EMPLOYMENT | UK Rate Goes to 75.3% High

London, September 14, 2017 – The UK employment rate, a robust indicator of national job creation, has surged above 75 percent.

As of July it is 75.3 percent of the working-age population. The ratio in London is consistently lower, by 1-2 percentage points, than the national ratio.

The UK is right behind, and challenging, Germany on this indicator. The number is current as of July 2017. The UK created 379,000 jobs during the year ending in July. The numbers are reported by the Office for National Statistics. 

The employment ratio is more stable measure than unemployment because it does not depend on assessments by surveyors and interviewees to determine whether someone else in the same household is employed or seeking a job.

STERLING | Pounded Below $1.23

Disclaimer

British PoundUS DollarAfghan Afghani (1927–2002)Albanian LekAlgerian DinarAngolan KwanzaArgentine PesoArmenian DramAruban FlorinAustralian DollarAzerbaijani ManatBahamian DollarBahraini DinarBangladeshi TakaBarbadian DollarBelarusian Ruble (2000-2016)Belgian FrancBelize DollarBermudan DollarBhutanese NgultrumBitcoinBolivian BolivianoBosnia-Herzegovina Convertible MarkBotswanan PulaBrazilian RealBrunei DollarBulgarian LevBurundian FrancCambodian RielCanadian DollarCape Verdean EscudoCayman Islands DollarCentral African CFA FrancCFP FrancChilean PesoChinese YuanColombian PesoComorian FrancCongolese FrancCosta Rican ColónCroatian KunaCuban Convertible PesoCzech Republic KorunaDanish KroneDjiboutian FrancDominican PesoEast Caribbean DollarEgyptian PoundEritrean NakfaEstonian KroonEthiopian BirrEuroFalkland Islands PoundFijian DollarGambian DalasiGeorgian LariGerman MarkGhanaian CediGibraltar PoundGreek DrachmaGuatemalan QuetzalGuinean FrancGuyanaese DollarHaitian GourdeHonduran LempiraHong Kong DollarHungarian ForintIcelandic KrónaIndian RupeeIndonesian RupiahIranian RialIraqi DinarIsraeli New SheqelItalian LiraJamaican DollarJapanese YenJordanian DinarKazakhstani TengeKenyan ShillingKuwaiti DinarKyrgystani SomLaotian KipLatvian LatsLebanese PoundLesotho LotiLiberian DollarLibyan DinarLithuanian LitasMacanese PatacaMacedonian DenarMalagasy AriaryMalawian KwachaMalaysian RinggitMaldivian RufiyaaMauritanian OuguiyaMauritian RupeeMexican PesoMoldovan LeuMongolian TugrikMoroccan DirhamMozambican Metical (1980–2006)Myanmar KyatNamibian DollarNepalese RupeeNetherlands Antillean GuilderNew Taiwan DollarNew Zealand DollarNicaraguan CórdobaNigerian NairaNorth Korean WonNorwegian KroneOmani RialPakistani RupeePanamanian BalboaPapua New Guinean KinaParaguayan GuaraniPeruvian Nuevo SolPhilippine PesoPolish ZlotyQatari RialRomanian LeuRussian RubleRwandan FrancSalvadoran ColónSamoan TalaSaudi RiyalSerbian DinarSeychellois RupeeSierra Leonean LeoneSingapore DollarSlovak KorunaSolomon Islands DollarSomali ShillingSouth African RandSouth Korean WonSpecial Drawing RightsSri Lankan RupeeSt. Helena PoundSudanese