Posted on 12/24/2009 5:07:59 PM PST by traumer
WASHINGTON — A fitful economic recovery is drawing strength from a stabilizing job market and signs that manufacturing will contribute to the rebound.
The latest sign was a government report today that the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. And the four-week average for claims, which smooths out fluctuations, fell for the 16th straight week, to its lowest point since September 2008, when the financial crisis hit with full force.
Further evidence of a gradually healing economy was a report that orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket durable goods rose in November. The overall increase was less than expected. But excluding the volatile transportation category, the gains were twice what economists had forecast.
The Labor Department said the number of new jobless claims fell to a 452,000 last week, down 28,000 from the previous week, on a seasonally adjusted basis. That’s a better performance than the decline to 470,000 that economists had expected.
And the four-week average for claims, which smooths out fluctuations, fell to 465,250 — the 16th straight weekly decline.
Stocks rose after the positive reports on unemployment and durable goods orders. Major indexes all touched new 2009 highs in midmorning trading. The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 40 points, or 0.4 percent.
Unemployment claims have been falling unevenly since summer. That improvement is seen as a sign that jobs cuts are slowing and hiring could pick up early next year. The fall in weekly claims of 28,000 last week, which followed two smaller weekly increases, shows that the halting improvement continues.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Who can believe ANYTHING coming out of DC...
Before the MSM celebrates, what is the retail sales for this Xmas like. If it is like 2008 or worst, the number of employed temps is going down.
If unemployment is stabilizing or going down why is foreclosures and bankruptcies going up? Why are state and federal tax revenues dropping severely if unemployment stabilized? Something does not make sense here.
When the whole country is out of work, the State Run Media will boast of “no new jobless claims filed”, as if it were The Messiah who stopped the losses as opposed to The Messiah and his minions who caused them....
You are depriving the Fascists of a family dependent upon them for their well being. Have you no shame.
Do I need a :-) ?
Don't bet on that! Katie, Chrissie, and Larry do a damn good job of dumbing people down........
Utopia, an additional 1/2 million out of work, happy days are here.
jokes aside. this family had NO food. the woman was crying and thanking me for my "generosity".
it's not generosity, but true human compassion, that drives the human spirit!
i truly wish that we, all, will remember the true spirit of Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
During the first 7 1/2 years of the Bush admin, when unemployment and inflation and interest were low, all good economic news was cast in a negative light. Now the bad news is cast in a positive light.
Saying that 400,000-plus new unemployed is a sign of improvement is like saying that a man, laying on the ground bleeding, was losing a pint of blood per hour last month and is now only losing 4/5ths of a pint of blood per hour.
There comes a point where it won’t matter what the rate of blood loss is...there’s only so much blood that CAN be lost!
Simple market economics says that there is a layer of employees that can be “easily” cut from the worker base, still allowing most businesses to survive. That second layer of employees is something different. Cutting into the next layer of employees is suicide for many businesses. So many businesses are limping along, working people at below 40 hours per week to try to survive and enture until things (hopefully) improve.
If the Obamacare bill gets signed into law and the fed enacts that incredible level of taxation in early 2009 the resulting job losses will trigger an economic nightmare. Expect private sector unemployment to nearly double within a year if the taxes kick in as predicted, and business failures to be at a rate not seen since the Great Depression.
Bill O’Reilly will be praising Obama again for this good sign that Obama’s stimulus plan is working.
that question was asked in a sarc way so no I am not kidding
This is perfect !
This is perfect !
Nobody will ever know what the expected number is, so by definition, unless it's right on the button, it will always be "unexpected". Orwell was the greatest prophet of the 20th century. It's getting as bad as the ubiquitous iconic images of the POTUS and FLOTUS.
I shouldn’t have tried to decipher your post. My apologies.
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