EoW November 2010

Transat lant ic Cable

In brief . . .

returning the unneeded funds to the government, together with $800 million in unused contingency money. It will be up to Congress to determine what to do with the windfall from the o cial head count, conducted every ten years. According to the results of the most recent Conference Board ❈ survey, consumer con dence in the US has risen slightly: to

Americans are becoming more compliant, to judge from the ❈ number of people (72%of the population) whomailed in their completed forms for the 2010 Census. The reduced need for expensive door-to-door visits permitted the project to come in $650 million under budget. The Commerce Department is

53.5 points in August, up from 51 in July. With 50 the median between pessimism and optimism, the con dence index re ectshowAmericansfeelaboutbusiness conditions, the job market and the next six months. The factor is closely watched because consumer spending, which typically rises in tandem with feelings of security, accounts for some 70% of the US economy and is considered crucial to a sustained recovery. The Conference Board is an independent source of economic and business information, with a global membership. The Labor Department reported that the ❈ number of American workers who died on the job fell by 17% in 2009 to the lowest level in nearly two decades, an apparent e ect of the recent recession in the United States. The 4,340 workplace fatalities recorded over the 12 months provided the lowest total since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the data in 1992. The labour agency said unemployment and layo s in construction and other dangerous industries were major factors in the decrease. The College Board has warned that the ❈ growing gap in college-completion rates between the US and other countries threatens to undermine American econo- mic competitiveness. The not-for-pro t association, founded in New York in 1900 with a mission to “connect students to college success and opportunity,” said that the United States used to lead the world in the number of 25- to 34-year-olds with college degrees. Now, it ranks twelfth among 36 developed nations. According to a College Board report released at a July meeting of education leaders and policy makers in Washington DC, almost 70% of high school graduates in the US enrol in college within two years. But only about 57% of students who enrol in a bachelor’s degree programme graduate within six years; and fewer than 25% of students who begin at a community college graduate with an associate’s degree within three years.

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EuroWire – November 2010