“I expect oil prices to reach $110 during the first half of 2011, however, it could go above that level if Egypt’s current crisis continues,” says Imad al-Atiqi, a member of Kuwait’s Supreme Petroleum Council, in an interview today with Reuters. “A huge amount of oil passes through the Suez Canal and the country’s stability is essential for the Middle East’s stability, particularly Israel.”
Daily Archives: February 6, 2011
IS THE JANUARY JOBS REPORT STRONGER THAN IT APPEARS?
The raison d’être of economic analysis and data collection is enhancing the clarity of the broad trend and drawing conclusions about the future. That’s a tough assignment under the best of circumstances, although sometimes the game is unusually confusing, as it seems to be with Friday’s update on January’s employment numbers. At issue is the odd sight of the jobless rate dropping to 9.0% from 9.4% in December without a commensurate gain in jobs. Nonfarm payrolls rose by a scant 36,000 last month (or +50,000 if you ignore the shrinking ranks of government workers). That’s down sharply from December’s 121,000 gain. January’s rise is the worst month for jobs since last September’s loss of 29,000.