By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – It's Friday, so "It's Only Money," a review of the big and not-so-big stories of the week. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
No one expected it, no one wanted it, but non-farm payroll employment declined by 100,000 jobs in December. The surprise came from the retail trade. Fewer workers than usual were hired for the holiday season. But once again, it was manufacturing that saw the biggest cuts. For the year, 600,000 jobs were lost in that sector. Today's report also revised down the loss of jobs in November to 88,000. That's more than double what was originally posted. So for the year, there was a net loss of 181,000 jobs.
In the "How-Much-Nerve-Does-It-Take?" category, the new and leaderless accounting oversight board held their first meeting yesterday. Remember that was the board William Webster resigned from after it was revealed that ex-SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt hid some pertinent info regarding Webster's last place of employment. That company is under investigation for accounting fraud. Anyway, without a budget, without a chairman, they decided the most important issue on the agenda - was their pay. You ready? The new board members voted that each would receive a salary of $452,000 a year. Oh, that's just about $52,000 more than the President makes. Now we need a new board to oversee the accounting oversight board. Boy, am I disappointed.
Irving-based Michael's Stores wants everyone to know that they are not MJ Designs. MJ Designs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week. Michael's Stores posted a 13% increase in sales for December this week. Michael's Stores is alive and well. Trust them.
And a very, very happy 100th Birthday to the Dallas Museum of Art. For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.