Companies hesitant to hire for 3rd straight month

[depakid]

Source: AP

Companies showed a lack of confidence about hiring for a third straight month in July, making it likely the economy will grow more slowly the rest of the year. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent. Private employers added a net total of only 71,000 jobs in July, far below the 200,000 or more jobs needed each month to reduce the unemployment rate.

The modest gains were even weaker when considering a loss of government jobs at the local, state and federal levels in July that weren't temporary census positions. Factoring those in, the net gains were only 12,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department's July report Friday.

...The department also sharply revised down its jobs figures for June, saying businesses hired fewer workers than previously estimated. June's private-sector job gains were lowered to 31,000 from 83,000. May's were raised slightly to show 51,000 net new jobs, from 33,000. "There is still a labor market recovery, but it's a very, very weak one," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.

The slow pace of hiring will weigh on the recovery, he said, with economic growth in the current quarter likely to come in even lower than the April-to-June quarter's already weak 2.4 percent.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/08/companies_hesitant_to_hire_for.html

[DJ13]

1. In a sane world this is when you add tariffs to imported goods

To force these multinationals to move some manufacturing back to this country, creating a surge in hiring of new workers.

In this profit centric reality that wont happen, and they'll probably continue to squeeze the few remaining workers for even more productivity with wage reductions on top of it.

[dencol]

2. What do you do when countries retaliate against tariffs?

I totally understand your sentiment, but think taxing domestic corporations for outsourcing of work would be more effective. Although there is certainly merit to slapping tariffs on industrial chemicals and other goods produced cheaply overseas because they externalize the environmental costs (they pollute horribly, whereas laws here demand cleaner production).