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The unemployment rate is an important measure of the health of a country’s labor market. However, many people are confused about what exactly it measures and how it’s calculated. This article explains the different measurements of joblessness used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and why they may not paint the same picture as the official unemployment rate that is widely quoted.

The basic definition of the unemployment rate is the percentage of the population who does not have a job and who is actively looking for one. This is commonly referred to as the “official” unemployment rate, which is reported each month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). There has been a lot of debate over whether or not the official unemployment rate adequately captures all of the jobless in the country. In particular, many pundits and President Trump have argued that the official unemployment rate undercounts those who are truly unemployed.

The BLS uses a monthly survey of households to determine the unemployment rate. The survey includes both working and non-working household members age 16 or over. Those who are not working but who want jobs and have looked for work in the past four weeks are considered unemployed. There are six different unemployment rates that the BLS publishes to take into account various degrees of unemployment. These include U-3, which is the official unemployment rate; U-4, which includes discouraged workers; and U-5, which adds those who are marginally attached to the labor force and those who would like a job but have given up searching.

In the past 50 years, the global economy has expanded sixfold and per-capita income has almost tripled. This unprecedented growth has been fueled by rapid population growth and labor productivity gains. But not all countries have benefitted equally. Some have experienced spectacular economic growth, propelling them into the ranks of the rich world, while others have stagnated or even shrunk. Why is that?

The most common measure of economic growth is gross domestic product (GDP), which represents the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a given period. GDP is calculated by adding up consumer spending, business investment, government spending and net exports.

When economic growth is strong, it usually means that people and businesses are earning more money and feeling better off. When economic growth slows or stalls, it can lead to job losses and financial stress. Eventually, it can cause outright recessions and other social problems.

But understanding what causes economic growth isn’t simple. One major problem is that different individuals place different values on the same goods and services. For example, a heater is worth more to someone living in Alaska than it is to someone living in Florida. Another issue is that increasing the number of workers doesn’t necessarily lead to economic growth if those new workers don’t generate enough additional output to cover their basic needs.

Economists study several factors that contribute to economic growth, including energy use, trade, capital, labor and foreign direct investment. Their results generally show that a one percent increase in any of these factors is associated with a corresponding one percentage point rise in economic growth.

An acquisition deal is a business transaction that involves the buying and selling of assets or shares. The process begins with due diligence where the acquiring and purchasing parties develop strategies to ensure that they purchase the right assets. This is a critical part of the process and can save valuable resources as well as time.

In addition to evaluating the target company’s price, it’s important to look at its debt load. Too much debt can be a red flag that the company may have trouble meeting its financial obligations. It’s also necessary to examine the target company’s future growth potential. If the company is not poised to grow, it’s probably not worth pursuing.

One of the main reasons why companies pursue mergers and acquisitions is to gain access to new markets or distribution channels. By combining their strengths, businesses can quickly expand into new territories without having to spend a lot of money on new facilities or marketing.

Another reason is to acquire a business with existing customers or an established brand name. This can help a company to reduce its risk of entering a new market, increase its customer base or even cut out competition. Companies can also make acquisitions to meet specific operational goals, such as eliminating excess capacity or expanding their supply chain. For example, a bank may buy a brokerage firm to add more banking services and eliminate competition. Other reasons include reducing costs by taking advantage of tax deductions or gaining an advantage in the marketplace by adding new technology.

When a customer sends a request for cloud services (like storing a file, running an application or analyzing data), it goes to the cloud provider’s large network of data centers managed by the vendor. There, software allocates the virtual servers, storage systems and network bandwidth required to process the request. The customer can then access the requested services over an internet connection.

Security is a primary concern, especially for sensitive information like medical records or financial data. But it’s possible to reduce your risks by choosing a reliable cloud service provider with robust security features. Liquid Web, for example, offers firewalls, distributed denial-of-service protection, Cloudflare CDN and Server Secure Plus to protect our customers’ data and resources.

Achieving business value from cloud

Businesses that move applications, infrastructure and workloads to the cloud gain benefits that go beyond reducing costs and improving IT agility. McKinsey research shows that cloud enables business innovation, which generates higher rates of return than improvements to IT operations alone.

Different industries benefit from the cloud differently, with high-tech, retail and healthcare organizations occupying the highest end of the value capture spectrum and consumer-packaged goods, materials, and infrastructure companies clustered in the middle. Regardless of the industry, successful cloud migration requires organization-specific technological challenges—like developing application migration strategies and security-as-code protocols, optimizing operating models and investing in FinOps—that need to be carefully considered. Read the full article.

A cyber threat is any attempt to gain unauthorized access to your systems, data or information. Successful attacks can carry huge costs ranging from financial implications and business disruption to damage to your reputation. In the case of critical infrastructure, such as power plants and hospitals, a cybersecurity threat can be life-threatening.

Typical cyberattacks occur for one of three reasons: Coercion: Threat actors may use extortion tactics to gain unauthorized access and manipulate data, with the aim of stealing money or halting system operations. This type of attack can be mitigated by using multiple layers of security to ensure that data cannot be accessed by those who shouldn’t have it.

