news/notes20090508a

[Biography of the Day] from [Britannica]

Paul Gauguin
French painter Paul Gauguin, who sought to achieve a “primitive” expression of spiritual and emotional states in his work and who was noted for his artistic experimentation, died in the Marquesas Islands this day in 1903.

[On This Day] from [Britannica]

1945: World War II in Europe ended
Following Germany's unconditional surrender, World War II in Europe officially ended at midnight on this day in 1945, although the war in the Pacific continued until the Japanese surrender in September.


[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]

[NATIONAL NEWS]

Friday, May 8, 2009
Niigata reactor headed for restart

NIIGATA, (Kyodo) Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumida expressed his intention Thursday to approve getting one of the reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant up and running for the first time since the entire facility was shut down by a major earthquake in July 2007.

Izumida's statement, delivered at a session of the prefectural assembly, follows approval by the city of Kashiwazaki and the village of Kariwa, meaning all local authorities will have given the green light to resuming the plant's No. 7 reactor.

The reactor could be restarted as early as this month. The facility's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said it will start the necessary work right away.

Full operation will start if the reactor passes a trial run of about 40 to 50 days.

Izumida reassured the assembly that the repaired reactor can withstand any future quake.

"Measures have been taken with the largest possible earthquake in mind," he said.

Later, he told reporters he would retract his decision if any trouble occurs.

There are critics who question whether it is appropriate to resume operations because the plant could be hit by a major earthquake again.

All seven reactors have been suspended since the earthquake, but repair work on the No. 7 reactor, a 1.356-million-kw, advanced boiling-water reactor, finished earlier than others.

Tepco has been making up for the loss in electricity by boosting operations at its thermal power plants.

The central government was the first authority granting Tepco permission to restart the reactor. Repeated fires at the facility led Izumida to delay making a final decision.


[NATIONAL NEWS]

Friday, May 8, 2009
Holiday over; firms ready flu scenarios

(Kyodo News) Corporate Japan stepped up efforts against the H1N1 influenza strain Thursday as employees returned to work en masse following the Golden Week holidays.

Electronics giant NEC Corp. set up thermographic cameras at the entrance to its headquarters in Minato Ward, Tokyo, to detect fevers.

Since some companies could temporarily lose 40 percent of their employees to sick leave if infected, under one government flu scenario, the government is trying to ensure that essential infrastructure will be sustained — food, water, gas, electricity and public transport.

Seibu Railway Co. is developing a computer simulation explaining how to reschedule train runs if several employees are suddenly incapacitated by the new flu, company officials said.

Tokyo Gas Co. President Mitsunori Torihara told reporters the gas supplier is arranging ways to separate healthy workers from the ill — even if the flu situation gets bad.

"We will do everything we can" to keep gas running, Torihara said.

Meanwhile, major supermarket chains Ito-Yokado Co. and Daiei Inc. are drawing up emergency plans to prevent the flu from spreading at their outlets. Limiting business hours and obliging employees to wear masks would be the immediate options, they said.

Teen tests negative
OSAKA, (Kyodo) An Osaka teenager who recently returned to Japan from Canada has not been infected with the new H1N1 flu strain, city officials said Thursday, citing further test results.

The girl initially had a fever as high as 39.7 and tested positive for influenza A. Further tests determined that she had contracted type-A Hong Kong flu, and not the new subtype that is quickly spreading around the globe, they said.

Earlier in the day, the Gifu Prefecture said a baby recently brought back from the United States tested negative for the new flu. No positive cases of the new flu have been confirmed so far in Japan.

Several people are returning from overseas with influenza A, and nine, including the Osaka girl and the Gifu baby, were given the so-called PCR test for virus gene analysis between Tuesday and Thursday.

A girl in Kyoto Prefecture who returned from Mexico was temporarily suspected of being a flu carrier but later found to have group A hemolytic streptococcus instead.

Gifu Prefecture has not released any details about the baby for privacy reasons.

