s labor force is 10,000 workers smaller than before the pandemic and its 3.8% unemployment rate is near pre-Covid lows.

So despite the fact that “Some ‘experts’ question the move” unemployment levels are not “disappointing” in Montana at least, in fact, quite the opposite… they are having trouble finding workers.

March Unemployment Shows a Slight Improvement

April 3, 2021 by Tim McMahon

Highlights from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment / unemployment report for March released on April 2^nd.

Unadjusted U-3 was Down from 6.6% to 6.2%
Adjusted U-3 was Down from 6.2% to 6.0%
Unadjusted U-6 was Down from 11.6% to 10.9%
Labor Force Participation rose from 61.4% to 61.5%
Unadjusted Employment rose from 142.077 million to 143.400 million

Fleet Management 101: What Does It Take to Do It Well?

March 30, 2021 by Tim McMahon

Being a fleet manager is no easy task. It can be stressful, fast-paced, and it’s easy to stumble. Experience counts, but so does the personal character of the manager and how they approach each day. But being a Fleet Manager can be an excellent career choice.

As a Fleet Manager you make a difference by leading and developing a group of drivers. You lead your fleet in achieving safety and meeting service, revenue, and retention goals. As a leader, you develop strong relationships with your drivers, anticipate needs, take proactive steps to ensure positive outcomes, and manage performance. This is incredibly rewarding work that will provide you with a high level of personal and professional satisfaction. A fleet manager with a few years of experience can make between $50,000 and $65,000.

Here is what it takes to be a great fleet manager.

Adaptability

Being adaptable to changing demands, the ability to drop everything to troubleshoot a problem immediately, and to confidently work the problem, is key. Being stuck in the mud and unwilling to adapt won’t cut it as a fleet manager.

The demands will come thick and fast. There might be supplier issues, driver management problems, or issues with the vehicles themselves. Changes in legislation, budget cuts, and technology upgrades all play a role here. It’s the opposite of a static, never-changing situation when working in fleet management.

Therefore, it’s best when the person savors the challenge and doesn’t want every workday to be the same as the one that came before it.

A Strong Communicator

As someone in a senior position, the fleet manager will be dealing with upper management who will expect much and have little tolerance for excuses. When something does inevitably go wrong, he or she must be able to discuss it clearly, explain the issue and how they aim to resolve it (or did resolve it).

With drivers, there’s a need to not just see the job as cars and fuel needs. Drivers, their needs, their strengths, possible weaknesses, and other factors all play a part. Matching the right driver to the right assignment gets better results too. So, being too distant from the drivers will be a hindrance.

Talking with suppliers and other contacts is also important. Some will be a little rough around the edges. Therefore, the fleet manager must be adaptable to different styles of communication too.

Protect the Vehicles from Damage

The first line of defense with fleet management is to protect the value of the fleet itself. Certainly, there’s Fleet insurance but rates increase if your drivers are “high risk”. So your responsibility is to ensure that your drivers drive safely not just for the company’s benefit but for the driver’s own safety as well. A company like Quotezone.co.uk can help you access a range of ideal policies from different insurers to find the right one.

Ensure Fleet Vehicles Are Checked & Maintained Well

A driver is only as good as the vehicle they’re driving. When the fleet vehicle has been poorly maintained and infrequently checked for fresh issues, that leads to breakdowns on the road. This is especially true when the fleet is rented out rather than used by the company itself.

Also, drivers should have a way to report problems with the vehicle. These must be quickly followed up by a workshop to look at the problem, replicate it, and then resolve it.

An effectively managed fleet of vehicles can support a business in a variety of ways. But when fleet management is done poorly, things can quickly fall apart. So, the right person must be put in the position to get the right results.

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6 Tips to Help You in a Successful Job Interview

March 12, 2021 by Tim McMahon

Nowadays, it’s become easy to search for jobs on the internet. So, people looking to escape the high cost of living in California can search for a job in Texas, Florida, or even Idaho. And if you live in snowy New England, you can search Maui job openings to locate the perfect job in sunny Hawaii.

After submitting your resume and getting accepted, then comes the job interview. Unfortunately, before you can get that perfect job there is one more hurdle… the job interview. But, there is a lot of competition among the others who are also interviewing for that same job. Here are some tips that you can use to have a successful job interview.

Do Your Research:

Make sure to do some research about the company you are interviewing with. If you know about things like their mission and products, it can help show your determination. It allows you to give well-informed and relevant answers to their questions.

When your employer asks you a question about why you want to work at the company, you should tailor your answer according to their goals and objectives. Remember, whenever you are trying to sell anything (including yourself) you need to present it to the customer (or interviewer) as “WIIFM” (What’s in it for me) with the “me” being the company in this case.

For example, if you are good at marketing you could show them how hiring you will help their bottom line.

Practice, Practice, Practice:

Practice ahead of time, before you go [Read more…] about 6 Tips to Help You in a Successful Job Interview

February Employment Shows Improvement in Leisure and Hospitality

March 6, 2021 by Tim McMahon

Highlights from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment / unemployment report for February released on March 5^th.

