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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of workers who filed new claims for unemployment benefits rose 26,000 last week to 436,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected claims to rise to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 in the holiday-shortened week of Nov. 27.
Continuing claims, which reflect workers already receiving benefits, climbed 53,000 to 4.27 million in the week ended Nov. 20.
Many economists predict the report will say that November's jobless rate held steady at 9.6%, making it the 19th consecutive month that the unemployment rate was above 9%. That breaks the post-World War II record set in the 1980s recession.
The dubious milestone shows that even if job growth picks up as expected in coming months, progress will be slow, and it will take years to put a big dent in the unemployment rate.
NEW YORK – Millions of foreclosures and weak demand from buyers are forcing home prices down in most major U.S. cities.
Prices are falling even in places like San Francisco and San Diego, which had posted strong increases just a few months ago. Analysts say many markets won't improve until they see fewer foreclosures and more job gains.
No matter how much obama supporters try to spin the news and cheerlead for him, this economy is not in good shape at all.
Ok, while some of you yearn for America's failure and get bogged down in your little political arguments, some of us will take the ball and run with it. I'll wave to you from the end zone.
Whoever said that I get all my economic news from the media didn't read my post when I clearly mentioned all the business owners I know who, all of them, say business is getting better. I also make a habit of asking people at stores I go to, and aquaintances, how business is. The worst response I hear is , "it's not great, but it's getting better." The best response I hear is "we're swamped, we can't keep up." In the last year it's gone from hearing a lot of "not great but getting better" to many more "we're really busy."
You can want things to not improve, that doesn't make it so. Things are improving, the trend is toward better economic conditions. That's the point. Different parts of the country are in different stages of recovery. Some are doing better than others. I live in NY, and the economy here seems to be holding up better than expected. We have a lower unemployment rate than the national average and the second best job growth in the nation last month. Sort of surprising actually, but it seems to be the case.
Nobody seems to be mentioning how the holiday season is affecting economic news. The October employment report showed that nearly all job gains were in retail trade and food/drinking establishments. The ADP report from the other day also showed job gains were chiefly among retailers, largely as a result of temporary hiring for the holiday season. At the end of the day what matters is if this growth is sustainable or not. Remember last year around November/December we saw equally "good" news, only to have growth fizzle and recovery stall throughout 2010.
Tomorrow is the next unemployment report. It is expected to show large gains were made in retail and temporary employment.
I expect the economy to get much worse in the coming months as Republicans continue to try to bring the economy down. The single biggest issue is retail sales are going to take a big drop as millions of people get kicked off of unemployment by the Republicans yet are unable to find any meaningful work.
Here, let me get some rose-colored glasses for you to counteract that whole "Debbie Downer" thing you have going on.
Normal unemployment is around 5%. Now we are 10%. This means that only one person in twenty who would otherwise be working, is not now working.
Some of the "millions of people" will magically find legitimate jobs since the option of collecting unemployment and working for cash under the table is no longer available. I know business owners who have made offers of employment to people who are collecting unemployment--and have been told that these unemployed will come to work as soon as the unemployment checks stop. Others will be hurting. Rather than a "big drop" in retail sales, we MIGHT see a tiny ripple.
Just an opinion, but the republicans are not trying "bring the economy down" especially since they are in the process of saving it from the Pelosi/Obama anti-prosperity agenda.
Corporate profits are at all time highs and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased by about 40% since President Obama took office.
Why?
It's no longer all about America or the American worker. Corporations are much less dependent on American employment and less dependent of American consumers than ever before. In fact businesses have drastically decreased the amount of investment they are making in the United States yet still make record profits by selling their goods in services in places like China, Brazil, India, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia etc. etc. etc. and building factories and hiring workers in these places.
As a wage earner or small business owner that is not good for you. As an investor, business owner of a large corproation or speculator there are obvious benefits which is why the incomes of these people has increased the most in the last decade.
Just an opinion, but the republicans are not trying "bring the economy down" especially since they are in the process of saving it from the Pelosi/Obama anti-prosperity agenda.
The only thing the Republican Party gives a damn about is protecting the wealthy and corporate interests. Everything they have done for the past 30 years clearly points this out.
The auto bailout was a loan passed in the Bush lame duck admin, and pushed by Obama.
The bank bailout was pushed by Bush.
Both have worked as intended, more or less, which is pretty cool.
Right now, I think we're experiencing a retail upswing because of the stimulus spending.
Last year, the money wasn't getting spent fast (by the government) so it wasn't in the economy, and credit was contracting. 2008 was the first bad year - and I don't think people really understood what was happening.
I don't think we're having a strong recovery, at all. I think a lot of the good numbers are due to two things - stimulus money keeping people employed, and a devalued dollar that causes prices for imports to rise. Xmas time is when we buy imports like toys. There are fewer "super cheap" things out there compared to past years.
@emilybh - The Bernanke line about inflation is just a way for him to say he's afraid of deflation creeping up on us in 2012.
Someone needs to tell you that the auto bailout and the bank bailout, were IN THE SAME BILL..
You want health care insurance from private health insurance corporations that operate to make a PROFIT, this is what you get.
They are stiffing you and telling you it's Obama's fault while they are laughing all the way to the bank with their stock options and multi-million dollar bonuses.
Let me ask you this?
Don't you like to get kissed while you are being f**ked!
Funny. Another pro-UHC person was just debating with me the other day asserting that health insurance companies aren't making a profit and would've failed whether or not health care reform was passed.
Look how much these Republicans want America to fail. In the face of good economic news coming in the only thing they can do is twist it around into something else. Just like their hero Rush who hopes America will fail so Obama can be a one term President, these people are no different.
In another year they'll be singing a new tune, praising the GOP Congress and claiming the economy turned around right after they took power.
Look how much these Republicans want America to fail. In the face of good economic news coming in the only thing they can do is twist it around into something else. Just like their hero Rush who hopes America will fail so Obama can be a one term President, these people are no different.
In another year they'll be singing a new tune, praising the GOP Congress and claiming the economy turned around right after they took power.
Wait n' see...
Their problem is that Obama will probably get the credit for the recovery just like Bill Clinton did in the 1990s.
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