American Perception of Job Climate at Highest Since Financial Crisis

According to a survey conducted by Gallup, 24% of Americans think of now as a good time to find a quality job.  Out of context 24% may seem low, but this number reflects the highest the workplace outlook has been since the financial crisis began in March in 2008.

Perceptions differ from region to region, with people in the Midwest and South viewing their prospects more negatively, at 22% and 19% respectively, with Americans from the West (31%) and East (28%) tend to view their job climates more favorably. 

These more positive perceptions occur in tangent with two indexes created by Gallup that are currently experiencing upticks,  the Job Creation Index and the Economic Confidence Index, which can be seen here.

California's Recovering Economy

Adam Nagourney, writing for The New York Times, examined California's recovering economy.  Compared to the rest of the nation, the Golden State experienced one of the longest and harshest downturns, spurred on by widespread foreclosures and a ballooning unemployment rate that surged to over 12.4% in mid-2010.  But by October, unemployment had dropped to 10.1% - high for most states, but a marked improvement for California.  In fact, the month-to-month drop from August to September (10.6% to 10.2%) was the state's largest decrease in the 36 years since it began tabulating unemployment statistics.  The housing market is recovering as well.  Home sales are up 25% from a year ago, and houses are staying on the market for a shorter period of time and selling for higher prices. The California Legislative Analyst's Office projects the state to post a $1.9 billion deficit next year, and perhaps even a $1 billion surplus.  California's deficit was at one point over $25 billion – bigger than many states' budgets.  With that said, a significant geographical divide characterizes the recovery.  Coastal areas are posting much lower unemployment rates and possess healthier housing markets than the inland areas.  Additionally, by some measuresCalifornia still has the worst poverty rate.  The state has rebounded significantly, but still has considerable work left to be done.  

A Bleak Climate Change Forecast

The Economist recently published an article covering climate change policy to mark the beginning of the Doha Climate Change Conference. According to current projections, the outlook appears quite bleak. Although the world needed to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, they have actually increased by 20% just in the past 10 years. This is a major cause for concern, since the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that by 2020, greenhouse gas emissions must be 11% lower than they are now to guarantee that temperatures do not increase by 2 degrees Celsius. Assuming that greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase at this same pace, by 2020 the world will emit  58 gigatonnes of carbon equivalent (GtCO₂e), significantly more than the maximum level of 44 GtCO₂e required to prevent temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius. As the Economist explains, if countries planned on making major cuts down the line, then we could potentially avoid this catastrophic temperature increase. However, given the political climate and current policies laid out, this appears unlikely. Even if countries adopted the strictest, conditional pledges, countries wouldn’t even come close to the GtCO₂e goal needed to prevent temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius.

Pistol Training Game Video

Deteriorating Jobs Outlook Across the EU

Across the European Union, the jobs outlook is steadily worsening. According to a Gallup report, over 90% of citizens in Greece (98%), Italy (95%), Spain (94%), and Ireland (92%) think that it is a "bad time" to find a job in their area. The majority of citizens in 25 of the 27 countries in the European Union report a pessimistic job outlook. This finding coincides with Eurostat's findings that the EU is currently experiencing some of the highest unemployment levels ever recorded in Europe. Countries with the most staggering unemployment rates include Spain (23.8%), Greece (25.1%), Latvia (15.9%), Portugal (15.7%), Ireland (15.1%), and Slovakia (13.9%). The jobs outlook across the EU has worsened since 2011, and in recent months (August 2012-September 2012), unemployment levels have continued to decrease. Since 2011, the jobs outlook has gotten significantly worse in Finland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Sweden, France, Austria, Denmark, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom.

It is important to note that since 2011, there have been improvements in the jobs outlook in Latvia and Estonia. Additionally, the majority of Germans (46% compared to 43%) and approximately 1/3 of Swedes (32%) and Austrians (35%) feel that it is a "good time" to find a job in their country. Comparatively, 25% of Americans feel it is a "good time" to find jobs in their area. Also, the estimated percentage of the population that is employed by a full time employer has remained stable in most EU countries in 2012.

However, the countries that have severely pessimistic jobs outlooks also have the lowest percentage of full-time employees. Less than 1 in 3 adults are employed full time in Greece, Romania, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Ireland. Because of the decreasing percentage of the population that is employed full time, the tax-base is shrinking. Therefore, countries across the EU are not just facing high unemployment levels and dismal job outlooks; they are facing long-term economic instability.

