U.S. adds jobs but labor market still struggles

The U.S. economy has been bolstered by the addition of 146,000 jobs last month yet a drop in the unemployment rate is "misleading" because it reflects more people leaving the work force, according to one expert.

"For every job being created, about two people left the labor force," said Michael Goodman, a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth public policy professor. "That does not mean positive job growth isn't good for those 146,000 people and their families. It's extremely good news and a step in the right direction for them and the country."

The unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The U.S. government added Hurricane Sandy had only a small effect on the national figures even though the construction sector lost 20,000 jobs.

However, employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated. People who have stopped looking for work are not counted as unemployed.

"We've got a recovery that's underway but we have a profound long-term unemployment problem that's making it very difficult for workers across the country," Goodman said. "Those two things can happen at the same time and they are happening at the same time."

Goodman added that the looming "fiscal cliff" deadline would cause employers to hold off hiring new workers until there's more certainty about tax increases, as opposed to simply laying people off.

Reconstruction efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy — particularly in New York and New Jersey — would also "put some wind in the sails in the national construction industry," Goodman said.

"Over time I think reconstruction efforts should be expected to create opportunities for firms and for workers who are going to put New York and New Jersey back together again," he said.

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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Demand, prices rise for Bay State homes

With only a month to go before the end of the year, housing trends for 2012 are taking shape.

Demand for single-family homes and condominiums for the first 11 months of the year was up across all price points in Massachusetts, whereas in the same stretch of 2011 higher-end sales, those valued at $1 million and above, helped prop up the market.

The volume of single-family homes and condos in the Bay State jumped 18 percent for the first 11 months of 2012 compared to the same time in 2011, with prices continuing a modest increase, according to data obtained from Multiple Listing Service PIN. The median price of residential homes in Massachusetts gained 1 percent to $292,000 from $289,000 in the year-ago period.

An improving job market and low interest rates are two of the biggest drivers for the uptick in sales volume, but prices are just starting to show a consecutive upward trend this year.

"Tightened credit is a major hold-back to a full recovery in Massachusetts as well as the rest of the country. 2013 will bring a continued steady climb in the housing market with a few stops and starts along the way," said Nicolas Retsinas, a senior lecturer in real estate at Harvard Business School and director emeritus of Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Larger price gains were noted in the Boston market and select suburbs. Sales volume in the Hub was up 27 percent compared to the first 11 months of 2011, and the number of transactions was up 23 percent compared to last year.

The median price for a home in Boston rose 6 percent, from $375,000 to $400,000, according to Multiple Listing Service PIN.

A lack of inventory for new construction, slowed mainly by lack of capital over the past few years and a lack of buildable sites, contributed to Boston's price increase.

Meanwhile, the pace of sales continued to increase, with properties on the market 84 days for the first 11 months of 2012 compared to 102 days during the same period in 2011.

Statewide, home and condo sales had slightly less rosy numbers, with properties on the market for 123 days in 2012, compared to 129 days in 2011.

Anemic inventory levels across Massachusetts and especially in urban Boston will continue into 2013 as new housing developments just begin to enter the market and homeowners remain reluctant to put their property on the block.

"Sellers are continuing to wait for home prices to rise," Retsinas said.

Rents will continue to rise as households are driven to the rental market as opposed to home purchases because of strict lending requirements.

"The credit hurdles people face will continue to put a damper on the home buying market in 2013," Retsinas said.

Jennifer Athas, a licensed real estate broker, can be reached by email at heraldhotproperty@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenAthas.

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Sandy is thought to have slowed US hiring in Nov.

WASHINGTON — Superstorm Sandy is widely thought to have slowed U.S. job growth last month. The only question is how much — an answer that's expected to emerge Friday in the government's jobs report for November.

Yet once the storm's impact is cleared away, the report may reveal that the job market is strengthening.

Many economists predict employers added fewer than 100,000 jobs last month, and some think it was fewer than 50,000. That would be far below the 171,000 created in October and normally a sign of a weak market. The unemployment rate is expected to remain 7.9 percent.

Analysts caution, though, that Sandy likely reduced the November job gains significantly. And some employers might have delayed hiring because of concerns that the economy will fall off the "fiscal cliff" next year. That's the name for tax increases and spending cuts that will take effect in January if Congress and the White House fail to reach a budget deal by then.

If not for those factors, some analysts estimate the job gains in November might have been as high as 200,000. That would represent the best month of hiring since February.

Sandy forced restaurants, retailers and other businesses to close in late October and early November in 24 states, particularly in the Northeast. Many people couldn't get to work and weren't paid. The government counts those cases as job losses, even if they are temporary. Those subtractions would reduce net hiring.

One encouraging sign is that the storm's effect is fading. Weekly applications for unemployment benefits have tumbled in the past three weeks after spiking in early November to an 18-month high of 451,000 because of Sandy.