PoundSurinamese DollarSwazi LilangeniSwedish KronaSwiss FrancSyrian PoundSão Tomé & Príncipe DobraTajikistani SomoniTanzanian ShillingThai BahtTongan PaʻangaTrinidad & Tobago DollarTunisian DinarTurkish LiraTurkmenistani ManatUgandan ShillingUkrainian HryvniaUnited Arab Emirates DirhamUruguayan PesoUzbekistani SomVanuatu VatuVenezuelan BolívarVietnamese DongWest African CFA FrancYemeni RialZambian Kwacha (1968–2012) US DollarAfghan Afghani (1927–2002)Albanian LekAlgerian DinarAngolan KwanzaArgentine PesoArmenian DramAruban FlorinAustralian DollarAzerbaijani ManatBahamian DollarBahraini DinarBangladeshi TakaBarbadian DollarBelarusian Ruble (2000-2016)Belgian FrancBelize DollarBermudan DollarBhutanese NgultrumBitcoinBolivian BolivianoBosnia-Herzegovina Convertible MarkBotswanan PulaBrazilian RealBrunei DollarBulgarian LevBurundian FrancCambodian RielCanadian DollarCape Verdean EscudoCayman Islands DollarCentral African CFA FrancCFP FrancChilean PesoChinese YuanColombian PesoComorian FrancCongolese FrancCosta Rican ColónCroatian KunaCuban Convertible PesoCzech Republic KorunaDanish KroneDjiboutian FrancDominican PesoEast Caribbean DollarEgyptian PoundEritrean NakfaEstonian KroonEthiopian BirrEuroFalkland Islands PoundFijian DollarGambian DalasiGeorgian LariGerman MarkGhanaian CediGibraltar PoundGreek DrachmaGuatemalan QuetzalGuinean FrancGuyanaese DollarHaitian GourdeHonduran LempiraHong Kong DollarHungarian ForintIcelandic KrónaIndian RupeeIndonesian RupiahIranian RialIraqi DinarIsraeli New SheqelItalian LiraJamaican DollarJapanese YenJordanian DinarKazakhstani TengeKenyan ShillingKuwaiti DinarKyrgystani SomLaotian KipLatvian LatsLebanese PoundLesotho LotiLiberian DollarLibyan DinarLithuanian LitasMacanese PatacaMacedonian DenarMalagasy AriaryMalawian KwachaMalaysian RinggitMaldivian RufiyaaMauritanian OuguiyaMauritian RupeeMexican PesoMoldovan LeuMongolian TugrikMoroccan DirhamMozambican Metical (1980–2006)Myanmar KyatNamibian DollarNepalese RupeeNetherlands Antillean GuilderNew Taiwan DollarNew Zealand DollarNicaraguan CórdobaNigerian NairaNorth Korean WonNorwegian KroneOmani RialPakistani RupeePanamanian BalboaPapua New Guinean KinaParaguayan GuaraniPeruvian Nuevo SolPhilippine PesoPolish ZlotyQatari RialRomanian LeuRussian RubleRwandan FrancSalvadoran ColónSamoan TalaSaudi RiyalSerbian DinarSeychellois RupeeSierra Leonean LeoneSingapore DollarSlovak KorunaSolomon Islands DollarSomali ShillingSouth African RandSouth Korean WonSpecial Drawing RightsSri Lankan RupeeSt. Helena PoundSudanese PoundSurinamese DollarSwazi LilangeniSwedish KronaSwiss FrancSyrian PoundSão Tomé & Príncipe DobraTajikistani SomoniTanzanian ShillingThai BahtTongan PaʻangaTrinidad & Tobago DollarTunisian DinarTurkish LiraTurkmenistani ManatUgandan ShillingUkrainian HryvniaUnited Arab Emirates DirhamUruguayan PesoUzbekistani SomVanuatu VatuVenezuelan BolívarVietnamese DongWest African CFA FrancYemeni RialZambian Kwacha (1968–2012)

