Posted on 10/09/2015 4:22:26 AM PDT by John W
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell more than expected to near a 42-year low last week, pointing to ongoing tightening in the labor market despite the recent slowdown in hiring.
The data released on Thursday provides an upbeat check on the health of the labor market after last week's monthly employment report increased doubts the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates by the end of this year.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 263,000 for the week ended Oct. 3, the Labor Department said.
That was the lowest since mid-July when the number of claims was at its lowest since 1973. Hitting such a historical low is remarkable considering the U.S. workforce has grown considerably since the 1970s.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Pretty sure a dartboard is the chief source of Department of Labor statistics at this point.
Reuters pumpin’ the sunshine!
Tightening labor market? Only because unemployment is running out for many and the job pool keeps shrinking.
Load of bovine strunzo (Italian).
There can be no unemployment if zer0 puts them on the state ie. welfare and disability SS.
That is because so many have given up looking in the obozo economy — the worst economy since the Great Depression.
Another day, another lie from the government. This has been the longest 6 1/2 years of my life.
first time claims are reported by the states.
I know this is a bit long, but I wrote it as a general response to any government statistic provided by a government cube critter:
Sally Satchelbottom, DC Bureaucrat
Sally Satchelbottom (not her real name) works as a data analyst and compiler in a cubicle at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. She is a product of a full 17 years of our self-esteem ‘educational’ system, graduated with a degree in economics from State U where her professors revered Marx and thought Keynes was a right-winger. She couldn’t wait to get to the DC area and go to work (?) for Uncle Sam where she could ‘make a difference.’ She pays $2,000+/month for a 1,000 sq ft flat in a drab concrete high-rise built in the 60s. She regards any place west of Hagerstown MD and south of Richmond VA as Terra Incognita full of rednecks wearing criss-cross cartridge belts, armed to the teeth, listening to David Allen Coe, driving their pickup trucks to the cleaners to drop off their Klan robes after the weekly cross burning rally. Data she sees at work tells her these people have a wide variety of occupations but she believes it’s all a front for a secret highly organized militia movement.
Sally proudly drives a Prius with its COEXIST bumper sticker. She isn’t a lesbian but has strongly considered adding a rainbow triangle sticker to show her solidarity with the gay movement. Sally didn’t date much in school (she’s pleasantly plump and starts a diet every 12 hours or so) so a photo of her nephews (who live in Indiana, Ohio or one of those other nasty flyover states) in a school-project yarn frame hangs from her rearview mirror along with her Federal ID security badge which keeps those icky citizens out of the halls of government by the people, for the people and of the people.
Sally is proud of the DC Metro and thinks that green public transport should be implemented everywhere especially in places she’s never been like Alaska, Texas and Montana. But the Metro station is very crowded and noisy so she chooses to drive to work where she can listen to Tori Amos, doing an average of 15 mph on the Beltway along with thousands of kindred environmentalists who believe in reducing emissions at all costs. She sees the empty HOV lane and swells with pride at 20% of the freeway lanes going unused. She has contemplated stopping to get coffee and a bagel but the staff don’t speak English at the places along her route. Still, she believes that diversity is strength and that America would be better off if our borders were thrown open. Needless to say, Sally voted for Obama and still has her ‘O 2012’ sticker she got from a coworker (they had a big stack of them) as a sort of trophy. Finally, Sally reaches the office. She swipes her badge, sits at her desk and begins compiling Labor Statistics.
Now...what are the chances that Sally, her colleagues, and her like-minded bosses (appointed or elected) will produce numbers favorable to the Obama administration, no matter what manipulations of raw data and formulae are required? Why is government trusted for one single second to evaluate its own performance? It’s akin to giving an NFL head coach the scoreboard controls and telling him to ‘keep it close.’ Madness.
Fewer people working, fewer jobless claims.
Simple math.
Not a question of math, at all. You mentioned “people giving up looking for work.” That’s a labor participation rate issue, that affects the overall unemployment rate. Not “first time claims.”
You've got that right. There is no unemployment. There is no inflation. On and on it goes.
Yeah. Business has cut to the bone. At this point they need all the people they kept if they want to stay in business.
I work for a company that’s hiring, so I’m biased. And I drive past 4-5 Help Wanted signs every day, just on the street where my company is located.
We have always been at war with Eastasia.
And I just started a new job myself. But that’s anecdotal.
I agree. Much like your #14.
I think this statistic is accurate. With labor force participation at the lowest point in decades, there are just fewer employed people left who can be laid off and file unemployment claims.
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