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Subscribe to RSSNew claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly in the latest week, but remained at levels that point to a slowly improving labor market.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims rose by 21,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 377,000 in the week ended Jan. 21. The four-week moving average, considered a better gauge of labor market conditions, fell 2,500 to 377,500.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 370,000. While last week's rise partially unwound the prior week's sharp decline, claims still held below the 400,000 mark that is usually associated with labor market healing.
Job growth has gained momentum in recent months and the unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent in December.
Still, the labor market recovery has a long way to go, with 23.7 million Americans either out of work or underemployed.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve acknowledged the improvement in the labor market, but noted the jobless rate remained too high.
The central bank vowed to keep overnight lending rates near zero until at least late 2014 and Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed was still mulling further asset purchases to help foster stronger economic growth.
It forecast the unemployment rate at 8.2 percent to 8.5 percent this year.
The number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid rose 88,000 to 3.55 million in the week ended January 14.
Economists had forecast so-called continuing claims rising to 3.50 million from a previously reported 3.43 million. The continuing claims data covered the survey week for the household survey from which the jobless rate is derived.
Continued claims declined 63,000 between the December and January survey periods.
The number of Americans on emergency unemployment benefits dropped 144,822 to 2.88 million in the week ended January 7, the latest week for which data is available.
A total of 7.64 million people were claiming unemployment benefits during that period under all programs, down 188,612 from the prior week.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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"Edge up?" Of course we're not counting the MILLIONS who have fallen off the radar screen. Just like the bogus inflation index that doesn't consider food and fuel (two essentials.)
Okay, it's not even Feb yet when even more part-time seasonal holiday workers (stock inventory and retail folks) will be dismissed. Then you have the military boys and girls coming home, and a plethora of small businesses (in my neck of the woods) already laying off again. Pure fantasy being dished out by the propaganda ministry. Keep on swallowing the swill sheeple.
Wow , what a way to twist numbers and words....Unemployment is going up and this is HOPEFUL???? Wow....hope and change....so this is what that means!!
Was on the first page for me, don't know how that is hiding.
ON AVERAGE The EMPLOYED:
2009: 59.3%
2010: 58.5%
2011: 58.4% <----
As you can see the numbers of actual EMPLOYED persons DROPPED. There is NO SIGNIFICANT job growth.
The ONLY substantial reason the unemployment rate dropped, prior to this report from the BLS, is that zillions more people are UNEMPLOYED and ARE NO LONGER COUNTED. With this report the number UNEMPLOYED should rise and the number of EMPLOYED persons should drop even more.
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12300000
truthIS-HAD - you are right. The labor participation rate is very significant, yet the mainstream media will not report on it. Labor participation is at a 30 year low. These weekly new claims don't mean a lot - a blip one way or the other. The monthly U-6 report is a much better barometer of the health of the labor market, yet even the monthly numbers typically use the U-3 rate - which leaves out vast numbers of unemployed and underemployed.
Did you actually read this article? I didn't think so.
This is the type of headline you get from a media organization that has a political agenda.
To..Letusreason""""
Fox...?
The article states...'rose slightly'............it increased by 21,000...........that's not slightly.......and how are the levels 'hopeful'???......once again, poor choice of words in the reporting.....am i the only one who sees this?
no, you are not
And of course the numbers will be revised upward by the end of the month but nobody will report the revisions.
It is ALWAYS revised upwards.
Hmm, when they come down (slightly and artificially, I might add) that story gets a huge headline at the top of the website. When they go back up it gets a small two paragraph mention in a tiny little font. Hey MSNBC, you've got some Presidential brown on your nose.
Wait til they edge up again in the weeks ahead...Another article says that Fed.Gov. hiring has stepped up but that will be more than offset by cuts in the Military and the loss in jobs due to cutbacks in the Defense industry due to canceled procurement of equipment and systems. It has been estimated that for every job created we lose 1.3 jobs. And before some NutCase says that the Number of claims has been declining, they need to understand that the total number of able bodied Americans who do not have jobs has reached the highest percentage since the 1930's. As we increase the productivity of our companies and workers, we decrease the opportunities for hiring more employees.
So if the libbys vote for the affirmative action President may they pay HIGH fuel costs and stay unemployed. A libby is sort of a mental disorder requiring entitlements. These jerkoffs want big entitlements but you pay. Ship these jerks to Somalia permanently.
This little article prove you can make chicken salad out of chicken $hit.
When hope and change doesn't come you end up with BSNBC. News for the Sheeple. Baaaaah!
I can't reiterate enough times. QUIT REPORTING JOBLESS CLAIMS NUMBERS!! Give us NEW JOBS CREATED THIS WEEK numbers. If your reporters aren't sure where to get these numbers. Go to the department of Labor. Every employer HAS to report their new hires. These are more accurate indicators of an improving job market and economy. Jobless claims numbers do not take into account people no longer receiving unemployment benefits or people that have "given up" and don't file claims. Yes, I understand that your news outlet is just a political pandering platform and that your real job is to keep Americans clueless, not informed. Maybe if our news sources started taking responsibility, our politicians would follow. Just a thought.
@Lynn Shapiro.... ALL politicians' speeches are lie filled farces and jokes. That's what makes them politicians. The Republicans are just as much to blame and just as guilty.
