Economy

Labor Day Report

9/3/2012, (KTVI) – With the presidential election looming, this Labor Day is filled with questions about what’s next for the economy and the job market. Dr. Akande, Dean of the Walker School of Business and Technology explains the state of labor on Labor Day.  

US Employers Add 80,000 Jobs As Economy Struggles

(KTVI) – June’s job report is out. The U.S. Labor Department says 80,000 jobs were added last month. A gain of 125,000 to 150,000 jobs are needed to begin to climb out of this hole which is filled with 13 million unemployed Americans.

Dr. Benjamin Akande, the Dean of the Walker School of Business at Webster University explains.

Here’s the Associated Press Report:

WASHINGTON (AP) _-U.S. employers added only 80,000 jobs in June, a third straight month of weak hiring that shows the economy is struggling. The Labor Department says the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent. The economy has added just 75,000 jobs a month in the April-June quarter. That’s one-third of 226,000 a month created in the first quarter. Job creation is also trailing last year’s pace through the first six months of 2012. A weaker job market has made consumers less confident. They have pulled back on spending, even though gas prices have plunged. High unemployment could shift momentum to Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. An Associated Press-GfK poll released last month found that more than halfof those surveyed disapproved of President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy.

The Stalled Economy

(KTVI) – The U.S. economy added 69,000 jobs last month, the smallest increase in a year. Meanwhile, unemployment increased 8.1 to 8.2 percent. More Americans are looking for work as manufacturing slows.Are we on the road to another recession? Dr. Benjamin Akande, Dean of the Webster School of Business explains.

Good Prospects for Retailers

The National Retail Federation says 152 million bargain hunters will hit the stores this holiday weekend. Will this be the shot in the arm the US economy needs? Dr. Benjamin Akande, dean of business at Webster University, talked about the good prospects for this shopping season. Watch the video