Last week, applications fell to a seasonally adjusted 370,000. That's roughly the same level as before the storm and is consistent with moderate hiring.

Payroll provider ADP said Wednesday that businesses added 118,000 jobs in November, down from 157,000 in the previous month. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, which helps compile data for ADP, estimated that the storm lowered the job gains by about 86,000.

The payroll losses from the storm could be higher in the government's total. That's because ADP counts people as employed if they remain on a payroll — even if they're not paid. By contrast, the government counts people as employed only if they are paid.

The fiscal cliff's impact on hiring may be harder to quantify. Even if companies aren't cutting jobs because of the cliff, the uncertainty surrounding the outcome is likely delaying some hiring, economists say.

Measures of hiring fell in two surveys released this week by the Institute for Supply Management, a private trade group of purchasing managers. Some companies in the service sector told the ISM that economic uncertainty was delaying hiring.

The storm also held back consumer spending and income, which drive economic growth. Consumers spending fell 0.2 percent in October, the weakest showing since May. Incomes were flat, after rising 0.4 percent in September.

Work interruptions caused by Sandy reduced wages and salaries in October by about $18 billion at an annual rate, the government said.

The U.S. grew at a solid 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But many economists say growth is slowing to a 1.5 percent rate in the October-December quarter, largely because of the storm and threat of the fiscal cliff. That's not enough growth to lower the unemployment rate.

Still, many say economic growth could accelerate next year if the fiscal cliff is avoided. The economy is also expected to get a boost from efforts to rebuild in the Northeast after the storm.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Yo-Yo Ma strikes right note

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma wowed students yesterday with a performance at Harvard's iLab and urged them to find new, collaborative ways of solving cultural problems.

"Our hope is that we will be able to find amongst all of you new thinking, new discoveries," he told students.

Ma's performance with his traveling Silk Road Ensemble, an eclectic group of musicians from across the globe, marked the launch of the Deans' Cultural Entrepreneurship Challenge, a university-wide competition encouraging students to work across majors and across colleges to develop solutions that support the arts and artists in a sustainable manner.

"Undergrads feel a lot of pressure. 'Oh, my God, I have to pay back my loans,' " Ma told the Herald after the performance. "But there are people who create their own jobs. So don't close off doors. Keep looking. If you go a little farther, you can find something incredibly worthwhile, something society hasn't moved quickly enough to help."

Nitin Nohria, dean of Harvard Business School, said the challenge was developed in partnership with Ma and his not-for-profit, the Silk Road Project, after the cellist raised the possibility of working together over dinner one night.

"Most ideas that come from electric dinners die," Nohria said. "I'm very grateful this idea didn't. It's a dream to have this interface between the arts and entrepreneurship. The world is not going to be a place we want to live in if we don't have the arts."

Diana Sorensen, dean of arts and humanities, said she hopes the competition will result in "inspired but practical" ideas for ways that artists can support themselves and still do what they love.

The challenge is one of two competitions recently announced by Harvard University. The Deans' Health and Life Sciences Challenge will kick off on Dec. 11 with a talk at the iLab by Richard Lee of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Both competitions offer a grand prize of $75,000 to be awarded to the winner and runners-up to support their projects. Finalist teams selected in March and April will receive financial support to further their projects before the Demo Day, when they will showcase their work. Winners and runners-up will be selected in May.

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Investors bracing for fall

Companies have been awarding special dividends to beat an anticipated tax hike next year, but as uncertainty about the "fiscal cliff" continues, the path for the average investor is less clear.

Some financial experts say it's time to sell stocks to avoid higher capital gains taxes next year, but others advise snapping up those shares that tax-wary investors are dumping.

"There's a big cloud over all of us today because of all this uncertainty and how that will affect the stock market," said Art Ford, a certified public accountant and financial planner at Sullivan Bille in Tewksbury. "There's a concern people may lose money if they don't do something."

If Congress fails to reach an agreement by Dec. 31 on how to reduce the deficit, steep cuts in federal spending will take effect, and the Bush tax cuts will expire.

"The usual tax strategy is to defer income and accelerate deductions," said Jim Bailey, tax partner at Blum Shapiro in Rockland. "But given the fact that rates may rise next year, we've been advising clients to consider doing just the opposite."

Unless Congress acts, the capital gains tax rate, for example, will go from 15 percent to 20 percent for most filers. So someone who paid $30 for a share of a stock that's now worth $100 could sell it this year, pay 15 percent on it and buy it back next year at $100, Bailey said.

Other advisers are suggesting that clients accumulate cash in their portfolios.

"I'm not selling stocks," said Barry Armstrong, president of Armstrong Advisory Group, a Needham wealth-management firm. "The closer we get to the 21st (of December), when Congress is expected to go home, the worse it'll be for stocks."

