Jobs Tracker Holds Steady - NYTimes.com by David Leonhardt

2012-06-07

This week's economic data have brought few surprises, and The New York Times weekly jobs tracker shows no change: Moody's Analytics forecasts average monthly job growth of 157,000 in the six months leading up to Election Day.

Economists at Moody's note that the labor market has weakened in recent months, after a surprising burst of hiring during the unusually warm winter. But the economic data since last Friday's disappointing jobs report, including this morning's report on jobless claims, have not been as bad as the jobs report was. Economists still expect job growth to accelerate in June.

The Moody's economists add:

June will be telling. Any weather-related payback has run its course and we should get a clean assessment of the health of the job market in June .

Layoffs are not holding back the labor market, rather its businesses reluctance to hire. Hiring plans in our weekly business confidence survey have weakened but are holding up reasonably well given the volatility in global equity markets and uncertainty surrounding Europe.

Also, U.S. productivity has declined in three of the past five quarters, including the first quarter of this year. Companies have exhausted their workforces and will now need to add more employees in order to keep up with demand. Because businesses have the financial wherewithal to hire, the missing piece is confidence.

The projected pace of hiring suggests a close election between President Obama and Mitt Romney.

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Source: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/jobs-tracker-holds-steady/?pagewanted=print

曾蔭權辭職與否也難除污 / 論盡中港台 by 岑逸飛

7 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

　　下月任期屆滿的特首曾蔭權，被審計署揭發在07年上任至今年四月，外訪次數達55次，而由港府支付的住宿費，有41晚入住總統套房，五年來總開支超過一千萬元，且無足夠理據解釋入住總統套房的原因。

 

　　按本港公務員離港公幹，可按政府《公務員事務規例》申請膳宿津貼，若酒店住宿費用超過津貼六成，需符合工作需要和沒有其他較便宜酒店選擇為理由，向部門首長申請調高金額。 如今曾蔭權此舉，顯然是揮霍了本港納稅人的血汗錢。

 

　　對於特首揮霍一事，曾蔭權上周已當眾揮淚致歉，說明此事屬實，對他並無抺黑，只是他的道歉，未能平息公憤，一來其道歉不代表他真有誠意，二來即使他真有誠意，其誠意有多大也成疑問，如今要求曾蔭權立即下台的呼聲愈叫愈響，稱他為「貪曾」。

 

　　就特首外訪開支過高，民主黨將於周五(六月八日)內務委員會提出不信任動議，現時已有23名議員簽名彈劾，相信動議不難通過，但特首在6 月30日便要滿任，而立法會能否排期在此日之前辯論，則是未知數，因現時已累積大量議案要討論，除非曾蔭權因彈劾而引咎自動辭職則另當別論。

 

　　有種意見認為，特首尚餘任期不足一月，且恰好是新舊政府交接時刻，所以理應對曾蔭權有所包容，放他一馬。只是曾蔭權犯的不是小錯，他雖是特首，並不表示他就有特權，任何人要受到公平對待，是香港的核心價值。難怪有市民堅持他需要辭職，給公眾一個交代，以及給日後當政者一個警惕。

 

　　古人教導當官的務須清廉。所謂「清廉」，指的是清白正直，奉公守法，不受財物，拒絶腐蝕，如《呂氏春秋˙忠廉》所說：「臨大利而不易其義，可謂廉矣」，而大利固然如是，小利又何嘗不然﹖漢代劉向有「受魚失祿」的故事，謂「昔者有餽魚於鄭相者，鄭相不受。或謂鄭相曰：『子嗜魚，何故不受？』對曰：『吾以嗜魚，故不受魚。受魚失祿，無以食魚；不受得祿，終身食魚。』」

 

　　意思是說，鄭相喜歡吃魚，有人送給他，他不接受，有人問他，為甚麼不收下？鄭相說，我因為愛吃魚，所以不收別人送的魚，收下魚丟官，就沒有薪俸買魚吃。不收魚才能保有官位，一輩子都有魚吃。這故事是教訓人不要貪小失大，接受小好處，卻把飯碗弄丟了。可見曾蔭權沒有智慧，他想住總統套房，大可自掏腰包，何必貪圖公家津貼﹖

 

　　古人常講「公生明，廉生威」，所謂「一生正氣，兩袖清風」，是「清廉」的最好詮釋。而「清廉」的對立面叫「貪枉」，指的是貪污受賄，徇情枉法，假公濟私。而且不可不知，任何人處於領導位置，必然會面臨金錢和權力的考驗，時間久了，是非榮辱易錯位，定力日漸衰退，一旦耐不住寂寞，忍不住清苦，經不住誘惑，就會進入貪賄的「地雷區」，而前功盡棄，全盤皆輸。

 

　　無論如何，不管特首曾蔭權辭職與否，他所蒙受的政治污名，歷史上勢難抹除。貪枉是陷阱，它所帶來的是黑暗，害人害己留罵名。