AROUND THE WEB

Here are some new figures for unemployment in China's urban areas. Are they to be believed?

60-Second News for July 25: Unemployment Statistics

The NDRC releases full urban unemployment statistics for the first time, showing that 5.05 percent of work-capable city residents are without a job

The country's top economic planning body has decided to release a more inclusive figure for unemployment in the nation's urban areas, ending the long-running practice of excluding migrant workers from the publicly announced unemployment count.

The newly released rate is about one percentage point higher than the "registered unemployment rate" the commission has published in the past. Called the "survey unemployment rate," it represents the percentage of people without jobs among all those who have lived in a given city for at least six months and are capable of work, including migrant workers whose households are registered in rural areas.

The NDRC's numbers show that this rate has declined for four consecutive months, and that cities and towns added 7.4 million jobs in the first half
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Goldman Sees 10-year bond yield at 3% in six months.

  Government bond yields will rise in the coming year, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield touching 3% within six months, according to a report by Goldman Sachs on Friday. The strategists, led by Anders Nielsen, wrote: “We expect bond yields to be pushed higher by sustained high U.S. growth and accelerating inflation, a decline of deflationary concerns in Europe and an improving inflation outlook in Japan.” The 10-year Treasury note yielded 2.47% on Friday. The projected rise in government bond yields prompted Goldman to downgrade its allocation to corporate bonds to underweight. Goldman is neutral on stocks over the next three months, but overweight during the next 12 months. MarketWatch

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How would you like to be hung up in limbo for more than six years?

Well, that's how long the Keystone XL pipeline's been there. Set to carry oil from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, it's been as one writer recently put it;
 "...ground up in regulatory and political hell, and due to a groundswell of local opposition working in conjunction with national environmental groups, the issue was pushed to the top of the agenda in Congress. And once an issue becomes controversial in Congress, partisan gridlock usually sets in."

Why is this important? Well, Canada's been trying to move its tar sands oil to the east coast, but Portland, Maine recently voted 6-1 against allowing the shipments to come through their port, closing off another avenue moving oil out of Canada.

Here's an excellent summary of the situation from oilprice.com

The oil industry and its allies have long argued that blocking Keystone XL would accomplish nothing because Canada would simply ship the oil to China via their own west coast. And with Keystone XL on ice for now, Enbridge is trying to fulfill that promise. It is seeking to build the Northern Gateway pipeline, which would take Alberta oil to the west coast of Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper – an ally of the industry – approved that route on June 17. However, a week later, the Canadian Supreme court handed down a major victory for First Nations tribes in and around the Canadian oil patch. The decision granted native tribes much greater power over major infrastructure projects. And with many of them voicing opposition to Northern Gateway, the west coast route for Canada’s oil sands could be in danger.

That is why the South Portland decision could be so important. With Keystone XL up in the air, the Gulf Coast route is uncertain. With empowered native tribes in Canada opposed to the Northern Gateway pipeline, the route to Canada’s west coast is in doubt.

Now, a relatively easy route to the Atlantic Coast – by reversing existing pipelines – could be blocked. That means oil sands companies may have to continue to do what they have been doing: shipping much of their production by rail. But that is proving to be more costly than expected. As costs rise and the vast oil sands reserves are blocked in every direction they turn, production may have to be cut back. And this is exactly what environmentalists have been arguing for all along. 

Now anyone following this story might realize that America's so-called abundance of oil might not benefit Americans all that much. Back in May (5/25/14) in our post, Unwanted Energy Abundance, we wrote about the rail car problems. 

With what only crazy legislators in California can do, drivers there may see a 12 cent hike per gallon in gas prices come 2015. Again, it's about the environment.
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