By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – It's the end of the week for the markets. All exchanges will be closed tomorrow for Good Friday. So now that the focus returned to corporate earnings and the economy, how's it looking? For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
The labor market is still in the tanks. 30,000 more workers filed initial jobless claims last week. The when-was-the-last-time-they-were-right economists expected only 10,000 more layoffs. The Labor Department is blaming the U.S. automakers who had to idle some factories because of sluggish sales. Sure, last week was a better week, but if we even out the weekly fluctuations, the four-week moving average climbed to an 11-month high of 429,750. Any number above 400,000 identifies a weak labor market.
Come to think of it, it's been a while since I heard the chorus of economists singing those encouraging words, "The labor market is the last to recover in a recession." Nobody wants to hear it any more. Recover already. Even Nokia last week announced another 10% cut in its workforce. Today, the world's largest mobile phone maker reported a 13% increase in net profits for the first quarter. Cutting cost, cutting jobs equals profits. This can't last forever, but it sure would be nice to open the business page and read about some company adding 1,800 new jobs by the end of the year.
And what about the airline industry? You get this feeling they're on the brink of something and you hope it's more than bankruptcy. The last trade I can remember seeing in such dire straits was the U.S. steel industry. And where are they today?! But we need our airlines and they need some creative and patient minds to get out of this mess. Delta today reported a $466 million loss last quarter - up from last year. Adding all the expected losses of all the airlines this year, and you've got an industry total of around $8 billion plus. And this too can't last forever. For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.
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