Posted on 01/17/2013 6:06:19 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits tumbled to a five-year low last week, a hopeful sign for the sluggish labor market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 335,000, the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department said on Thursday. It was the largest weekly drop since February 2010.
The prior week's claims figure was revised to show 1,000 more applications than previously reported.
While last week's decline ended four straight weeks of increases, it is probably not the start of a new trend or a sign of a material shift in labor market conditions as claims tend to be very volatile around this time of the year.
(Excerpt) Read more at mobile.reuters.com ...
"it is probably not the start of a new trend or a sign of a material shift in labor market conditions..."
No $#!%, Sherlock.
There is a bottom somewhere.
Massage the data to keep the spigot open or the whole thing collapses sooner rather than later.
If there are fewer people working, there has to be fewer to lay off. That must be the plan...
It won’t be found for quite some time.
Oops...the unemployment numbers can’t go down or Helicopter Ben will need another reason to prop up this lousy economy by buying $85 Billion of US debt every month.
Oops...the unemployment numbers can’t go down or Helicopter Ben will need another reason to prop up this lousy economy by buying $85 Billion of US debt every month.
The key word here is "claims". A huge number of people don't count (der 0berFuhrer refuses to acknowledge those that don't bow down to him), many have given up (you can beat your head against a brick wall for only so long), others have exhausted their benefits, while still others don't wants to jeopardize their chance at a free 0bamaphone by lifting a finger (Life is Good - 0bamunists to the core).
The States are still backlogged in processing claims so there are still many thousands not being reported here.
In the unadjusted data, things look very different - with a lag, New York (37,189), Georgia (15,354), and North Carolina (13,606) saw major rises in initial claims with only Michigan (-12,536) seeing a decent drop in claims - as we note that non-seasonally-adjusted claims rose notably less than in the prior 4 years, and assuming seasonal-adjustments are triggered from those, this will reflect very rosily on today's seasonal adjustment.
some bottoms have trap doors.
...a hopeful sign
________________________
Only for the blind.
“A Labor Department analyst said the model had expected a large increase in claims last week, but the actual number of filings only showed a modest increase, leading to a big decline in the seasonally adjusted figure.”
I think I sprained my neck reading that sentence.
Thus, the term: "initial claims for unemployment." As opposed to "continuing claims for unemployment." As opposed to the "unemployment rate" (U3, U6, etc.).
Under-employment is still through the roof.
Just like the Presidency...
Yep. The recent lay offs aren't eligible for benefits. They didn't work long enough.
There are no new jobs. They're still cutting back around the country. That can only mean the number of those who are eligible for benefits have gone down.
PS - Washington has printed so much monopoly money, we're running head first into a bond market crash. Expect the democrats to blame the debt limit debate for it ( because the American people are pretty stupid when it comes to economics. Most are public schooled).
That means massive inflation, i.e., 1930's type depression. Brace yourselves.
Unexpected....
What are you seeing there? Are things getting better? There’s a lot of smoke out here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.