Predictions of a hard Brexit and an uptick in the US outlook have brought the pound down to $1.23 from its high near $1.70 two years ago.

This exchange-rate news is good for those in Britain being paid in dollars, like a few people I know... and bad for those in USA being paid in pounds. 

JOBS | Are Older Workers Keeping Jobs from Younger Ones?

Although not as high as European rates of >50%, the 

USA suffers from 17% youth unemployment. 

Chart by Atlantic Cities.

Before she discovered that the United States was tapping her phone and emails, German Chancellor Angela Merkel rated youth unemployment as "the biggest crisis facing Europe."

In Britain nearly one million young people are jobless. The talk in the UK is of a "lost generation" of workers, as lack of jobs creates mental-health problems in this age cohort.

The nonprofit MindFull says that 850,000 UK children, one-third of the age group, suffers from a mental-health problems and many more suffer from anxiety and depression.

Mental-health problems represent the largest single cause of disability in the UK, 23 percent of the NHS burden. Yet the NHS is spending only 1 percent of its budget addressing the causes of mental health problems, according to a member of Parliament, Nicky Morgan. The main concerns of young people in the UK are school stresses (54 percent), worrying about the future (53 percent), and feeling inadequate (52 percent).

Are Older Workers Crowding Out Younger Ones? In General, No

Like Europe, the United States has high unemployment among its young people. At the same time, with the asset meltdown in 2008, baby boomers who expected to retire at 60 or 62 have stayed on to keep working past 65. They can't afford to retire. The United States ranks third in the world for hiring over-65 workers, after Japan and Singapore. There is no maximum age for retirement, although specific jobs have age limits, like some judges in New York State.

The persistence of older workers in their jobs has been cited as a reason for high unemployment among youth. Some employers are concerned about the lack of intake of younger people and offer "buyout" arrangements – for example, extra credit toward retirement – to encourage elderly workers to retire so that more younger workers can be recruited.

But is the retaining of older workers really the reason for high unemployment of younger workers? According to a study cited by the UK Parliament, there is no evidence that older workers who stay on the job longer squeeze out opportunities for younger employees. The study by the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College says that there may be situations where older employees crowd out younger workers in some companies or areas, but not across the workforce at large.

The report examined employment and unemployment rates, wages, and hours worked in all 50 states over time (1977-2011) for three different age groups: 20-24 ("young"), 25-54 ("prime-aged"), and 55-64 ("old"). There was a wide variation among the states in all measures.

If older workers were hampering the prospects of younger ones, states with higher employment or wages among older workers would also lead to higher unemployment or lower wages among younger workers. But it wasn't so.

The report also looked at levels of employment both before and during the Great Recession and found:

• No support for the idea that the Recession changed the relative opportunities for younger and older workers. 
• Evidence that the Great Recession did affect overall unemployment rates and wages, but no support for the idea that employment among older workers affected opportunities for younger workers.
• Employment among younger workers was instead influenced by their education and skill levels, and by whether these workers were employed in the service or manufacturing industries. 
• Younger workers may have needed to migrate to job opportunities in new locations or industries, particularly as the Great Recession ended many manufacturing jobs.

Why Employment Moves Together among Young and Old

It makes sense that having elderly people work as long as they can may be good for the country and region, and for young people. If workers stay on in the workforce, it:

• Reduces the burden on pension systems, many of which are underfunded. 
• Makes it more likely that consumption and therefore the economy will remain strong. 
• Helps retain jobs that would be lost if older people who are successful at what they do and know how to serve their customers stop working. 
• Enables entrepreneurial older people to generate ideas that result in hiring of more young people as trainees and partners.

Workers at the two ends of the age spectrum are not substitutes, they are complements.

Russia Wants Syria to Join Chemical Weapons Convention

Logo of the Organisation for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in
the Hague, the Netherlands.

As a possible outcome of President Obama's meeting with President Putin of Russia, Russia is proposing a UN draft declaration backing an initiative to put Syrian chemical weapons under international control.

France is independently seeking a UN response under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the initial French draft resolution is "unacceptable" because it simply holds the Syrian government responsible for the use of chemical weapons.

Obama, according to the NY Times, is prepared to pursue control of chemical weapons in Syria by working through the UN.

Besides Obama - for whom the Russian proposal provides a face-saving alternative to a military strike - French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron have said they will review the Russian proposal seriously.

The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet in an emergency session at 4 p.m. to discuss Syrian use of chemical weapons. President Obama will address the nation on Syria this evening at 9 pm Eastern Time - at WH.Gov/Syria.

While little-mentioned in the Mainstream Media so far, Russia appears to want to give the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) more authority, and in particular wants Syria to join in the membership. He also told Russian television today that the United States and its allies should "pledge to renounce the use of force" as world powers work to deal with the Syrian chemical weapons issue. He said:

It is difficult to make any country -- Syria or any other country -- unilaterally disarm if there is military action against it under consideration.

According to Interfax (Russia's news agency), Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Moallem says that it is willing to disclose the location of its chemical weapons, stop producing more of it, and allow inspection by representatives of Russia, the UN, and other unspecified states, according to a report today from Russia's Interfax news agency. Reuters says Syria promises to give up chemical weapons, but there is no deal on the table yet at the UN.