Instead, Armstrong is buying what everybody else is selling because those stocks are cheaper now than they most likely will be next year.

Evan Dangel, senior vice president at Morgan Stanley, said the likelihood that Congress is going to reach an agreement by the end of the year is "slim to none."

"We think taxes are going to be higher next year no matter what," Dangel said.

His advice is four-fold:

• Sell some stocks to realize long-term capital gains in your portfolio because the tax rate now is only 15 percent.

• Make sure you've contributed as much as you can to your 401(k).

• For the wealthiest taxpayers, deductions for charitable donations could be curtailed next year, so accelerate any charitable giving you plan to do this year.

• The stock dividend tax rate, which is now 15 percent, will probably be higher next year. People in the highest tax bracket, for example, could end up paying more than 40 percent. So you should consider tax-free municipal bonds and invest in stocks that don't pay dividends.

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Dr. Timothy Johnson retires after 40 years at Ch. 5

Dr. Timothy Johnson is retiring from Channel 5 — where the nationally renowned TV doctor got his small screen start — after a 40-year run as the Boston station's award-winning medical editor that led to a slot on "Good Morning America."

"It just seemed like the right time," Johnson said yesterday, just before his WCVB-TV colleagues feted him with a farewell party.

"Forty years is a nice, round number, and I'm 76. I don't want to feel any responsibility to the daily news anymore," he said.

Johnson came to the Bay State to take a job as director of emergency services at Union Hospital in Lynn and later became a fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital.

One of his doctor friends was among the group that launched WCVB in 1972 and asked Johnson to host a new show called "House Call."

Johnson caught the eye of ABC and was invited to appear on "Good Morning America" when it debuted in 1975. He took a full-time job with ABC News in 1984. He stopped actively practicing medicine off-screen that same year.

"I loved medicine, and I loved practicing it," Johnson said. "I loved the emergency room, but I was aware that this was a wonderful way to reach out to a wide audience with information."

He was born and raised in Illinois. He wanted to be a minister but during seminary training he decided to become a doctor after seeing how they could help people "very directly."

Among the people his TV career led him to was a Boston detective dying of Lou Gehrig's disease who spoke "very movingly" about his faith. He died two weeks after Johnson interviewed him. Johnson recalled sitting in his car, "kind of crying about this man who was just a magnificent human being and clearly knew he was dying."

During his Channel 5 career, Johnson also reported on the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's brain cancer, interviewed former Gov. Mitt Romney and Gov. Deval Patrick about health-care reform, and sat down with medical titans and patients battling grim illnesses.

Johnson, who retired from ABC in 2010, said despite all his years on television, he never felt like a TV personality.

"I've always felt like a doctor who just happens to be on TV," said Johnson, who lives in Marblehead with his wife of nearly 50 years. "I've really always felt like I'm talking to patients, rather than doing any kind of performance."

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US economy adds 146K jobs, rate falls to 7.7 pct.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.

The Labor Department's report on Friday offered a mixed picture for the economy.

Hiring remained steady during the storm and in the face of looming tax increases. But the government said employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated.

And the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.

There were signs that the storm disrupted economic activity. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work — the most in almost two years. They were still counted as employed.

Stock futures jumped after the report. Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 20 points in the minutes before the report came out at 8:30 a.m., and just after were up 70 points.

As money moved into stocks, it moved out of safer bonds. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which moves opposite the price, rose to 1.63 percent from 1.58 percent just before the report.

Since July, the economy has added an average of 158,000 jobs a month. That's a modest pickup from 146,000 in the first six months of the year.

The increase suggests employers are not yet delaying hiring decisions because of the "fiscal cliff." That's the combination of sharp tax increases and spending cuts that are set to take effect next year without a budget deal.

Retailers added 53,000 positions while temporary help companies added 18,000 and education and health care also gained 18,000.

Auto manufacturers added nearly 10,000 jobs.

Still, overall manufacturing jobs fell 7,000. That was pushed down by a loss of 12,000 jobs in food manufacturing that likely reflects the layoff of workers at Hostess.

Sandy forced restaurants, retailers and other businesses to close in late October and early November in 24 states, particularly in the Northeast.

The U.S. grew at a solid 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But many economists say growth is slowing to a 1.5 percent rate in the October-December quarter, largely because of the storm and threat of the fiscal cliff. That's not enough growth to lower the unemployment rate.

The storm held back consumer spending and income, which drive economic growth. Consumer spending declined in October and work interruptions caused by Sandy reduced wages and salaries that month by about $18 billion at an annual rate, the government said.

Still, many say economic growth could accelerate next year if the fiscal cliff is avoided. The economy is also expected to get a boost from efforts to rebuild in the Northeast after the storm.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Stocks turn higher on jobs number, but fears loom

NEW YORK — The stock market turned higher this morning on news that the U.S. added more jobs in November. But underneath the headline numbers, the government's monthly employment report gave a mixed read on the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 57 points at 13,130 after the first half-hour of trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose two to 1,416. The Nasdaq composite index edged down a fraction of a point to 2,989.

