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Jobless Claims Jump

Reuters:

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed to a nine-month high last week, yet another setback to the frail economic recovery. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 500,000 in the week ended August 14, the highest since mid-November, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast claims slipping to 476,000 from the previously reported 484,000 the prior week, which was revised up to 488,000 in Thursday's report.

How are you liking Recovery Summer?

Speaking for me only

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    My best friend... (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by kdog on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:02:13 AM EST
    is about to join 'em...he just heard last night he's getting sh*tcanned in a couple months...corporate merger & downsizing combo.

    But he's thrilled about it, 20k severance...he's talking about a massive vacation.  Lucky bastard.

    Well, yeah (5.00 / 4) (#3)
    by DancingOpossum on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:17:39 AM EST
    For some people it can turn out to be a blessing in disguise--I have a friend who works for state govt. who is begging them to give him another furlough --last year he spent the two months' furlough at the beach house he bought when he was making three times as much money, the furlough is unpaid but he says by penny-pinching the other eight months he and his wife can have a grand time swigging Corona and watching the sun set.

    That's one side. Hey, I'd take a short furlough too, if my company offered it, although things would be tight.

    The other side, though, is people who are absolutely desperate, who can't afford the slightest drop in income and are barely hanging on as it is. There are a few folks like that in my neighborhood--the husband gets 10 hours cut from his schedule and they don't know how they're going to pay the electric and put beans on the stove. Behind on their rent, behind on their cable bill, shelling out $$$ for the one thing that keeps them sane (nicotine, now with a cruel, regressive tobacco tax), it's not a pretty picture.

    And it isn't just poor people anymore; someone else I know had to take a 40% pay cut and empty his 401K to keep the family afloat. How do you claw your way back from that, at age 50? After a lifetime of good old American bootsrapism (first person in his family to go to college, worked in a warehouse to pay his way, became a highly skilled engineer and VP of a company yadda yadda--you "play by the rules" and the rulers nail you anyway).

    Sorry for the rant. I have a fatalistic outlook about the country at this point and nothing is making me think happy thoughts.


    Don't be sorry... (none / 0) (#9)
    by kdog on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 10:02:34 AM EST
    good rant.

    My best friend is a hustler w/ marketable skills, he does tech work in television...I don't doubt something will turn up for him, when he decides to look...for now he's gonna take this good fortune and have a ball.  The luxury of having no family to support, aside from helping his moms out...she's like those you mention who got their hours cut and can barely stay afloat...bad scene.

    Parent

    Hopefully, learning Chinese (none / 0) (#13)
    by Untold Story on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 12:17:25 PM EST
    is on top of the list during this sojourn!

    Foxconn Tech Group plans to hire 400,000 new workes in China (it is a Taiwanese company).

    Hewlett-Packard is eliminating 9,000 jobs to cut costs.  Foxconn is building a factory in China's southwestern Chongqung City to make HP notebooks.

    Apple also contracts Foxconn to make iPhones and iPads as well as Sony for its games consoles.

    Apple employs about 34,000 and Microsoft about 89,000, which, imo will also decrease 'to cut costs' and our employment figures will decrease as well.

    Parent

    But they're stock will rise... (none / 0) (#17)
    by kdog on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 01:35:42 PM EST
    get your priorities straight man!  

    Who needs jobs when we've got capital gains...thats how the popular kids make their money.

    Parent

    Recovery Summer? (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:18:48 AM EST
    man those democrats know how to frame dont they?
    am I the only one for whom that conjures images of a near death patient and gathered loved ones?

    Where do we go from here? (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by mmc9431 on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:26:35 AM EST
    Obama enabled the Blue Dogs and Republicans to box the Democrats in a corner with his "hands off" approach during the stimulus debate.

    Instead of a robust plan to address the problems head on, DC chose to do it on the cheap, with the emphasis on the trickle ecomony approach. Prop up the wealthy and everyone will benefit! (That didn't work with Reagan and it isn't working now).

    What I find inexcusable, is that Obama would include the Republicans in the debate to begin with. Why would anyone want their imput? It was their irresponsible policies that lead to the economic melt down in the first place.

    I just don't see what the Democrats can do now to change the course.

    We got the plan that (5.00 / 2) (#7)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:40:49 AM EST
    Geithner, Summers, and Bernanke wanted.  There wasn't ever going to be true debate on any of this.

    Parent
    A second wave (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:39:10 AM EST
    crashing into the economy as a whole.  Now comes more contraction.

    As (5.00 / 4) (#8)
    by lilburro on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:54:38 AM EST
    Attaturk says:

    Maybe Larry Summers is genetically predisposed to be poor at math?


    LOL. (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by Dr Molly on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 10:03:19 AM EST
    That's just awesome.

    Parent
    Beautiful (none / 0) (#11)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 10:29:20 AM EST
    Everytime I hear the term (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by jbindc on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 12:10:17 PM EST
    "Recovery Summer"

    I think of Corvette Summer instead.  (And I never saw the movie - wonder why I think of that?)

    I saw this movie (none / 0) (#16)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 01:21:11 PM EST
    It was one of my favorites back in Junior High, and Annie Potts made wanting to be a prostitute look romantic :)

    Parent
    This is great news for the democrats in November! (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by Edger on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 12:36:04 PM EST
    Jobless claims at 9-month high?

    All those newly unemployed people will be first in line at the polls to vote democrat.

    Because, you know, republicans could be worse. You know?

    As the Democrats slouch toward (none / 0) (#2)
    by tigercourse on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 09:08:28 AM EST
    Bethlehem I hope they give some serious consideration toward how they got here. Maybe the next time they get control they won't manage to screw it up so quickly and so completely. You'd think they would know that lesson intinsically (people get mad when they don't have a job, become poor and lose their houses) but I guess it's going to have to be shocked into them.

    The uptick to 500K (none / 0) (#14)
    by Makarov on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 12:34:43 PM EST
    new jobless claims, is, in the end just a number. Sometimes, the number of new claims can go up and be eclipsed by the number of new jobs created. Of course, 'churn' is very, very low right now, with nearly 5 job seekers for every open job.

    Calculated Risk has a graph that also puts the absolute number of 500K in some context:

    http://calculatedriskimages.blogspot.com/2010/08/weekly-initial-unemployment-claims-aug_19.html

    It's in excess of the highest number of claims during the 2001-2002 recession.

    Unexpectedly (none / 0) (#18)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 04:14:09 PM EST
    New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed to a nine-month high last week...

    This habit of hanging the "unexpectedly" tag on bad news is getting to be a bit old.  With the current state of the economy and the counterproductive policies of the Omama administration, bad economic numbers are hardly unexpected.

    "Optics", to piggy back on a comment (none / 0) (#19)
    by BTAL on Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 05:48:22 PM EST
    by Anne in another thread today regarding Obama's "optics"....

    Today was a case where the optics failed miserably.

    On the way out the WH door to the 10 day Martha's Vineyard vacation, after the release of these numbers, all he could muster was a slap at Rs over the pending small business bill in the Senate.

    Nothing addressing the 800 lb gorilla and anyone with any situation awareness knows that that bill will have zero impact on jobs.  

    Live by the optics....