Steroids Prevalent Among Youth

A new University of Minnesota study found that 5% of middle and high school students from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area used steroids to bulk up. Fox News highlighted the study in a November 19^th  article. Over one-third of boys and one-fifth of girls stated that they used protein powder, and five to ten percent said they used non-steroid substances like creatine to boost muscle mass. While athletes were more likely than non-athletes to utilize some method of muscle building, steroid use was the same among athletes and non-athletes.  Researchers pointed to the media's propagation of the muscular body as an ideal aspiration as well as the drive to perform better in sports as factors contributing to the popularity of muscle-building products.  

Marriage Still in Recession

The Pew Research Center released a new report detailing the continued decline of marriage in 2011.  Using data collected by the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, Pew reported on the 4.2 million Americans who tied the knot in 2011.  This continues the downward trend in marriage that began when the ACS began asking about marital status in 2008.

Half (51%) of all adults were married in 2011, as compared with 72% in 1960.  This downward trend occurred among all age and education groups, with the largest drop occurring among the less-educated.  Between 2008 and 2011, marriage among Americans without a high school or equivalent education fell by 14%, while those with a college degree only fell 10%.

Three Steps to a Better Executive Team

By Virgil R. Carter

Many non-profit organizations and their CEOs depend on a staff executive team to help lead the non-profit to be a consistently successful organization.  The day of a “one person” leadership team, in most organizations, is long gone.  Are there ways for the executive team to function better?  According to an article in McKinsey Quarterly, authored by Michiel Knuyt, Judy Malan and Rachel Tuffield, “few teams function as well as they could”.  The authors write that there are three important steps that can be taken for more effective executive teams.  Consider the following:

--Get the right people on the team…and the wrong ones off:  Remember the advice to “get the right people on the bus”?  The matching critical ingredient is to help the “wrong” people find a new and different opportunity that more closely fits their capabilities. CEOs are responsible for selecting the staff executive team.  The authors note that this responsibility “…typically requires conscious attention and courage from the CEO, otherwise, the top team can under deliver for an extended period of time.”  Without the right people, the executive team’s performance will be limited.

--Ensure the team works on only what it can do:  The purpose and focus of the top staff team is critical.  It’s up to the CEO to communicate the purpose and focus of the executive team, and to closely monitor the team’s adherence to the purpose and focus.  Like committees everywhere, left alone the team will look for things to do that seem interesting and that justify the team’s existence. Thus, purpose and focus must be carefully drawn and matched to the unique needs of the nonprofit organization.  Often, projects with critical cross-functional or cross regional programs provide valuable work for the top team.

--Keep team dynamics and processes positive and productive:  CEOs must give “unrelenting attention” to the productive collaboration of the top staff executive team.  It is all too common for executive teams to become dysfunctional over opposing priorities, entrenched thinking, competitive views, and the like.  CEOs must lead their executive teams, setting the example and addressing the dynamics of their team, while dealing with concrete business issues.

With a staff executive team that is willing and able to effectively do its work, a non-profit organization can achieve a major performance improvement.  For the full article, see https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Organization/Talent/Three_steps_to_building_a_better_top_team_2743

Consumer Sentiment, Job Creation Could Suffer if Congress Fails to Reach a Deal

According to a White House report cited in the WashingtonPost, if Congress fails to reach a deal that would renew for the Bush-era tax cuts for middle class Americans, the economy may suffer. Among other consequences, consumer spending could plunge by $200 billion dollars, since middle-class Americans may become reluctant to spend if they are forced to pay $2,200 more in taxes. Consumer sentiment could also take a hit. Although 2007 marked the highest level in consumer sentiment, it declined rapidly in the summer of 2011 during the negotiations over the debt ceiling. Consumer sentiment has recovered since then and currently, it stands at its highest level in over 5 years. However, the Council of Economic Advisers warns that the fear of the “fiscal cliff” could drive down consumer sentiment and consumer spending. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) also seems to concur with some of the findings of the Council of Economic Advisers, mainly that an extension of middle-class tax cuts could provide a much-needed boost to the economy. The CBO estimates that such an extension would result in a 1.3% increase in GDP and could help add up to 1.6 million jobs. Currently, it appears that negotiations are at a standstill. Although in recent days some top Republicans said they were willing to break Norquist's anti-tax pledge, Republicans and Democrats have not reached a deal to avoid the major spending cuts and tax increases that are set to take effect in 2013.

Pistol Training

This is classical shooting online game. Tray to heave steady hand and heave best score. You shoot with 3 types of pistols and if you are skillful you can go through all three levels with the 3 different weapons. So be precise in this addicting shooting game.

Logan Temple in Fall

Here are a few photos of the Logan Temple I took a couple of weeks ago.  I thought they might be of interest, even though they aren't the best quality.