The main numbers from the jobs report were encouraging. The Labor Department said the U.S. added 146,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent, the lowest level since December 2008. That was in the middle of the recession, and just as the unemployment rate was starting to shoot decisively higher.

However, the details of the report painted a much less positive view of the economy. The unemployment rate fell largely because discouraged unemployed workers stopped looking for work, and weren't counted among the unemployed. Also, the Labor Department revised previously released jobs numbers downward, saying that employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated.

Nicholas Colas, ConvergEx chief market strategist, wasn't impressed. In a note to clients, he said U.S. unemployment seems to be more consistent with "an ongoing recession than expansion."

In the recession of the early 1990s and its aftermath, the highest rate of unemployment was 7.8 percent. In the recession of the early 2000s and its aftermath, the unemployment rate never got above 6.3 percent.

The jobs report also couldn't erase the overhang of other challenges, notably the "fiscal cliff" drama in Washington. Congress and the White House are trying to hammer out an agreement on government spending and tax rates before Jan. 1. If they don't, lower spending and higher taxes will kick in.

The drama has made traders indecisive, as many are unwilling to make any big moves until they know how the budget negotiations will be resolved. The markets have been wishy-washy. In the 21 trading days since the presidential election, the Dow has been up 10 and down 11. So far this week, it's finished up twice and down twice.

News from overseas wasn't encouraging. The Asian Development Bank, a lending institution based in the Philippines, predicted that growth will slow next year in India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other parts of Asia.

Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, sharply slashed its predictions for its own country's economic growth next year. Greece reported that its economy shrank again in the third quarter, by nearly 7 percent. And earlier this week, the European Central Bank predicted that the recession plaguing the euro zone, which encompasses the 17 countries that use the euro, will continue next year.

Among the companies making big moves:

—Apple was down $1.96 to $545.28. The move amounted to less than 1 percent, but it's significant because it's part of a longer trend. Apple's stock has plunged more than 20 percent since the iPhone 5 went on sale Sept. 21, as investors wonder whether the company, still enjoying immense popularity for the iPhone and iPad, can keep the momentum going. Apple makes up 4 percent of the S&P 500 index and nearly 12 percent of Nasdaq, so how it fares can have an enormous effect on the rest of the market.

—AIG, the bailed-out insurance company, jumped nearly 3 percent, rising 93 cents to $34.19. A group of Chinese companies is reportedly in talks to buy AIG's aircraft leasing unit, which could help AIG raise cash to pay off more of its government loans.

—Cisco Systems, the company that makes Internet networking gear, jumped about 1 percent, rising 17 cents to $19.65. CEO John Chambers, speaking at the company's analyst day, reportedly told analysts that he expects to expand the company from gear making into software and other services.

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Watertown's Riverworks office complex adds 3 tenants

The recently renovated Riverworks complex in Watertown has signed three office leases, broker Jones Lang LaSalle announced.

Mimecast North America, Fresh Tilled Soil and Kearsarge Energy signed long-term leases totaling nearly 50,000 square feet of space at the former mill building complex on the Charles River.

Boston-based Farley White Interests bought the property — previously occupied by Boston Scientific — in 2010 and reopened it in May. The leases bring the 200,000-square-foot complex to 46 percent occupancy, Jones Lang LaSalle said.

"These new leases bring us three innovative companies which will add to the dynamism of Riverworks," said Farley White principal Sam Altreuter. "We are enjoying seeing this grand facility come back to life."

Mimecast, an email management software provider, will double in size with the move from the Waltham Watch Factory building to 33,669 square feet on the first floor at the brick-and-beam Riverworks.

Web design firm Fresh Tilled Soil will quadruple its footprint when it relocates in January, also from the Watch Factory building, into 14,230 square feet on the third and fourth floors.

Kearsarge Energy, a renewable energy financing, operating and management company, is moving One Gateway Center in Newton to a 1,666-square-foot suite off the lobby.

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TV helicopter news coverage pioneer dies in California

CAMARILLO, Calif. — The Los Angeles television engineer who won Emmy Awards for creating helicopter news coverage in 1958 has died in Southern California at 92.

The family of John D. Silva tells the Los Angeles Times that he died Nov. 27 of pneumonia complications in Camarillo.

Silva was the chief engineer for KTLA-TV when he outfitted a rented Bell helicopter with a TV camera to create a flying TV studio. The station broadcast live aerial coverage of major news events, including earthquakes, fires and freeway calamities.

Silva had to persuade KTLA executives to spend $40,000 on broadcast equipment that might not have worked. Then, he had to get a ton of TV equipment down to 368 pounds so the helicopter could lift off the ground.

___

Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com

© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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