The ‘stupidity index’ closed up 131 points, once again breaching the sacred 10,000 mark…on ‘worse than expected’ unemployment figures! Not too bizarrely tonight’s offering has ‘disappeared’ from the story line-up.
I was a bit flustered the first time I encountered this phenomenon but I’m used to it now…it does make one lament the demise of printed newspapers…
Er, at last glance, today’s upswing is being credited to Amazon (You know, the company that has never turned a profit) 62% earnings increase…go friggin’ figure!
New Jobless Claims Rise Higher Than Expected
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS [Again we see that nobody, er, ‘took credit’ for this story…]
Published: October 22, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week, after falling in five of the last six weeks, as employers remained reluctant to hire even with the economy showingimaginarysigns of recovery. The Labor Department said Thursday that new jobless claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 531,000 last week from an upwardly revised 520,000 the previous week. Wall Street economists had expected only a slight increase, according to Thomson Reuters.
Economists closely watch initial claims, which are considered a gauge of layoffs and an indication of companies’ willingness to hire new workers. [So isn’t it bizarre that the BLS ignores this ‘hard data’ in favor of a highly gamed ‘survey’? At issue here is the truth good citizen and your right to know how your elected representatives are protecting your interests…]
The four-week average of claims, which smoothes out fluctuations, fell slightly to 532,250, the lowest since mid-January and about 125,000 below the peak for the recession, reached this spring. But claims remain well above the 325,000 that economists say is consistent with a healthy economy. [I don’t know about you good citizen but a ‘churn rate’ of 325,000 A WEEK doesn’t strike me as anything even remotely approaching a ‘healthy’ economy. It’s beginning to look like these guys wouldn’t know a ‘healthy economy’ if it bit them on the backside!]
The number of people continuing to claim benefits declined for the fifth straight week to 5.9 million, from just over 6 million. The figures on continuing claims lag initial claims by a week. [There are still no jobs in the paper so this ‘reduction’ we’re seeing is actually people who have exhausted their claim…what does that say about our worthless capitalist model? Works real good for the capitalist but it sucks for everyone else!]
Many recipients are moving onto extended benefit programs approved by Congress in response to the recession, which began in December 2007 and is the worst since the 1930s. Those extensions add up to 53 weeks of benefits on top of the 26 typically provided by the states. [Sadly, since the latest Depression is already two years old, most people are exhausting claims they established more than a year ago. Maybe it was the next paragraph that got this unattributed AP piece removed from the story index…]
When those programs are included, the total number of recipients fell to 8.8 million in the week ending Oct. 3, the latest data available, down about 50,000 from the previous week. That decline is likely a result of recipients having run out of benefits, rather than finding jobs, economists say.
Many analysts believe the economy grew as much as 3 percent in the July-September quarter, but employers are reluctant to hire as they wait to see if such growth can be maintained. [Sadly good citizen, they could claim the economy grew 30% in the last three months and there’s no way we could prove otherwise…You can prove ‘shrinkage’ easier than you can disprove expansion…]
The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September from 9.7 percent, the department said earlier this month, as employers cut 263,000 jobs. The recession has eliminated a net total of 7.2 million jobs. [Naturally, even these ‘revised figures’ are subject to further revision…there is always a chance that the truth will ‘accidentally’ surface so the government is very careful with its lies…]
More job cuts were announced this week. Sun Microsystems said it plans to eliminate up to 3,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its worldwide work force, as it awaits a takeover by the Oracle Corporation, a deal being held up by antitrust regulators in Europe.
Among the states, Florida had the largest increase in claims, with 9,976, which were attributed to layoffs in the construction, service, manufacturing and agriculture industries. New York, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Arkansas had the next largest increases. The state data lag initial claims by one week. [A little nod to CG’s home turf as the days grow shorter up here in the frozen North…]
California reported the largest drop in claims, down 7,062, which were attributed to fewer layoffs in the construction, service, and manufacturing industries. Tennessee, Maine and Nebraska also reported decreases.
Um, if the link doesn’t work good citizen, you may be able to find this story on the AP web site…that said, I’m sure I’m not the only one whose attention was captured by this bit of news.
So, how about that…four out of fifty states actually enjoyed a ‘drop’ in unemployment. We’re left to wonder if the number of claimants dropped or if some of these lucky dogs actually found some kind of employment…like today’s other ‘outrageous’ news item where 500 people turned up to apply for one slot that only paid $13 an hour…
How sad is that?
It makes you want to know [exactly] what this sort of crap means…it most certainly doesn’t bode well for what will eventually become of us and the life we used to know…
All so a few can be rich…
Thanks for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
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