Monthly Archives: April 2013

Initial Jobless Claims Spike | Armonk NY Real Estate

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In each Economic Update, the Research staff analyzes recently released economic indicators and addresses what these indicators mean for REALTORS® and their clients. Today’s update discusses jobless claims.

  • Initial unemployment insurance claims for the week ending March 23 spiked to 357,000 claims from the previous week’s upwardly revised level, increasing by 16,000 claims. Initial claims data is highly volatile, but the increase in the past two weeks appears to be coming from higher filings by Federal civilian employees, reflecting the federal budgetary tightening.
  • The total number of claims filed by the unemployed who are on their second week of unemployment stood at 3.05 million, which is lower than last year’s 3.72 million.  This does not mean that the overall employment conditions are back to normal. Job growth has to pick up to significantly reduce the unemployment rate.  As of February 2013, there were 12.1 million unemployed and an additional 8.0 million part-time workers who are seeking full-time work. The economy needs 3 million more jobs annually over the next 3 years to bring down the unemployment rate closer to normal historical levels.
  • What this Means for REALTORS®: Job losses have been stabilizing although hiring has to pick up to bring down the level of unemployment. Thanks to the housing market recovery, NAR projects 1.5 to 2.0 million non-farm net new jobs in 2013 even with the fiscal sequester.
via economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org

Growth in Singapore Housing Prices Slows in First Quarter | Armonk NY Homes

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Private property prices in Singapore rose at a much slower rate in the first three months of this year compared to the quarter before, as government curbs announced in January to cool the market dampened demand.

The state’s private residential property index rose 1.1 points, or 0.5 percent to 213.1 points in the quarter ending March, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore’s national land use planning authority. This compares to the 1.8 percent increase to 212 in the quarter that ended in December.

The price increase of non-landed private residential properties slowed to 0.4 percent in the core central region, compared to the 0.7 percent in the previous quarter. Prices in areas outside the central region showed a 1.7 percent in the first quarter, less than half the increase of 3.8 percent in the previous quarter.

The latest curbs included a seller’s stamp duty and increased taxes for foreigners and corporate, which rounded out the nation’s seventh round of cooling measures in the last four years.

via cnbc.com

Oklahoma Governor Signs New Law Allowing Horse Slaughter | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Horse slaughter will soon be a reality in the state of Oklahoma. On Friday, Governor Mary Fallin signed a new law that will allow the animals to be slaughtered, processed and exported all from within the state. The bill, however, prohibits horse meat from being sold in the USA.

According to Huffington Post, the new law hopes to address the large number of starving and abandoned horses within the state as well as the fact that horses set for slaughter are being shipped to Mexico where horse slaughter is legal.

Governor Fallin said about the controversial law, ”In Oklahoma, as in other states, abuse is tragically common among horses that are reaching the end of their natural lives. Those of us who care about the wellbeing of horses – and we all should – cannot be satisfied with a status quo that encourages abuse and neglect, or that rewards the potentially inhumane slaughter of animals in foreign countries.”

Animal activists have been fighting the new law, sadly without success. Cynthia Armstrong, the Oklahoma state director for the Humane Society of the United States, said in response, “It’s a very sad day for Oklahoma and the welfare of the horses that will be exposed to a facility like this. It’s very regrettable.”

It appears that instead of creating programs to help the abandoned horses in the state of Oklahoma, they are seeking to create a money making industry to profit from the sad fate of these horses. The bill received bipartisan support and easily passed in both the State House and the Senate.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

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About Ali Berman

Ali Berman is a writer, teacher and activist. She works as a humane educator for HEART teaching kids about issues affecting people, animals and the environment. Ali is also a fiction writer. Her published work can be found on her website at aliberman.com. In early 2012 Ali co-founded flipmeover, a production company with the mission to use media to raise awareness of social issues.

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