25 years old and deep in debt

[Razgovory]

Millennials, in Their Parents' Basements

Last year, a record 36 percent of people 18 to 31 years old — roughly the age range of the generation nicknamed the millennials — were living in their parents' homes, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data. That compares to 32 percent of their same-aged counterparts in 2007, the year the recession began.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/millennials-in-their-parents-basements/?ref=business

I'll be 32 next week for your information.

[Valmy]

Millennials, in Their Parents’ Basements

Last year, a record 36 percent of people 18 to 31 years old — roughly the age range of the generation nicknamed the millennials — were living in their parents’ homes, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data. That compares to 32 percent of their same-aged counterparts in 2007, the year the recession began.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/millennials-in-their-parents-basements/?ref=business

And people say families are not as close as they used to be.

[CountDeMoney]

U.S. hiring slows in July but jobless rate falls to four-year low

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers slowed their pace of hiring in July but the jobless rate fell anyway, mixed signals that could make the U.S. Federal Reserve more cautious about drawing down its huge economic stimulus program.

The number of jobs outside the farming sector increased by 162,000, the Labor Department said on Friday.

That was below the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 184,000. Compounding that miss, the government also cut its previous estimates for hiring in May and June.

At the same time, the jobless rate fell two tenths of a point to 7.4 percent, its lowest since December 2008. Gains in employment fueled some of that decline, but the labor force also shrank during the month, robbing some of the luster from the decline in the unemployment rate.

The data reinforces the view that the job market is inching toward recovery, with the broader economy still stuck in low gear.

"We're sort of grinding along here," said Gordon Charlop, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities in New York.

The question is whether the pace of job gains is enough for the Fed to feel the U.S. economy is ready to get by with less support. The U.S. central bank currently buys $85 billion a month in bonds to keep borrowing costs low.

The growth in payrolls left the three-month average gain at 175,000, and investor reactions were mixed to the payrolls data.

Yields on U.S. government debt fell, suggesting investors were less confident the Fed could soon begin easing its bond purchases. Traders of short-term U.S. interest-rate futures boosted bets that the Fed would wait until 2015 before raising short-term borrowing costs.

At the same time, futures for U.S. stocks were mostly flat, with the S&P index moving between slight gains and losses while Dow and Nasdaq futures were modestly higher.

The Fed's stimulus program has lowered interest rates, spurring growth in the country's beleaguered housing market and boosting car sales. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last month the U.S. central bank would likely reduce the level of monthly purchases by the end of the year, and end them by mid-2014.

The Fed's policymaking committee wrapped up a two-day meeting on Wednesday without any change to the program. The panel's statement, however, referenced new factors that could be seen as risks to growth: a recent rise in mortgage rates and persistently low inflation. Central bank policymakers next meet in September.

STRUCTURAL CONCERNS

Other data on Friday showed a slight gathering of inflationary pressures, with the 12-month reading of the Commerce Department's gauge of core inflation rising to 1.2 percent in June from 1.1 percent a month earlier. That could allay some concerns at the Fed that low inflation poses a risk to the economy.

But the jobs report will entertain darker views on the economy.

For one, analysts wonder if the pace of job creation can be sustained given slower-than-expected economic growth.

Gross domestic product, a measure of the nation's economic output, grew at a mere 1.4 percent annual rate in the first half of the year, down from 2.5 percent in the same period of 2012.

Most economists expect GDP will accelerate in the second half of this year, which would make it more plausible for the current hiring trend to continue.

But the fact that job creation has been relatively robust despite weak output might point to a frightening possibility: perhaps the economy's growth potential has fallen.

This would mean less output is needed to create jobs, but that incomes would grow at a slower pace over the long run. The prospect of such a structural shift worries economists and investors.

Friday's report showed the average work week declined to 34.4 hours, while average earnings slipped 0.1 percent.

The report also showed 5.7 percent of Americans who had jobs in June could not get enough hours to qualify as full-time workers.

While the unemployment rate has fallen by eight tenths of a point over the last year, the share of part-time workers who want more hours has barely dropped.

Also, the number of long-term unemployed, while falling, remains historically high. Bernanke has warned this situation could deal lasting damage to the economy's growth potential.

That is because workers out of work for extended periods might never work again. In July, 4.25 million Americans had been unemployed for at least six months.

"The labor market remains stuck in quicksand," said Todd Schoenberger, managing partner at LandColt Capital in New York.

[Ed Anger]

I'm going to be hiring seasonal workers soon. 

But they'll mostly be Amish youngsters.

[Phillip V]

Student-Loan Load Kills Startup Dreams

'The rising mountain of student debt, recently closing in on $1.2 trillion, is forcing some entrepreneurs to abandon startup dreams and others, including Christine Carney of Orono, Maine, to radically reshape their business plans.

Ms. Carney, 29 years old, and her husband, John, 31, started Thick & Thin Designs, making and selling food picks in the shapes of zombies, bikes and deer antlers after a brainstorming session while she was cooking dinner. The couple, both students at the University of Maine, where he is earning a master's degree in fine arts and she is earning her second undergraduate degree, in zoology, sell the picks for about $12 a dozen as decorative cupcake toppers.

But they chose not to purchase a laser cutter, because doing so would require them to take out a business loan—and together they have $140,000 in leftover student debt.'

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323446404579008930399820764.html

[CountDeMoney]

Well, there ya go.  Fine Arts and Zoology.  Useless disciplines.  No need for them in the modern society.
Now, if they went and got their CISSP and CCNA certifications, then all their problems would be solved.

In fact, everybody should get IT certifications.  Everybody.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Well, there ya go.  Fine Arts and Zoology.  Useless disciplines.  No need for them in the modern society.
Now, if they went and got their CISSP and CCNA certifications, then all their problems would be solved.

In fact, everybody should get IT certifications.  Everybody.

I disagree.

[Ideologue]

Well, there ya go.  Fine Arts and Zoology.  Useless disciplines.  No need for them in the modern society.

I don't think you need them to make plastic garbage for cupcakes.

[CountDeMoney]

No, no, no...it's been established in this thread, and throughout our society at large, that the humanities and humanities-based disciplines are useless pursuits in today's modern economy, and that the hard tech skill sets are the only viable option to a lifetime in the food service industry.

[Ideologue]

That is also correct.

[Admiral Yi]

This story vindicates Seedy.  No way to put glasses on a cupcake without $140,000 worth of education.

[CountDeMoney]

You'd think with all that collected liberal arts education, they'd come up with something better than party favors.  Shit, if I want that, I can go down to Party City and buy ones made in China from lead paint and melamine.

[Ed Anger]

I'd draw swastikas on my cupcakes.

MEIN CUPCAKES

[Darth Wagtaros]

I'd draw swastikas on my cupcakes.

MEIN CUPCAKES

There's a market for that.

[DGuller]

The couple, both students at the University of Maine, where he is earning a master's degree in fine arts and she is earning her second undergraduate degree, in zoology