Cameras for Mexico (Kyodo) Japan will provide Mexico with 25 thermographic inspection cameras to help the country strengthen quarantine checks for the new type of H1N1 influenza at airports and other places, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The cameras and related equipment are worth a total of 76.5 million in emergency grant aid and will be sent to Mexico from Narita International Airport on Thursday evening, the ministry said in a press release.

Japan has already provided masks and goggles worth about 21 million to Mexico, after deciding on May 1 that Tokyo will provide the flu-hit country with emergency aid totaling up to 100 million.


[NATIONAL NEWS]

Friday, May 8, 2009
'Random' sumo drug tests all negative for narcotics

(Kyodo News) The results of the first random drug tests ever conducted on sumo wrestlers last month all turned out negative, the Japan Sumo Association said Thursday.

Isenoumi, who heads a board tasked with ridding the ancient national sport of illegal drugs, hazing and other problems tarnishing its image, revealed that 103 wrestlers, stablemasters and other sumo officials who underwent urine tests on April 22 all tested negative.

Isenoumi said the wrestlers, including grand champion Asashoryu, were checked at five stables for three types of illegal drugs but not for steroids. JSA Chairman Musashigawa was also tested.

Mitsubishi Chemical Medience Corp., the only domestic institution certified by the World Anti-Doping Agency, was in charge of examining all the urine samples.

Some critics, however, have complained the random drug tests were not stringent enough because stablemasters were warned two days before the wrestlers were summoned to Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan sumo stadium for testing.

Former sumo wrestler Wakakirin was arrested at the end of January on suspicion of possessing marijuana — the first Japanese grappler to be arrested in a marijuana case and the latest to be thrown out of sumo.

Wakakirin, whose real name is Shinichi Suzukawa, was later sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for three years.

His arrest followed the dismissal of three Russian sumo wrestlers caught up in drug charges involving marijuana.

news.notes20090508b

[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]

[BUSINESS NEWS]

Friday, May 8, 2009
Hitachi hikes loss forecast by 88 billion

By HIROKO NAKATA
Staff writer

Hitachi Ltd. said Thursday it expects a record group net loss of 788 billion for the business year that ended in March, worse than its previous forecast of 700 billion.

Hitachi, an all-around electronics maker ranging from home appliances to nuclear reactors, lowered its already grim forecast because the harsh business environment has prompted it to write down more deferred tax assets.

"We can't be optimistic about the world economy for fiscal 2009," Hitachi Executive Vice President Takashi Miyoshi told a news conference.

Hitachi meanwhile also said it now expects a 127 billion group operating profit for the year, more than its previous forecast, made Feb. 3, of a 40 billion profit due to improvement in its power plant sector and business for materials used for cables and electric wires.

The electronics conglomerate will pay 175 billion more in corporate taxes for the business year.

The better operating profit, however, will be offset by the expected tax-related costs. It also expects 10 trillion in sales for the year, against the previous forecast of 10.02 trillion.

The company will formally announce its earnings results Tuesday.

Miyoshi said Hitachi's business forecast remains dim despite its restructuring efforts.

"The outlook for auto-related and consumer electronics business remains severe, so we will reorganize our business structure thoroughly," he said.

Hitachi has already announced it will slash 7,000 jobs, or nearly 2 percent of its global workforce. Despite the downsizing, the global downturn and the yen's appreciation have eroded overseas profit.

The company has also announced changes in its battered semiconductor business. Renesas Technology Corp., a joint venture with Mitsubishi Electric Corp., will merge with NEC Electronics Corp. by next April to create the country's largest chip maker, the companies said last month.

Asked about this business year for Hitachi, Miyoshi said: "Our outlook for the first and the second quarters of fiscal 2009 will be very tough. But we can hope for the yearend and the fourth quarter."

On taking public funds through a government revitalization program, Miyoshi said Hitachi's group companies, including in the semiconductor sector, are likely to apply, but Hitachi as a parent company won't.