Spying and Espionage: Increasingly, cyberattacks are carried out by nation-state entities with significant resources, advanced capabilities and long-term objectives that align with their national military or economic strategy. Strengthening national cybersecurity policies and enhancing international cooperation can help address this type of threat.

Disruption and Sabotage: In addition to stealing sensitive data, some attackers seek to disrupt and bring services to a halt, whether through distributed denial-of-service attacks or by attacking supply chains to wreak havoc. This is often done for political or ideological reasons, with hacktivist groups like Anonymous targeting organizations whose policies they oppose.

The cybersecurity landscape is constantly changing and expanding, with thousands of new vulnerabilities discovered every year. With the rise of AI technologies, operational technology (OT), IoT devices and the cloud, bad actors have an ever-growing attack surface to target. It is important to protect your business with a layered approach that includes security software updates, robust end-user education to guard against phishing and continuous monitoring of all network activity.

Developing story is the process of taking a small kernel of an idea, brainstorming how it could be expanded into a full-fledged narrative, and then converting it into a screenplay that can be pitched to producers. It takes a lot of perspiration and inspiration to get from seed to draft, but it’s essential for those who want to make their ideas into engaging scripts.

Once you have your protagonist and antagonist in place, it’s time to start fleshing out their worlds and what will happen to them. That way, you’ll have a solid foundation to work from as you develop and draft your plot.

One of the most important elements of story development is researching your subject matter extensively. Whether it’s an issue, event, or problem, be sure to elevate information about historical trends and background that can help contextualize the topic. It’s also helpful to include some quotes and expert commentary as part of your research, so readers can hear the perspectives of those who know it best.

Populate your story with powerful subplots. These secondary plot lines can add complexity to your central storyline without distracting from it. Good ones don’t exist for complexity’s sake but serve as an integral part of your characters’ journeys, adding layers of tension to their external and internal conflicts. For example, the storyline of Legolas and Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings is a great example of a subplot that serves to keep the reader engaged while the main conflict between Frodo and Sauron plays out.

A business merger occurs when two companies with complementary strengths join forces to form a larger organization with greater market reach and financial power. A company may choose to merge for a variety of reasons, including increasing its brand visibility or acquiring valuable intellectual property. However, carrying out a merger requires careful consideration of both the pros and cons of this business activity.

When companies are considering a business merger, they often engage M&A consultants to conduct due diligence to ensure the deal is financially viable. This process typically includes interviewing employees, analyzing data and conducting market research. Once the due diligence process is complete, the company can begin discussions with potential partners and finalize a deal.

M&A can help businesses achieve economies of scale by consolidating resources, reducing duplication and eliminating redundant functions. Additionally, it can provide them with a bigger bargaining power when negotiating contracts with suppliers or customers.

Another benefit of M&A is access to an acquired company’s best practices. This might include an efficient onboarding process, a superior CRM system or a leaner operations model. However, it is important to evaluate whether the expected synergies, such as cost savings and revenue growth, are realistic and feasible.

The stock market, also called the equity market, is where companies and other investors trade shares. The concept of a stock market is so broadly applied that the terms often seem interchangeable, although there are distinctions. The actual trading takes place on exchanges, like the NYSE and Nasdaq, which act as central locations for buying and selling securities, or stocks. Exchanges also provide real-time trading information, which is why you’ll see a stock price on just about any business news site.

Public companies, referred to as publicly traded or listed, issue stocks so they can raise money from normal people. This money can help them grow their business, and they offer the investors a share of any profits they make. In the short term, the stock market moves based on investor expectations about future earnings or economic conditions. For example, a tax cut may buoy the stock market because consumers have more income to spend, while high unemployment can lower the stock market because companies are cutting back on jobs and investing less in new equipment.

A stock’s price is determined by supply and demand. If a lot of people want to buy a stock, its price will rise; if not, it will fall. Many of the people who are interested in buying and selling stocks are large institutions, like banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, pension and retirement companies, and endowments. But even individual retail investors can buy and sell stocks, and the vast majority of Americans are invested in the stock market without really knowing it. They’re in it through their 401(K)s and other employer-sponsored savings plans, or they’re in it by owning stocks directly.

Late-breaking abstracts are accepted when novel research that could not have been anticipated before the regular submission deadline is presented at a meeting. This includes new aspects or focus of a study previously presented at another meeting, but not identical presentations of the same data. A case series can also be considered as a late-breaking abstract if it reports new and urgent findings.

A selected number of late-breaking abstracts will be chosen for oral presentation in a special session during the Congress, as described in the programme. Others will be displayed as paper posters or ePosters, as scheduled in the programme. Accepted abstracts can be published in the MSMilan2023 congress supplement and in the ePoster library.

Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by the end of April 2024. Presenters of abstracts that have been accepted must register and attend the Conference to present their work in person.

Authors must be SfN members at the time of submission. Each author may only appear as the presenting author of one late-breaking abstract. If a submitted abstract is accepted for oral presentation, the presenting author must be available to present the results of the study at SLEEP 2024. Accepted late-breaking abstracts will be citable as part of Neuroscience 2024, and included in the online meeting planner and mobile app after post-review is completed. In order to ensure that the scientific content of an abstract is assessed appropriately, it must be aligned with the conference theme.