If you throw all the products we buy and the services we use in one basket, then add up the price tag, that's the Gross Domestic Product, which is the primary metric economists use to assess the economic health of a country or region.

The easy part of calculating GDP is the calculation itself: C+I+G+(X-M)=GDP. Got it? No? Well, add Consumption, Investment by companies, Government purchases, and then take the product of eXports (calling it 'E' would lack sexiness) minus iMports ('I' was taken). Viola! GDP.

Still don't get it? Well, knowing the components helps. Consumption is the biggest component, and it's a tally of the cost of all the goods and services we buy. Investment is what companies spend on the real assets they own, plus the value of the inventory that we haven't gobbled up through consumption. Government purchases are what the Feds pay money for (whether it be highways or fighter jets, though big social programs, like welfare, aren't counted). And then we calculate the difference between the goods and services we¿re sending to other countries and the stuff we're bringing in.

Good. That explains it, except there's a catch. Inflation has a habit of distorting the numbers, so economists talk about either Nominal GDP or Real GDP. In fact, Real GDP isn't necessarily "real" for most folks, since it takes any inflation out. Nominal GDP includes the effects of inflation. (There's something called the implicit price deflator which is a calculation using the two, but we'll spare you the details.)

So, now that we know GDP, why do we want to? Well, it's good to compare different markets. And watching the trend shows whether a given economy is growing (good), stagnating (not so good), or shrinking (very not so good). When GDP goes down two quarters in a row, we're officially in a recession.

For the record, GDP is released at the end of each month, with most reporting ¿preliminary¿ data for the previous month. But you won't get final GDP numbers for the fourth quarter of a year until the very end of the first quarter of the next year. After all, it's not an easy number to calculate.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

CareerBuilder.com Survey Shows How Astrology and Birth Order Factor Into Careers and Compensation

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CHICAGO, Aug 20, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Are middle children more likely to program computers or fight fires? Do Scorpios or Capricorns belong to a higher earning bracket? A new survey from CareerBuilder.com looks at profession, compensation and job satisfaction in relation to birth order and astrology sign. The survey of more than 8,700 workers was conducted nationwide across industries.

Birth Order

Compensation

The survey found that a higher percentage of workers who were the first born in their families earned $100,000 or more annually compared to their siblings. The last born were the least likely to earn six figures. Comparing those who make $35,000 or less per year, more middle children identified themselves as part of this earning bracket.

 Professions Workers
   Are More Likely Drawn to Than Their Siblings -- First Born -- government, engineering, pharmacy and science -- Middle Child
   -- nursing, law enforcement, fire-fighting and machine operation -- Last Born -- art/design, sales and information technology

Job Level

Workers who were first born were more likely to report holding a vice president or senior management level position. Middle children were more likely to identify with professional/technical staff level positions while the last born were more likely to report holding administrative/clerical level positions.

Job Satisfaction

Middle children reported being the most satisfied with their current positions while the last born reported being the least satisfied.

Astrological Sign

Compensation

Scorpio, Leo, Taurus and Cancer signs were among the most likely to earn $100,000 or more annually while Aquarius and Capricorn signs were among the most likely to earn $35,000 or less.

 Professions That
   Draw Different Signs -- Aquarius -- sales, military, engineering, mechanic, food preparation, facilities management and transportation
   -- Pisces -- social work, personal care, IT, facilities management and mechanic -- Aries -- government, construction, hotel
   /recreation, IT, education and transportation -- Taurus -- nursing, engineering, attorney/judge, marketing/public relations
   and higher education -- Gemini -- art/design/architecture, nursing and personal care, sales, law enforcement, firefighter
   and machine operation -- Cancer -- government, legal services, advertising, higher education, machine operation, transportation
   and military -- Leo -- government, legal services, art/design/architecture, engineering, entertainment, real estate and education
   -- Virgo -- social work, sales, hotel/recreation, editing/writing and food preparation -- Libra -- social work, government,
   advertising, machine operation, law enforcement, firefighter, sales and education -- Scorpio -- legal services, engineering,
   science, education, construction and skilled trades -- Sagittarius -- editing/writing, marketing/public relations, entertainment,
   hotel/recreation, IT and military -- Capricorn -- art/design/architecture, nursing, science, IT, sales, farming and food preparation

Job Satisfaction

Pisces, Sagittarius and Capricorn signs reported being the most satisfied with their current jobs while Gemini and Cancer signs reported being the least satisfied.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive(R) on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 8,785 US employees (employed full-time; not self-employed) between May 22 and June 13, 2008. Percentages for some questions are based on a subset of responses to certain questions. With a pure probability sample of 8,785 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.0 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is the nation's largest online job site with more than 23 million unique visitors and over 1.6 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 1,600 partners, including 140 newspapers and leading portals such as AOL and MSN. More than 300,000 employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy job postings, 28 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. CareerBuilder.com and its subsidiaries operate in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com.

 Media Contact: CareerBuilder.com Jennifer Grasz 773-527-1164 Jennifer.Grasz@careerbuilder.com

SOURCE CareerBuilder.com

http://www.careerbuilder.com

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