[BUSINESS NEWS]

Friday, May 8, 2009
Nintendo reports 8.5% gain in profit for year

(The Associated Press) Nintendo Co. reported an 8.5 percent rise in annual profit, shrugging off the global slowdown that has battered other manufacturers.

Nintendo, which did not break down quarterly numbers, said Thursday it racked up a record 279.1 billion profit for the business year that ended March 31, up from 257.3 billion the previous year.

Sales edged up 9.9 percent to 1.839 trillion from 1.672 trillion, with overseas sales accounting for 87.5 percent, the Kyoto-based firm said.

"The video game industry, which was less impacted by the economic downturn than most industries, remained relatively stable in spite of the large consumer spending decline," Nintendo said in a statement.

The numbers were moderately better than the company's own forecasts, as well as those of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Nintendo continued to be relatively bullish about the future, forecasting a 7.5 percent rise in net profit to 300 billion for the year through next March, but it expects sales to edge down 2.1 percent to 1.8 trillion.

Driving Nintendo's fortunes are its Wii home console and DS portable, which have proven popular around the world.

The Wii hit 50 million unit sales faster than any video game machine ever, reaching a cumulative 50.39 million since its launch in late 2006. The Nintendo DS has also done well, already selling 101.78 million.

The results showed that machine sales fell short of the company's targets, although it lowered its forecasts for shipments recently.

Nintendo had expected to ship 26.5 million Wii machines for the year that ended in March, but the number was 25.95 million. It sold 31.18 million DS machines during the fiscal year ending in March, although it had expected to ship 31.5 million.

Nintendo expects to sell 26 million more Wii machines in the year to next March 31, and 30 million more DS machines, including some of the revamped DSi handsets, which went on sale in Japan late last year and last month in the U.S. and Europe.

Nintendo said it also has promising game software in the works, including "The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks," expected to appeal to a wide range of game fans, for the DS, and "Wii Sports Resort" will be launched for the Wii worldwide.

In the business year just ended, "Pokemon Platinum Version," "Mario Kart Wii" and "Brain Age 2" were strong sellers.

David Gibson of Macquarie Research in Tokyo expects Nintendo sales to continue to grow in both hardware and software in the coming months.

"A forecast of stable hardware units would confirm our view that the game cycle has not peaked yet," he said in a recent report.

In software, Nintendo is planing to sell 180 million DS games around the world, down from 197 million for the business year that ended on March 31, while sales of games for the Wii are expected to pick up to 220 million from 204.5 million.


[BUSINESS NEWS]

Friday, May 8, 2009
Major financial firms to report 4 trillion in losses for '08

(Kyodo News) Combined group net losses at major financial institutions are believed to have exceeded 4 trillion in fiscal 2008, the highest in six years, according to their earnings results and forecasts.

Net losses at major banks, securities firms and nonlife insurance companies for the year that ended March 31 are estimated at 3.2 trillion, according to financial institutions' reports compiled earlier this week. Including losses at life insurers, which have yet to release results or forecasts, the amount is expected to rise to 4 trillion.

This would represent the worst losses since major banks logged combined net losses of more than 4.6 trillion in fiscal 2002 due to the disposal of bad loans.

It is feared the deteriorating financial standing of major financial institutions could cause a credit crunch and serve as a drag on economic recovery.

Nomura Holdings Inc., the country's No. 1 securities house, recently reported a group net loss of 709.4 billion for fiscal 2008, the biggest loss among major financial institutions.

Mizuho Financial Group Inc., one of the nation's three biggest banking groups, has forecast a net loss of 580 billion.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., the two other megabanking groups, will also likely fall into the red, with MUFG anticipating a net loss of 260 billion and SMFG 390 billion.

Many major financial institutions registered losses on securitized products and stock holdings due to the global financial crisis. At major banks, costs to dispose of bad loans surged as the businesses of companies they deal with deteriorated.

