Professor Sumner LaCroix is spending the next semester in Paris where he is teaching two courses in a study abroad program at the American Business School.

1. Are people in Paris talking about the Euro or the economic crisis?

2. Are there any hints as to the direction that the Euro crisis will take?

3. Is the Euro crisis going to continue for several more years?

Just like the national numbers for July, the numbers for Hawaii were an improvement over the past few months. Employers added 2,800 net jobs during the month, making up part of the 5,400 jobs lost during the previous two months. And Hawaii was one of the few states to see no increase in its unemployment rate.

Overall, the private sector added less than 3,200 jobs in July and government shed almost 400 jobs. For the first seven months of 2012, total non-farm jobs have grown by 1% compared to the same period last year, an increase of less than 6,000 jobs. And we are still more than 29,000 jobs shy of the peak job count in December 2007.