Germany saw a surprise rise in unemployment as the total out of work went up over 25,000. Analysts had been expecting a drop of about 5,000 after August’s rise of over 9,000.
The Federal Labor Office attributed the increase to a drop in the number of government job schemes. The total unemployment rate climbed to 6.9%.
Henrich Alt of the Labor Office said they were changing to longer-term policies designed to train the unemployed for new jobs.
The overall unemployment rate for the Eurozone dropped slightly to 12%. Total unemployment was 19.2 million in August and analysts say there is signs of the total of unemployed stabilizing.
Austria has the lowest unemployment rate at 4.9% while Greece is still highest at 27.9%.
Eurostat reported that compared to a year ago 16 members had climbing unemployment, 11 fell and only Poland stayed stable.
The House of Representatives rejected three emergency funding bills Tuesday that would have re-opened several federal agencies closed because of the budget impasse.
The bills would have opened national parks and monuments, funded veteran’s benefits and allowed D.C.’s municipal government to continue operating.
Senate Democrats and President Obama both said they would not support the bills had the House passed them.
“The president and the Senate have been clear that they won’t accept this kind of game-playing, and if these bills were to come to the president’s desk he would veto them,” said White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage. “These piecemeal efforts are not serious and they are no way to run a government.”
The House appointed conferees that would participate in a conference committee to craft a bill that would pass both the House and Senate. However, no Democrats have been willing to meet with the Republicans in a conference.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told Congressional leaders on Tuesday night that without an increase in the debt limit, the Treasury Department will be using their last set of accounting moves to allow the government to keep paying bills.
Lew said unless the debt ceiling is raised by October 17, payments could be delayed to U.S. debt holders, government contractors and Social Security recipients. He also said the government shutdown would have very little impact on the deadline date.
“If we have insufficient cash on hand, it would be impossible for the United States of America to meet all of its obligations for the first time in our history,” he wrote. “For this reason, I respectfully urge Congress to act immediately to meet its responsibility by extending the nation’s borrowing authority.”
The Obama administration has said they will not negotiate over the debt ceiling on top of not negotiating over the government shutdown.
The U.S. Dollar has fallen to an 8-month low due to the government shutdown that has caused concern in major trading markets.
Analysts say the dollar index, which fell to 79.864, did not fall as far as it could have fallen because investors and traders had expected the shutdown. The dollar index tracks the Dollar against six major world currencies.
The dollar fell to an 8-month low against the Euro and an 18-month low against the Swiss franc.
The economic impact is being debated among economists and analysts. Goldman Sachs says a three-week government shutdown could end up lowering the country’s GDP by 0.9% this quarter.
Other analysts say the government’s lack of agreement on raising the “debt ceiling” is a bigger concern to world economic markets. The current debt ceiling is scheduled to be reached on October 17th.
Economists also say the shutdown will delay key reports from the Labor Department that assist in predicting financial outcomes and forecasts.
A budget proposal submitted to the Spanish Parliament Monday shows the country’s debt in 2014 will reach almost 100 percent of the country’s production output.
The debt-to-gross domestic product ratio will reach 99.8 percent by the end of 2014. This will rise from 94.2 percent by the end of 2013. Continue reading →
The veterans piled off the chartered buses in front of the World War II Memorial, some in wheelchairs, some using canes, all determined to pay homage to each other and their fallen comrades from more than half a century ago. Continue reading →
Second or third or fourth verse, same as the first. Continue reading →
The partial government shutdown that began Tuesday left many federal workers uncertain of their financial future, with many facing unpaid furloughs or delays in paychecks. Continue reading →
Let’s start with the obvious question: Will the government shut down this week? Most likely. Continue reading →
Stocks ended lower Monday as investors brace for a partial government shutdown as early as midnight. Continue reading →