Norinchukin Bank, the de facto central bank for agricultural cooperatives and a major institutional investor, anticipates a net loss of 570 billion, as it incurred more than 600 billion in losses on securities holdings.

Among nonlife insurance companies, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. and Aioi Insurance Co. are expected to report net losses.

Life insurers have not yet released earnings forecasts for fiscal 2008. For the first nine months of the fiscal year, however, Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Mitsui Life Insurance each reported a net loss of more than 100 billion.

news/notes20090508c

[Today's News] from [The Guardian]

Leaked MPs' expenses: police called in to find mole
Labour MP said information was being offered to national newspapers for up to £300,000

Vikram Dodd
guardian.co.uk, Friday 8 May 2009 16.00 BST
Article history

House of Commons officials have today called in the police to hunt down the mole who leaked details of MPs expenses.

The parliamentary officials spent the morning in talks with Scotland Yard, and made the decision this afternoon.

In a statement, officials said: "The House authorities have received advice that there are reasonable grounds to believe a criminal offence may have been committed in relation to the way in which information relating to Members' allowances has been handled.

"A report has been made to the Metropolitan police, asking them to consider the matter."

Even before the details of MPs' expenses were splashed on to the Telegraph's front page and nine inside pages, a hunt was under way for the person who had earlier this year leaked information about claims made by MPs.

The House of Commons commission, responsible for publishing a full list of MPs' expenses planned for July, heard that a computer disk containing the details was allegedly stolen and being offered to newspapers.

The Labour MP Sir Stuart Bell, a member of the commission, said the information was being offered to national newspapers for up to £300,000 in March and that a hunt had been launched to find the mole.

Bell said: "All of the receipts of 650-odd MPs, redacted [edited] and unredacted, are for sale at a price of £300,000, so I am told.

"The price is going up because of the interest in the subject."

The commission today confirmed an investigation had been launched after details of the home secretary's claims were leaked. Infamously they included a claim by her husband for adult films.

The commission said: "An investigation is being done by the house authorities. If there is a prima facie case of criminal activity we would ask the police to become involved."

The spokesperson refused to reveal who would be carrying out the investigation but said it was limited at this stage to the earlier leaks.

Police could have decided to launch an investigation without receiving a complaint, but that was thought unlikely given the force's unhappy experience of investigating Westminster in recent years.

The police investigation into a mole passing information to the Tory frontbencher Damian Green was roundly criticised and MPs were also angered by the protracted cash-for-peerages investigation.

The former Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell earlier told the Guardian he was against the idea of the police being called in. "I'm not sure a leak inquiry would serve any purpose," he said. "Indignation from MPs I don't think will carry much weight on this topic."

Suspicion over who was responsible for the leak today fell on a City businessman reported to have offered the details of MPs' expenses to national newspapers in March for up to £300,000. It was also suggested that a middleman for someone with access to the information was hawking the details of cabinet ministers' expenses for £10,000 each.

The opportunity for an unauthorised person to get their hands on the details arose because of a decision to publish a full list of expenses this summer, following a freedom of information request.

As part of the process, receipts were digitised by staff at the government's Stationery Office. A businessman who offered one newspaper the details said the details were accessible because a copy had been accidentally made without any of the officials realising.

MPs have access to their own records via a supposedly secure internet site or can request a hard copy. They had until 21 May to report inaccuracies or ask for sensitive information to be edited out.

news/notes20090508d

[Today's Paper] from [Los Angeles Times]

U.S. unemployment rate rises to 8.9%
The number of job cuts decreases in April, with 539,000 positions lost in comparison with 699,000 in March. But the job market is growing worse.

By Mike Dorning
7:26 AM PDT, May 8, 2009

Reporting from Washington -- The shedding of jobs slowed considerably during April, adding to hopes that the nation's steep economic downturn may be nearing a bottom.