Unadjusted U-3 was Down from 6.8% to 6.6%
Adjusted U-3 was Down from 6.3% to 6.2%
Unadjusted U-6 was Down from 12.0% to 11.6%
Labor Force Participation held steady at 61.4%
Unadjusted Employment rose from 140.948 million to 141.926 million

Start a Career in Financial Risk Management

February 23, 2021 by Tim McMahon

If you are business-minded and good with numbers, consider making a career change to financial risk management (FRM).

As the name suggests, a risk management analyst assesses strategies for businesses and determines appropriate risks. So, how do you start a financial risk management career?

Understanding Financial Risk Management

There’s almost always a risk when it comes to spending money. Typically, businesses and organizations have guidelines to manage those risks and attempt to protect their financial interests.

The roles of financial risk management specialists are:

predicting market trends that relate to the company
using risk management tools to study potential financial risks
potentially influencing company decisions

There are several categories of [Read more…] about Start a Career in Financial Risk Management

Things to Consider When Opening Your Restaurant

February 17, 2021 by Tim McMahon

Starting a restaurant is a dream come true for many people. However, it’s expensive to make that dream a reality, and “common wisdom” says that it is one of the least likely to succeed. So-called, “experts” often claim that as many as 90% of new restaurants fail in the first year. But RestaurantOwner.com thinks that the common wisdom is wrong. They say the actual number of failures in the first year is closer to 26% and about 19 percent failed in the second year and 14 percent in the third year. Other sources say only 17% of restaurants fail in their first year. Much depends on which year. Some years like 2009 had a much higher failure rate than others.

This is actually close to the average of all businesses with more than 20% of all new businesses failing in their first year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for businesses that started in 2019, 78.1% were still in existence a year later for a failure rate of 21.9%. On the other hand, information companies had the highest failure rate at 63% failing in their first year.

To put yourself and your business in the best financial position possible, you should look for ways to save money when you’re first opening. Naturally, you can’t skimp on food quality, so you have to find other places to cut costs. Here are some things to keep in mind when opening a restaurant.

Labor

One of your biggest expenses will be [Read more…] about Things to Consider When Opening Your Restaurant

Unemployment Goes From Extraordinarily Bad to “Only” Normally Bad

February 6, 2021 by Tim McMahon

Highlights from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment / unemployment report for January released on February 5^th.

Unadjusted U-3 was Up from 6.5% to 6.8%
Adjusted U-3 was Down from 6.7% to 6.3%
Unadjusted U-6 was Up from 11.6% to 12.0%
Labor Force Participation was Down from 61.5% to 61.4%
Unadjusted Employment Down from 143.700 million to 140.927 million

According to the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

“The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 6.3 percent in January, and nonfarm payroll employment changed little (+49,000). The labor market continued to be impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. Notable job gains in professional and business services and in both public and private education were offset by losses in leisure and hospitality, in retail trade, in health care, and in transportation and warehousing.”

Of course, they are talking about “Seasonally Adjusted Jobs” from the “Current Population Survey (CPS)” rather than looking at the results reported by actual companies in their “Current Employment Statistics survey (CES)”

But looking at the CES report we see…
Originally the BLS reported 143.777 million jobs for December, this month they adjusted that slightly.
So currently they are saying 143.700 million jobs for December and 140.927 million for January.
which is actually a decrease of 2,850,000 jobs based on their original estimates.

Unadjusted Employment Down Slightly in December

January 9, 2021 by Tim McMahon

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its employment / unemployment report for December on January 8^th.

Unadjusted U-3 was Up from 6.4% to 6.5%
Adjusted U-3 was unchanged at 6.7%
Unadjusted U-6 was unchanged at 11.6%
Labor Force Participation was unchanged at 61.5%
Unadjusted Employment Down from 144.105 million to 143.777 million

According to the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

“Nonfarm payroll employment declined by 140,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent. The decline in payroll employment reflects the recent rise in the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and increased efforts to contain the pandemic. In December, job losses in leisure and hospitality and in private education were partially offset by gains elsewhere, particularly in professional and business services, retail trade, and construction.“

Looking at the CES report we see…
Originally the BLS reported 144.005 million jobs for November, this month they adjusted that to 144.105 million.
So currently they are saying 143.777 million jobs for December and 144.105 million for November.
which is actually a decrease of 228,000 jobs based on their original estimates.

How to Get a Job with No Experience

December 24, 2020 by Tim McMahon

Finding a job without experience is a common “Catch 22” or “no-win” type problem. But in real life, you don’t need to despair because everyone has been in this same situation early in their career and obviously many have succeeded despite this handicap. So all that remains is to discover how they did it and follow their example.

This is such a common problem that this question appears in many forms on Quora:

Be Reliable and Seek Apprenticeships

Martin Gainty says: That he runs a remodeling business and hires part-day-laborers all the time. “If the person does what they say they will do and manage to be sober and on-time” he would be happy to give them a reference to the local master-contractors “who are ALWAYS looking for apprentices”. He says electrical and plumbing apprentices are in high demand.

So the first tip is to be reliable and seek a job as an apprentice which will give you the experience you need.