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Trade finance is drying up amid the financial crisis, threatening jobs and economic growth, trade sources warned Saturday. Banks like Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas -- two of the 25 financial institutions most active in such financing -- have recently reduced their trade financing business, said a trade source on the sidelines of a World Trade Organization ministerial conference. ... More than 90 percent of commercial transactions in the world require such credit, but the current crisis is forcing banks to hold on to capital and liquidity, leading to the lending market drying up and making credit more expensive.

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a 3-1/2 year low last week and factory activity in New York state scaled a seven-month high in December, more evidence of a pick-up in economic activity. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 366,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was the lowest level since May 2008, and confounded economist' expectations for a rise to 390,000. In a separate report, the New York Federal Reserve said its "Empire State" general business conditions index rose to 9.53 - the highest since May...

Data on sales of previously owned U.S. homes from 2007 through October this year will be revised down next week because of double counting, indicating a much weaker housing market than previously thought. The National Association of Realtors said a benchmarking exercise had revealed that some properties were listed more than once, and in some instances, new home sales were also captured. "All the sales and inventory data that have been reported since January 2007 are being downwardly revised. Sales were weaker than people thought," NAR spokesman Walter Malony told Reuters.

Earlier we just got confirmation out of Best Buy that one can not, as expected, offset negative margins with near-infinite volume (as the stock tumbles). Now we get advance retail sales proving that all speculation about a record Black Friday was just that. Oh, and a lie. In short - everything missed. Advance retails sales in November (including Thanksgiving) came at 0.2%, on expectations of 0.6%, and down from a revised 0.6%. Retail sales less autos was 0.2%, half of the expected 0.4%, while ex Auto and Gas also printed at 0.2%, also missing big. So... where did all...

The long-predicted crash has arrived with a vengeance in China's original ghost city. Home prices have plunged by one third recently, down 60% from 2006, in Kangbashi, the ambitious second city built on the outskirts of Ordos. Developers, investors and migrant workers are all giving up on Kangbashi. "Ordos is the first of a number of these ghost cities that will see similar magnitude price declines

In Unemployment Rate Dips to 8.6% as 487,000 Drop Out of Labor Force I presented some quick facts on the drop in the unemployment rate. In the last year, the civilian population rose by 1,726,000. Yet the labor force fell by 67,000. Those not in the labor force rose by 1,793,000.   In November, those "Not in Labor Force" rose by a whopping 487,000. If you are not in the labor force, you are not counted as unemployed.  Were it not for people dropping out of the labor force, the unemployment rate would be well over 11%. Labor Force and Unemployment...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of Americans who applied for jobless benefits last week rose above 400,000 again, an indication that the pace of hiring in the U.S. likely remains modest at best. Initial claims for unemployment compensation climbed by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 402,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the highest level in a month. Applications from two weeks ago were revised up to 396,000 from an original reading of 393,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected new requests for jobless benefits to total 393,000 in the week ended Nov. 26, which included the Thanksgiving holiday.

New claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week, popping above 400,000 for the first time in just over a month and reinforcing the view that the battered labor market was healing only slowly. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits climbed to a seasonally adjusted 402,000 from an upwardly revised 396,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims at 390,000.

Breaking on Fox: jobless claims increase to 402,000. Experts expected "only" 390,000.

When the Netherlands built its first sea-based wind turbines in 2006, they were seen as symbols of a greener future. ... But five years later the green future looks a long way off. Faced with the need to cut its budget deficit, the Dutch government says offshore wind power is too expensive and that it cannot afford to subsidize the entire cost of 18 cents per kilowatt hour -- some 4.5 billion euros last year. The government now plans to transfer the financial burden to households and industrial consumers

Anyone doing research into the 2008 subprime mortgage securities scandal inevitably comes across the Internet gem below. Often titled “Derivative markets — an understandable explanation” but more commonly known by its first sentence — “Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit,” it appears to have been written in 2009 by an author with considerable understanding of financial markets and a great sense of humour. And it provides a good, basic explanation of the origins of the subprime mortgage securities crisis that led to a global credit freeze and the ongoing world-wide economic tsunami from which we may never...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have forced Congress to balance its budget every year as a way to reverse years of deficit spending. A majority of House members supported the balanced budget measure, but supporters fell short of achieving the two-thirds majority needed to amend the Constitution. Republicans who backed the amendment said it was the only way to get Congress to put its fiscal house in order. Democratic critics said a balanced budget requirement would result in drastic cuts in Medicare and other social programs when economic downturns put the budget...

Sacramento -- California faces deep mid-year cuts to its universities, community colleges, social service programs and public schools - which may have their year shortened - because the state will collect billions in revenue less than expected, according to a report released today. The report by the Legislative Analyst's Office says the state faces a budget deficit in the current fiscal year largely because it will collect only $300 million of $4 billion that Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature added to the budget just days before it was approved in June. Critics had called the sudden infusion of projected...

The number of American jobs did not increase by as much as expected in October, according to the government's monthly jobs report released Friday morning. Employers added 80,000 jobs. After some recent positive economic news, analysts had expected a gain of between 90,000 and 100,000.

And back to the old gimmicks: the Birth Death adjustment has now "added" 530 jobs in 2011, and the October number of 102K is 31K greater than a year earlier. ...

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to trend up in October (+80,000). The unemployment rate was little changed (9.0%). Employment in the private sector rose, with modest job growth continuing in professional and businesses services, leisure and hospitality, health care, and mining.

<p>WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. added 80,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate edged down to 9.0% from 9.1%, the Labor Department reported Friday.</p>

In an announcement that is likely to deepen concerns over the U.S. economic woes the Federal Reserve has slashed growth and employment projections for 2011 and 2012. Data projections released by the Fed suggested that it had revised a measure of the average, or “central tendency,” for the U.S. economy's 2011 gross domestic product growth rate from the 2.7-2.9 per cent range to the 1.6-1.7 per cent range. Similarly, the central bank cut its 2012 projection for growth from the 3.3-3.7 per cent range to the 2.5-2.9 per cent range. Unemployment which in June the Fed projected would hover between...

As the Federal Reserve downgraded its economic projections, Chairman Ben S. Bernanke admitted that the central bank's board was in the same distressing position as the average American family — frustrated by the slow recovery, limited in its options and largely reduced to hoping for the best. "I certainly understand that many people are dissatisfied with the state of the economy," Bernanke told reporters Wednesday when asked about the Occupy Wall Street protests. "I'm dissatisfied with the state of the economy." The Fed noted in its official statement after its two-day meeting that economic conditions strengthened somewhat from July through...

Less than one day into his term as president, and Barack Obama is already illustrating why those who did not vote for him voted as they did. Obama is an extreme hypocrite. Notice, for example, this summary from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090121/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_executive_pay concerning his desire to loosen up restrictions on releasing information under the Freedom of Information Act. Obama stated that "Just because a government agency has the legal power to keep information private does not mean that it should" and "For a long time now, there's been too much secrecy in this city." The order that he issued Wednesday is an attempt...