by Jared Levy on June 7, 2010
…Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report was much worse than expected, hence the market’s very bearish reaction. Only about 20,000 “real” permanent jobs were added in the month of May. The Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that 411,000 of the 431,000 jobs were temporary positions associated with the 2010 Census.
One of the statistics that bothers me is the drop in the unemployment rate to 9.7%, because it can be misleading. You have to look at the data closely and be careful of the headlines, which may have it at least partially wrong. Here is an inside look at the numbers:
One of the keys here is to examine the change in labor force, which is the divisor of the number of unemployed workers and the participation rate.
322,000 people “left” the work force in May, which means the entire pool of Americans willing and able to work for pay and currently available to work shrank. Of the total population (not the Labor force), 58.7% of Americans are employed; this number was relatively unchanged from last month.
In May, the civilian labor force participation rate edged down by 0.2 percentage point to a 65% participation rate, which is the percentage of either employed persons or persons looking for work. 65% is low compared to historical data.
Cadmium Concerns
In other news, McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) recalled 12 million Shrek themed glasses due to cadmium contained in the designs and the potential leaching to the surface and into the body of the person using the glass.
Cadmium is a carcinogenic and is extremely toxic; research shows it can also can cause bone softening and severe kidney problems. It is generally obtained through the refinement of zinc ore and China is the world’s largest producer of the metal. Even though the metal is mostly produced in Asian countries, the company that produced the glasses, ARC International, is in Millville, New Jersey.
Predominantly, Cadmium is used in the manufacture of batteries. There are several other industrial uses that include Cadmium-based pigments, which are lightfast and used to produce colored plastics (as well as the designs on these glasses).
What’s more interesting is that just a couple weeks ago, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), was at the center of another Cadmium-related recall, when several lines of jewelry were found to contain high levels of the toxic metal.
Shrek does seem to have an anti-freeze type glow to him … maybe it’s the Cadmium-based paint…
Photo Credit: .HEI