Employers cut 539,000 jobs last month, the fewest in six months and significantly fewer than the 699,000 jobs that had been lost the previous month, the U.S. Labor Department reported this morning.

Still, the job market for Americans is difficult and getting worse. The nation's unemployment rate climbed to 8.9% in April, the worst since 1983 and up from 8.5% the previous month

Regardless of whether the economy hits bottom soon, it is likely to grow more difficult to find a job in the months ahead. Employers typically are hesitant to hire new workers in the early stages of a recovery and usually continue layoffs to cut costs.

Many economists expect the unemployment rate to rise for the remainder of the year and exceed 10% before it begins to fall.

The monthly Labor Department report highlighted the toll that the longest recession since World War II has taken in dashed dreams and disrupted lives, with a net total of 5.7 million jobs lost since the downturn started in December 2007.

The job market in April was assisted in part by a burst in government hiring, with 72,000 more such jobs added during the month.

The U.S. Census Bureau hired 140,000 temporary workers last month to begin preparations for the once-every-decade national population count.

Economists recently have seen signs in a number of indicators that the steep decline in the economy may be slowing. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave one of the most optimistic forecasts this week, saying the economy may begin to grow again before the end of the year -- though he acknowledged job losses may continue into next year.

news/notes20090508e

[Today's Paper] from [The New York Times]

U.S. Jobless Rate Hits 8.9%, but Pace of Losses Eases

By PETER S. GOODMAN and JACK HEALY
Published: May 8, 2009

The American economy lost another 539,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate leapt to 8.9 percent, yet the deterioration was slightly milder than expected, buoying hopes that better days are approaching.

“The labor market is still very weak, but it looks like the most intense spate of weakness is probably behind us,” said Michael T. Darda, chief economist at the research and trading firm MKM Partners. “Less bad is always a prelude to good. It’s going to take some time for this economy to get back on its feet, but we might be closer to the recession ending.”

Investors on Wall Street appeared to buy into that message, sending stock prices soaring in early trading.

Coming a day after the Treasury pronounced American banks healthier than many analysts had anticipated, the Labor Department’s monthly snapshot of the job market presented the clearest evidence to date that the nation’s economic free fall appears to have been arrested.

The acute shock that began last fall as the investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, followed by several other prominent institutions, has finally relented. Panic is no longer the dominant motif of American commercial life.

“It’s a confirmation that we’re in the early stages of a turn,” said Ethan Harris, co-head of United States economic research at Barclays Capital. “We’re getting further and further removed form the confidence shock of last fall.”

But others emphasized that the easing of dire worry, while unambiguously positive, does not mean the economy is close to regaining vigor. Crisis may have merely given way to something more familiar and milder, yet still miserable for tens of millions of people: a continued slog through the longest, deepest recession since the Great Depression, with demand for goods and services weak and jobs exceedingly hard to find.

“This is really horrible in any normal context,” said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. “This isn’t recovery. It’s a slowing recession. In any other time other than the recession we’re in, we’d be appalled by these numbers.”

The numbers for April looked good only in comparison to recent months, with February’s data revised to show a net reduction in jobs of 681,000 — down from an initial drop of 651,000 — and March revised from an initial loss of 663,000 to 699,000.

The slightly less awful jobs report for April appeared to reflect a moderate slowdown in the pace of layoffs, but not a sudden predilection among businesses to hire. The April data was boosted by a surge of government hiring in preparation for the 2010 Census, while private payrolls actually dipped by 611,000.

Most experts contend that significant hiring is likely to take many more months if not years to emerge. Businesses are expected to cut an additional two million jobs before the economy begins growing again and the unemployment rate begins to ebb, probably sometime in 2010. Any recovery that takes hold is expected to be long and faltering, though economists expressed hope that the worst losses were ending.

It is often said that the labor market is a lagging indicator, meaning it tends to improve long after other aspects of the economy trend up. But the job market also happens to be the piece of the economy that is most important to ordinary people, and now particularly so, making such pronouncement cold comfort in many households.

