Word: rate
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...currency, the renminbi, to significantly appreciate against the dollar any time soon, despite increasing political pressure from Washington to do so. China's Commerce Minister, Chen Deming, said at the recent Canton Trade Fair, a major showcase for China's manufacturers, that the "basic stability" of the yuan exchange rate needed to be maintained so exporters can have a predictable business environment. Another source of stability is the difficulty central banks have disposing of dollars they already hold. Dumping dollars on world markets would only depress its value further, undermining nations' own reserves. "Central banks will continue...
...Friday's jobless number from the Labor Department will quickly become a political football. The Labor Department reported that the widely watched unemployment rate rose to 10.2%, the highest rate since April 1983, as nonfarm payrolls declined by 191,000 in October, down from a revised loss of 219,000 jobs in September. (See photos of Cleveland's struggles...
...news may actually provide fuel for both camps. The rising unemployment rate bolsters Republicans who have been arguing that the stimulus bill, which most economists credit with speeding economic recovery, has only made matters worse on the job front, with October's numbers showing that the economy is continuing to shed jobs. "It's bewildering to see the same Administration that sold its trillion-dollar spending plan this spring as a guarantee against 8% unemployment claiming it created 1 million jobs, especially since it is a sad fact 3 million jobs have been lost since the stimulus was signed into...
...economy growing again, things should feel more solid by spring, and that should start working to our advantage," says a senior Treasury official. Friday's report offers some comfort on that front, in that the monthly job-loss number continues to trend downward, and also because the 10.2% jobless rate gives the Federal Reserve little reason to begin raising interest rates anytime soon, which augurs well for economic improvement...
Over the near term, however, the Administration knows it must contend with unpleasant realities, thanks to that unsettling double-digit jobless rate: "We're in for a pretty dark period," says the Treasury official. But, anticipating that, the Administration's strategy has intentionally avoided overpromising. "Obama's numbers hold up because he doesn't oversell," the official says. "We need to be steady and say, We know this will work but it's going to take time. Ultimately we're pretty confident that we did the right things and that it will help...