Posted on 07/21/2022 11:16:08 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week rose to the highest level in more than eight months in what may be a sign that the labor market may be weakening.
Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 16 rose by 7,000 to 251,000, up from the previous week’s 244,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most since Nov. 13, 2021 when 265,000 Americans applied for benefits.
Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet expected the number to come in at 242,000.
First-time applications generally reflect layoffs.
The four-week average for claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 4,500 from the previous week, to 240,500.
The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits for the week ending July 9 rose by 51,000 from the previous week, to 1,384,000. That figure has been near 50-year lows for months.
Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that employers added 372,000 jobs in June, a surprisingly robust gain and similar to the pace of the previous two months. Economists had expected job growth to slow sharply last month given the broader signs of economic weakness.
The unemployment rate remained 3.6% for a fourth straight month, matching a near-50-year low that was reached before the pandemic struck in early 2020.
The government also reported earlier in July that U.S. employers advertised fewer jobs in May amid signs that the economy is weakening, though the overall demand for workers remained strong. There are nearly two job openings for every unemployed person.
(Excerpt) Read more at fortworthbusiness.com ...
“Hey Jill, it’s working...”
Time to change the metric guidelines. People go off the books after a month of claims.
And these numbers are so fraudulent in the first place. If someone is no longer looking, they are not unemployed in the stats calculations.
What about all the useless folk collecting fake disability ???!?
Is it just me, or is there truly this much disconnect in our job market? Or is it just the usual Brandon-caused chaos?
I’m retired, and don’t have plans to go back to work, but if I NEEDED to, now seems to be the time to pretty much write my own ticket.
Is this Building Back Better?
Asking for a friend...
Most hiring these days is done by woke corporate HR depts. White, straight, conservatives need not apply in most cases.
Imagine that...
“I’m retired, and don’t have plans to go back to work, but if I NEEDED to, now seems to be the time to pretty much write my own ticket.”
Right now just showing up 47 weeks a year with whatever qualifications can get any shlub into a position paying more than the experianced hand are replacing.
My employer is not alone in not offering more money for people to stay, but letting people go, just to sit six weeks to six months with an empty spot and then pay 15% for someone who has to train for the corporation life for the next 2 years. They could have retained the institutional knowledge for 9% more on exsisting payroll. Ending up with younger employes cuts cost per head 30% but productivity is visibly down for those employees by 50% for the next 2 years. I dont know if we are going to hold on to the new employees for 4.5 - 6 years where the ROI goes positive over raises to employees with 10 years of experience on the same ball team.
Not only that but if they are not ACTIVELY looking for jobs, they are NOT counted as unemployed.
Well done Joe.
in JULY... let that sink in a minute
I still see signs up all over the place and in our local ads for ‘Hiring Bonuses.’ We are very ‘Rural’ but have many second tier agricultural jobs that NEED doing. Any sort of ‘processing’ that comes after crops are harvested, milk is collected, vats of wine are started, etc. Those Cheese Curds and Cottage Cheese ain’t gonna magically appear on grocery store shelves by themselves! ;)
If *I* was still in the marketplace and had been with an employer for a good while, I would be mad as H#ll that, ‘the new kids on the block’ were getting bonuses and I was not!
It’s insanity!
I lived through managing a multi-million dollar family-owned company during, ‘The 0bama Reign of Error.’ It. Sucked. I managed to retain excellent staff by giving them everything I could under the Sun, versus a pay raise and in spite of the loss of their benefits.
And, it STILL sucked...for ALL of us! I lost some of my benefits too, at the Management level. I honestly don’t know how some people are faring these days!
The DESTRUCTION of the Middle Class continues, unabated. :(
Exactly! As a minimum, shouldn’t every able body be manning a Life Guard Station as did Slow Joe back in the day?
*SMIRK* ;)
LOL!!! iswydt...
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