After years of borrowing against soaring home prices and tapping cheap credit cards to spend in excess of incomes, millions of Americans have been forced to live within the confines of what they bring home from work. Since the recession began in December 2007, 5.7 million jobs have disappeared from the economy. In recent months, wages have stopped growing. This retrenchment chokes off the spending power needed to generate demand for more employees at factories, shopping malls and offices.

“We’re seeing fewer people employed, and those who are employed aren’t seeing their earnings power increase,” Mr. Baker said. “It’s tough to see where a recovery can come from.”

But those with more optimistic outlooks put the emphasis on the massive, government-led initiatives under way aimed at boosting demand for goods and services, and thus increasing the need for workers.

A $787 billion package of federal aid to state and local governments, along with tax cuts, is beginning to wash through the economy and should boost fortunes later this year. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury have been pouring money into mortgage markets and other areas of finance, bringing down the costs of borrowing.

“You have monetary and fiscal stimulus the likes of which the world has never seen,” said Mr. Darda.

A $787 billion package of federal aid to state and local governments, along with tax cuts, is beginning to wash through the economy and should boost fortunes later this year. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury have been pouring money into mortgage markets and other areas of finance, bringing down the costs of borrowing.

“You have monetary and fiscal stimulus the likes of which the world has never seen,” Mr. Darda of MKM Partners said.

The question is whether fresh job losses combined with continued declines in real estate prices will prompt millions more Americans to fall behind on their mortgage payments, leaving banks counting fresh losses and prompting them to pull back anew on lending. If that happens, the economy could weaken further, exacerbating joblessness. The next few months should offer indications of whether the Obama administration’s initiatives are sufficient to avert that scenario.

For another month, the jobs report offered up a catalog of unfolding household distress. Manufacturing jobs declined by 149,000, employment in professional and business services retrenched by 122,000, and construction employment slipped by 110,000.

The unemployment rate reached 15 percent among African-Americans, 21.5 percent for teenagers, and 9.4 percent for adult men.

Those figures do not account for the millions of people working part-time because their hours have been cut or have failed to land full-time jobs. When those people are counted along with those who would like jobs but have given up looking, the so-called underemployment rate reached 15.8 percent — up from 15.6 percent in March and 9.2 percent a year earlier.

For those out of work, this recession has already proven to be the most punishing since the government began tracking the length of unemployment in 1948: Among the officially jobless, 27.2 percent were unemployed for more than six months, the highest figure on record.

“We can’t forget that joblessness lasts well after the official end of recessions,” said Andrew Stettner, deputy director the National Employment Law Project in New York. “It’s going to take a lot of job training and unemployment benefits well through 2010.”

Catherine Morse of East Mesa, Ariz., is among those suffering the realities of such data points. She has been looking for work for six months since she lost her job as an officer manager at a building company. She has been living on her savings, which are dwindling, she said.

“I’ve been looking every day, but I haven’t been getting anything,” she said.

Whatever happens to the economy going forward — whether the government initiatives successfully spur growth, or whether banks stumble anew and commerce contracts — businesses will almost surely hire timidly going forward, say economists, with elevated levels of joblessness likely to be a feature of American life for many months.

“We have to start facing up to the fact we’re headed for an unemployment rate above 10 percent,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, adding that the rate “will stay high for quite a while.”

news/notes20090508f

[Today's Newspaper] fom [The Washington Post]

Jobless Rate Rises as Layoffs Slow

By Annys Shin and Scott Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, May 8, 2009; 12:12 PM

The ranks of Americans looking for work continued to swell in April, as the nation's unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent, the Labor Department reported this morning.

Although it is the highest jobless rate since September 1983, the pace of job losses slowed appreciably last month compared with February and March, another sign that the severe economic slump might be starting to ease.

President Obama later addressed the unemployment issue in a speech, announcing several modest steps to make it easier for those looking for work to retrain without losing jobless benefits.

