Free Republic

Job growth in the private sector slowed sharply in August, coming in below economists’ expectations and hinting at a cooling labor market. The private sector added only 177,000 jobs in August, according to the latest ADP National Employment report released Wednesday. This marks a significant drop from July’s numbers, which ADP revised upward to 371,000. Economists surveyed by Reuters had anticipated a 195,000 increase in private employment, while those polled by Dow Jones had forecast a 200,000 increase, according to CNBC. “This month’s numbers are consistent with the pace of job creation before the pandemic,” said Nela Richardson, the chief...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Terrorist attacks worldwide surged by more than a third and fatalities soared by 81 percent in 2014, a year that also saw Islamic State eclipse al Qaeda as the leading jihadist militant group, the U.S. State Department said on Friday. In its annual report on terrorism, the department also charts an unprecedented flow of foreign fighters to Syria, often lured by Islamic State's use of social media and drawn from diverse social backgrounds. Taken together, the trends point to a sobering challenge from militant groups worldwide to the United States and its allies despite severe blows inflicted...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Employers hired far fewer workers than expected in May and the jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent, raising concerns the economy might be stuck in a painful slow-growth mode. Nonfarm payrolls increased 54,000 last month, the weakest reading since September, the Labor Department said on Friday. Private employment rose just 83,000, the least since last June, while government payrolls dropped 29,000. Economists had expected payrolls to rise 150,000 and private hiring to increase 175,000. The government revised employment figures for March and April to show 39,000 fewer jobs created than previously estimated. The job creation slowdown confirmed...

SALEM -- Oregon’s stubbornly bad economy has left a huge hole in the state budget, distressed lawmakers learned today -- $563 million that must be cut from schools and other programs over the next year unless more money comes in. The figure was reported during the quarterly economic and revenue forecast, delivered minutes ago to a somber gathering of House and Senate revenue committees. The bad financial news means that either Gov. Ted Kulongoski or the Legislature must take steps to balance the current two-year budget, which

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans sharply challenged President Bush's top military general and ambassador in Iraq on Tuesday in a blatant demonstration of misgivings within the GOP about the protracted war. "Are we going to continue to invest blood and treasure at the same rate we're doing now? For what?" asked Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who supports legislation setting a deadline to bring troops home. The deep-seated doubt expressed at the hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reflected just how far Congress had come since the war began over four years ago. And Republican senators raised tough questions that rivaled...