Jobless claims fall to lowest level in 21 months

AP WorldStream via COMTEX ^ | 12-5-02

[Oldeconomybuyer]

WASHINGTON, Dec 05, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- New claims for unemployment benefits plunged last week to their lowest level in 21 months, offering some cheer to workers as they head into the holiday shopping season.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for unemployment insurance fell by a seasonally adjusted 13,000 to 355,000, for the work week ending Nov. 30. The decline left claims at their lowest point since the week ending Feb. 17, 2001.

It marked the third week in a row that new claims for jobless benefits went down, good news for workers who have been feeling the strain of the uneven economic recovery for much of this year.

The latest snapshot of the labor market was much better than analysts were expecting. They were forecasting a rise in new claims.

While the Thanksgiving Day holiday - in which unemployment offices were closed - may have played a role in the decline of new claims last week, economists have noted that claims recently have been drifting lower, a positive sign.

In fact, the more stable four-week moving average of new claims, which smooths out week-to-week fluctuations, dropped to 376,500 last week, the lowest level since the week ending March 3, 2001.

Both the four-week moving average and initial claims have been below the 400,000 mark - a level associated with an extremely weak job market - for three straight weeks.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

More bad news for the RATS.

[Hack]

Also bad news for posters ambrose and williegreen who have only negative posts.

[LS]

This cannot be tolerated Hack. We MUST have more negative news on the economy. It IS in a tailspin; the market is going to hell; all we make are lawyers and accountants anymore and they aren't worth a darn; and you can't eat a computer and . . . . (sarcasm off).

[Fintan]

All by natural selection I suspect...but then I am not an environmentalist.

Yeah. Like a robin the size of, um...a robin drops dead and falls out of a tree is cause for alarm and billions in tax dollars to study this alarming occurence to see if there's a trend.

[Fintan]

Another news item you won't hear about on CBSNBCMSNBCCNNABCUSAToday.

[Fintan]

Post #4 was supposed to go to another article and...oh, never mind.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

[P-Marlowe]

The EVIL Rebublicans refused to extend the Unemployment compensation for an extra three months and suddenly the unemployment rate drops dramatically. Coincidence?

[A. Pole]

The EVIL Rebublicans refused to extend the Unemployment compensation for an extra three months and suddenly the unemployment rate drops dramatically. Coincidence?

Maybe not. Those who exhausted their benefits are not counted as unemployed. Eliminate benefits completely and you will have ZERO benefits claims and ZERO unemployment.

[RCW2001]

We should have all kinds of good news on the way considering this article...

1M to Lose Unemployment Benefits
Yahoo News ^ | 11/22/02 | Leigh Strope - AP

Posted on 11/22/2002 12:01 PM EST by NormsRevenge

1M to Lose Unemployment Benefits

By LEIGH STROPE, AP Labor Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Jo-Anne Hurlston can't find a job after nearly six months of searching, even with her master's degree and experience in education, human resources and the hospitality industry.

She's one of nearly 1 million unemployed workers across the country who will start losing jobless benefits three days after Christmas because Congress failed to grant an extension before leaving for the year.

[upcountryhorseman]

You can never believe these government statistics: They
never count the people that have fallen through the
cracks,i.e. their unemployment has run out.

[need_a_screen_name]

ping from a Republican

[Moonman62]

Here's the part that is left out of the article, the unadjusted numbers.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 431,641 in the week ending Nov. 23, an increase of 58,985 from the previous week. There were 438,820 initial claims in the comparable week in 2001.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent during the week ending Nov. 16, an increase of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,299,445, an increase of 202,840 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.4 percent and the volume was 3,142,017.

Source.

[vannrox]

.


"Unemployment benefits" are monies withheld from employees salaries by the company that employs them.

They are usually a hidden deduction and are not indicated on an employees paycheck.

The monies go into a State "slush fund".

The fund is only supposed to be for the unemployed workers who put into the fund.

The fund is accessed all the time by polititions.

The amount of money provided to the unemployed worker is determined by his salary and by An estimate of how long an unemployed worker would take to find a new position..

A rule of thumb for most states is 6 months.

When 911 occurred, it was feared that the resulting recession would add an additional period of time to the job search period.

Economists feared that an additional 12 months would be realistic.

Bush, using his clout argued for 9 additional months.

Dashole stalled the bill, but permitted an immediate three (3) months, retroactive, as it only took them from september'01 to May '02 to decide and stall. He them left a provision for further negotation.

So many who lost their jobs as a result of the post 911 recession has had their unemployment funds run out and are currently without work.

I am one such person.

The profile of these people are that the majority of them are (75%) are college educated. White. And between the ages of 35 and 45.

This recession is a career stopper for many white collar professionals.

The hardest hit areas are the technology belts in Massachusetts and Texas.

The unemployment figures are illusionary as most of those whom lost their jobs failed to find new ones.

The worst hit fields and careers during this recession have been Engineering, IT, Electronic manufacturing, R&D, Software Development, Aerospace, and Mechanical Production.

Those who lost their jobs before March 2002 are now still unemployed without benefits.

The unemployment benefits are monies eared by the worker and withhed from his base salary. These are monies that he earned.

Unemployment benefits are not and should not be treated as if they were from the general welfare fund. That is incorrect and illusionary.

These are the facts, not obvious to unenformed writers and reporters on either side of the issue.


.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

...I am one such person...

Me too ...

[Dialup Llama]

Its hard to get really excited by this. If you have a part time job, you are considered employed. During the end of the year, payrolls always expand because of retail and UPS etc... Also the comparisons of 2001 are very easy to beat because that was a world record bad year for employment.

Q1 in 2003 is the real test. The pattern for the past few year has been a strong Q4 and then the weakness resumed in Q1.

[Afronaut]

Me too, I have worked a few months as a consultant (IT) but thats just about over. The layoffs of full time employees where I am now are huge. I have little to no hope of finding a spot soon. But I will try...

The FR is fill with windbags that wil tell you to go work in a bowling alley... They can kiss my royal NJ butt.

[B4Ranch]

Your opinion as to why is requested here.

[Willie Green]

The article states the reason: Thanksgiving.
It was only a 3-day work week.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Half the folks I worked with in silicon valley are either underemployed, unemployed, or doing some lame "consulting" gig. My area (technology) has been in a depression for about two years.

Good luck!