The unemployment rate "underscores the point that we're still in the midst of a recession that was years in the making and will be months or even years in the unmaking; and we should expect further job losses in the months to come," Obama said. Nevertheless, he said, "the gears of our economic engine are slowly beginning to turn."

The number of private-sector jobs fell by 611,000, the Labor Department report said, but that loss was offset somewhat by the addition of 72,000 government jobs -- most of them connected with the 2010 Census. The total of 539,000 jobs lost was slightly less than the 600,000 expected by analysts.

Some experts predicted the jobs report would beat expectations after the ADP Employment Report released earlier this week showed a job loss of 491,000 in April, far lower than the 600,000-plus tallies seen in prior months.

A separate report from outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray, & Christmas also found layoffs had moderated to 133,000, from 150,000. And first-time jobless claims fell sharply last week, further suggesting job losses could be moderating.

But the report today confirmed businesses were still in cost-cutting mode in April.

The number of Americans who are officially unemployed now stands at 13.7 million. The Labor Department also revised its estimates to show steeper job losses in months leading into April -- 681,000 non-farm jobs lost in February, up from an earlier estimate of 651,00, and 699,000 fewer jobs in March, compared with the initial estimate of 663,000.

To be counted as unemployed in the jobs report, a person must not be working currently and must have looked for work in the past four weeks.

An alternative measure of unemployment includes other groups, such as people who have become discouraged and stopped looking and people who are working fewer hours than they would like for economic reasons. If those groups are included, the unemployment rate in April was 15.8 percent, up slightly from 15.6 percent in March.

The jobs report showed it has become increasingly more difficult to find employment, with the median amount of time out of work edging up to 12.5 weeks, from 11.2 in March.

Analysts expect unemployment to persist well into the recovery, which they say probably will be sluggish. That has implications for broader economic growth by slowing wage growth, dampening consumer spending, and helping fuel foreclosures and loan defaults.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke on Tuesday offered a somewhat optimistic outlook on the economy but said unemployment would likely hover around 9 percent for many months.

Obama, who is facing rising Republican criticism about unemployment, has ordered the Department of Labor to advise state agencies to change rules that eliminate jobless benefits for unemployed people who enroll in school.

State agencies often require anyone receiving unemployment benefits to be looking for work full-time in return for the assistance. Obama wants state agencies to grant more leeway to unemployed people who enroll in part-time retraining programs so they can keep their benefits while going to school.

Obama also has asked all state labor agencies to send letters outlining the array of aid, retraining programs, and other assistance available to anyone receiving unemployment benefits. The federal Departments of Labor and Education have created a Web site to explain some of these measures.

"We're moving forward because now is not a time for small plans," Obama said at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. "It's not a time to pause, to be passive or to wait around for our problems to fix themselves. Now is the time to put in place a new foundation for growth -- to rebuild our economy, retrain our workforce, and reequip the American people."

Obama added: "In a 21st century economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, education is the single best bet we can make -- not just for our individual success, but for the success of our nation as a whole." He called for "a rigorous new approach to higher education and technical training," which he said "starts by changing senseless rules that discourage displaced workers from getting the education and training they need to find and fill the jobs of the future."

news/notes20090508g

[Today's Papers] from [Slate Magazine]

Banks: We're OK, Invest In Us Today!

By Daniel Politi
Posted Friday, May 8, 2009, at 6:42 AM ET

The New York Times leads with, while the Wall Street Journal banners, the much-awaited "stress test" results of the nation's biggest banks. And, yes, the actual results are pretty much as the papers previewed them yesterday: Everyone's fine except some that will need a few billion here and there to bolster their coffers, just in case. Overall, the government determined that 10 of the 19 largest banks need to raise a total of $75 billion in common equity to be ready for future losses. And the future losses could be great. The government said that the 19 biggest banks could lose as much as $600 billion through the end of next year if the economy performs worse than expected. But as the Los Angeles Times makes clear, this estimate involved a "worse-case scenario" and not a "worst-case scenario, as critics wanted."

