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CLOSED SHOP: An employment arrangement, usually written into a collective bargaining agreement, in which a firm is allowed to hire only labor union members. Because this gives a labor union complete control over the labor services supplied to a particular firm, it was one of the earliest methods used by labor unions to monopolized a labor market. However, closed shops were outlawed by the Taft-Hartley Act passed in 1947 and has been largely supplanted by union shops.
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State of the ECONOMY
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| Production/Income |
| Real average weekly earnings |
November 2016 |
$367.50 Bureau of Labor Statistics |
Constant 1982-84 dollars |
| Median weekly earnings |
Third Quarter 2016 |
$827 / week |
Up $24 from 3rd Qtr. 2015 |
| GDP: Real |
Third Quarter 2016 |
$18,675.3 Billion (Annual Rate) Source: BEA |
Up 5.0% |
| U.S. Exports |
November 2016 |
$185.8 billion |
Down 0.2% from Oct. 2016: Econ. Stat. Admin. |
| e-commerce sales |
3rd Quarter 2016 |
$101.3 billion |
Up 4.0% from 2nd Quarter 2016 US Census Bureau |
| Personal Income |
November 2016 |
$16,233.8 billion |
Up 0.1% from Oct. 2016 |
| U.S. Imports |
November 2016 |
$231.1 billion |
Up 1.1% from Oct. 2016: Econ. & Stat. Admin. |
| Private Employer Cost for Employee Compensation |
September 2016 |
$32.27 per hour |
Benefits are $10.73 / hour Source: BLS |
| Sales of New Single-Family Homes |
November 2016 |
592,000 (seasonal adjusted annual rate) |
Up % from October 2016 Source: Econ Stats Adm. |
| Productivity |
3rd Quarter 2016 |
Unchanged from a year ago |
Source: BLS |
| Real Average Hourly Earnings |
November 2016 |
$10.68 |
Up $.07 from November 2015 |
| Employment |
| U 3 Unemployment |
December 2016 |
4.7% Up from November |
Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| U.S. Job Openings |
October 2016 |
5.5 million Steady |
Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| U 6 Unemployment |
November 2016 |
9.3% Down a little |
Includes those who have given up looking. BLS |
| Prices |
| Consumer Price Index W |
November 2016 |
235.215 |
Down slightly from Oct. 2016 Source: B L S |
| Money/Interest |
| U.S. National Debt |
January 3, 2017 |
$19,951,017,689,395.11 |
Up over $1 trillion in 2016: U.S. Debt Clock |
| Federal Discount Rate |
January 3, 2017 |
1.25% |
Up 0.25% |
| Prime Rate |
January 3, 2017 |
3.75% |
Up .25% from a year ago |
| Federal Funds Rate |
January 3, 2017 |
.75% |
Up 0.25% from a year ago |
| Cyclical Indicators |
| Consumer Price Index Urban |
November 2016 |
241.353 |
Up 0.2% from Oct. 2016 Source: BLS |
| New Orders for Manufactured Goods |
November 2016 |
$458.3 billion |
Down 2.4% from Nov. 2016 Econ & Statistics Adm |
| New Orders for Manufactured Durable Goods |
November 2016 |
$228.2 billion U.S. Commerce Dept. |
Down 4.6% from Oct. 2016 |
| Business Inventories |
October 2016 |
$1,814.5 billion |
Up 2% from Oct. 2015: Econ. Stat. Admin. |
| Retail Sales |
November 2016 |
$468.05 billion |
U.S Census Bureau |
| Producer Price Index Final Demand |
November 2016 |
110.8 |
Up 0.4% from Oct. 2016 Soure: BLS.gov |
| Wholesale Inventories |
November 2016 |
$594.5 billion |
U.S. Dept. of Commerce |
| Housing Starts |
November 2016 |
1,090,000 |
Down 18.7% from Oct. 2016: U.S. Census Bureau |
| Construction Spending |
October 2016 |
$1,172.6.4 billion |
Up 0.5% from Sept. 2016 Source: Econ Stats Adm. |
| Building Permits |
November 2016 |
1,201,000 |
Do 4.7% from October 2016: U.S. Census Bureau |
| Other |
| World Population |
January 3, 2017 |
7,362,851,059 |
Higher: U.S. Census Bureau |
| U.S. Population |
January 3, 2017 |
324,321,654 |
Up again...U.S. Census Bureau |
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PRICE TAKER A buyer or seller that has no market control and is not able to affect the price of a good. It must "take" or accept the going market price. The market structure that exemplifies price taker is perfect competition. In fact, perfect competition is the only example of price taker. This is one of two alternatives related to control over price. The other is price maker. Price taker is also termed price seeker.
Complete Entry | Visit the WEB*pedia |
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Fact 4: Our Monopolized MarketsOur pedestrian's jaunt through the economy is not, unfortunately, an unrestrained shopping spree for confectioneries, spark plug tools, and Houston, Texas. We have other important errands to run. At the moment we need to hike over to Shady Valley's exclusive provider of cable television services, the Merciless Monolithic Media Masters Cable Television Company, Inc., to inquire about a mysterious fee that appeared last month's bill. The good news is that the Merciless Monolithic Media Masters (the 4M people) Cable office is a mere 2 miles (3 kilometers for the metrically inclined) from the Shady Valley Central Town Sprawling Hills Shopping Mall. A hop, skip, and a moderately long jump later, our excursion through the economy takes us to the front door of the 4M Cable Television Company where I hope to discover why last month's cable bill included a $3,569 charge for something called "The Vacation Channel." I didn't even know I had a vacation channel. (But, I'm sure it's a great channel, and if I don't have it, then I will certainly subscribe. Please don't disconnect me.) Of course, because this an afternoon workday, the doors of the 4M office are locked. I can almost make out, through the expensive stained glass windows, what appears to be several Merciless Monolithic Media Masters Cable Television employees, with champaign bottles in hand, dancing on expensive mahogany desks. Let's not disturb them. As they say in the cable business, an upset worker is a disconnected customer.
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PURPLE SMARPHIN [What's This?]
Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time at a garage sale wanting to buy either a birthday gift for your aunt or a pair of leather sandals that won't cause blisters. Be on the lookout for a thesaurus filled with typos. Your Complete Scope
This isn't me! What am I?
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In the late 1800s and early 1900s, almost 2 million children were employed as factory workers.
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"It is part of the American character to consider nothing as desperate. " -- President Thomas Jefferson
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IRBNE Income Received But Not Earned
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