The Washington Post leads with a look at how Democrats were quick to attack President Obama's proposal to cut $17 billion from 121 government programs. The proposed decreases would amount to a mere 0.5 percent of next year's budget, but lawmakers were quick to come to the defense of some of their favorite initiatives. The development demonstrates how Obama will have to fight members of his own party if he is, in fact, serious about controlling spending. USA Today leads with word that the Army National Guard now has a surplus of soldiers. It was only a few years ago that the National Guard was falling short of its recruitment goals, and so it increased bonuses, as well as relaxed its admission requirements, to attract new candidates. But that all seems to be a thing of the past now that the Guard has to cut back on its force since it has 366,880 soldiers, more than the 358,200 authorized by Congress. The LAT leads with a new economic forecast for California that says the state could run out of money in July, particularly considering that voters seem to be adamantly against a group of measures aimed at closing the budget hole. Over the next year, California could find itself $23 billion in the red.

The results of the stress tests were better than some had feared, and many were quick to say that they demonstrated how the industry is on the road to recovery. Others weren't so sure, saying that the government analyzed projected losses in the face of economic projections that aren't that far from reality and allowed banks to pressure officials into releasing favorable results. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner once again said he's confident banks will be able to turn to private sources for the extra capital. The one big exception appears to be auto-financing giant GMAC. The WP hears word that GMAC will receive a $7.5 billion infusion of taxpayer cash next week.

The banks are all either rushing to figure out how to raise more capital—they must hand in their plans to do so by June 8—or trying to determine whether they should be giving the TARP money back to the government as soon as possible. But they all seem to agree they'll try their hardest to avoid taking any more government money.

The WSJ warns it's possible the stress tests could unintentionally end up making it more difficult for consumer and businesses to get loans. By placing such a strong emphasis on capital, banks may be more tempted to hold on to what they have and further cut back on lending. Although some were quick to find vindication in the results, other banks continued to question their true value and the methodology that the government followed. In a piece inside, the WP highlights that banks did lots of arguing with government officials over the test results and some even managed to get some concessions that ended up making the results look a bit better for the industry.

In a front-page piece, USAT points out that among the programs that Obama wants to cut back or eliminate are five that could eventually get $500 million in federal stimulus money. Critics say it's much more difficult to eliminate a program once its funding has been increased.

The WSJ fronts word that Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be appointing Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, a three-star general, to Kabul in an effort to boost military leadership in Afghanistan. While the Iraq effort has had both a four-star and a three-star general, Afghanistan only had one senior general, and many think that's no longer enough to win a war that is becoming more complicated every day. In an unusual move that is also seen as evidence of the importance that Afghanistan is receiving at the highest levels of the Pentagon, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen ordered a task force to improve the Afghanistan strategy.

The NYT takes a look at the state of the Iraqi security forces and notes that while they have definitely improved over the last few years, they still suffer from some severe shortcomings that have raised concerns over whether they'll be ready to take over when American troops begin to withdraw in large numbers. Even though their numbers continue to increase, Iraqi soldiers and officers continue to depend on American troops for some basic functions. Now that Obama's plan "has set the clock ticking," the most important American military mission involves training Iraqi forces.

The NYT's Paul Krugman declares that whether the stress tests results should be seen as comforting depends on whether they are being looked at from the perspective of a banker or some other professional. Besides obvious problems with the methodology of the tests, Krugman says they finally showed how Obama's administration has decided to "muddle through the financial crisis, hoping that the banks can earn their way back to health." It very well might work, but it's important to note that so far the White House "has decided not to do anything dramatic to recapitalize banks." Ultimately, though, those of us who aren't bankers "should be very, very afraid" because there are suggestions that "Wall Street insiders are taking the mildness of bank policy so far as a sign that they'll soon be able to go back to playing the same games as before."