Republicans are going to pay a very heavy price for this obstructionism they've been playing with. People may not like what President Obama is doing, but they positively hate the "do nothing Congress". 2012 will be a "come to Jesus" moment for Mitch McConnell and his plan to win by demolishing the entire country. He is really working hard trying to stoke a volcano. Be careful what you wish for, Mr. McConnell. You may not like it.
Baaaaah.
Why won't Harry (DO NOTHING SENATE LEADER) Reid bring to the Senate floor...the 20+ bills that the house has sent over to them to vote on??? WHY? Because the DO NOTHING Senator is AFRAID one of them might actually PASS...and actually HELP our economy and jobless numbers.
Harry Reid and his democrats in the Senate are the PARTY OF NO!!
The Republicans in the house are just as much the party of NO.
Sorry, Julie. That dog just won't hunt.
Nobody believes those bills about 19th Century lightbulbs are anything but a waste of time.
If Boehner wanted to bring a jobs bill to the floor, nobody is stopping him.
I'll take the 2 partys of no, and a bag of fries to go, please.
How i anything "hopeful" when you are jpbless?
OK. I've had enough of the "it's the Dems fault, it's the Pubs fault". Quit pointing fingers people and lets start working together to fix this country. If you can't put on your big kids pants and do that, then I say we just cut to the chase and start lining up in the streets and start shooting each other.
We all know who has the guns in this country and it's not the anti-gun liberals.
What can I say that hasn't already been said about this article? Maybe something like "More unpaid propaganda for a worthless President..." As for the future of creating jobs, the small businesses in America (who represent the greatest total employment base) are going to be hard pressed to do so in the light of pending rising "costs of doing business" imposed by THIS administration - and this is an area you can't blame on any previous adminstration on either side of the aisle.
Another four years of "continuing improvement" under the current rudderless, leaderless administration will leave us all wondering just where the hell our "American Dream" went.
The CNBC article says that unemployment claims "spiked." Do we detect an ideological tug-of-war between these 2 NBC media departments?
Keep on hoping for the worst all you crazies. Next week the monthly emoloyment report is released on Friday and you can again confuse the two reports and babble some more about job losses. Better yet just listen to republican radio and hear what you wish for.
Sharky - Under President Obama millions of jobs have been lost. Am I missing something or do we have high unemployment after 3 years and millions spent in the form of stimulus?
Joyce, don't bother. They're just going to blame it all on Bush, as usual, even though he hasn't been president for three years already. And they also all conveniently forget that this entire mess started with the housing collapse of which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were two of the prime culprits in that debacle. And who supported them and fought tooth and nail against any sort of reform of those two organizations? Barney Frank (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT).
Actually, Joyce, millions of jobs have not been lost. The rate of job loss reversed once the stimulus became law, and Obama is on track to break even after his first term.
But it is very sad, and entertaining, that the crazies keep hoping against all hope for the worst. What if conditions continue to improve? It will be like everything they hoped for for four years will be taken away from them at the last moment.
So the 'crazies" should just sit back and say.....>"Oh, look it's getting better"?
Absolute hogwash Matt, and you know it.
The economy is limping along with barely detectable growth in spite of Obama. buisnesses are afraid to expand, because they have no idea what's going to happen from month to month with obamas policy, the one thing they do know is that if the have revenu over 250k, the president is at war with them.
The republicans tried to get the payroll tax deduction extended for a year, the dems rejected that and instead gave them 2 months, who can plan ahead based on only 2 months?
Try not spinning, and just look at what is, ok?
To ..Joyce"""
More private sector jobs have been created under Obama in three years than bush's eight years '....
Bush On Jobs: The Worst Track Record On Record
By WSJ Staff
January 9, 2009,
President George W. Bush entered office in 2001 just as a recession was starting, and is preparing to leave in the middle of a long one. That’s almost 22 months of recession during his 96 months in office.\
His job-creation record won’t look much better. The Bush administration created about three million jobs (net) over its eight years, a fraction of the 23 million jobs created under President Bill Clinton‘s administration and only slightly better than President George H.W. Bush did in his four years in office.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/01/09/bush-on-jobs-the-worst-track-record-on-record/
And...the last bush year unemployment went up...2.7 % in one year...what was the unemployment number when bush was selected.....
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Increase in unemployment rate in January 2009
February 10, 2009
Both the number of unemployed persons (11.6 million) and the unemployment rate (7.6 percent) rose in January. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 4.1 million and the unemployment rate has risen by 2.7 percentage points.
graph here
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2009/feb/wk2/art02.htm
Sharky thinks anyone who doesn't think like he/she does is a 'crazy'- now that is crazy!
MSDNC..."""
"""two organizations? Barney Frank (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT)."""
Lets not forget....
White House, Office of the Press Secretary
October 15, 2002
President Hosts Conference on Minority Homeownership
President George W. Bush hosted the White House Conference on Minority Homeownership to discuss public and private sector efforts to address the homeownership gap and increase the number of minority homeowners in America.
In June, President Bush announced the national goal of increasing the number of minority homeowners by at least 5.5 million by the end of this decade. Meeting the President's goal will not only help more Americans enjoy the benefits of owning their own homes it will also help strengthen America's economy. According to a study released today by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, meeting the President's goal will involve $256 billion in economic activity in the form of construction and remodeling jobs, spending on household goods, and other benefits.
Background on Today's Presidential Action
In June, President Bush announced an aggressive homeownership agenda to dismantle barriers to homeownership by providing down payment assistance, increasing the supply of affordable homes, increasing support for self-help homeownership programs, and simplifying the homebuying process and increasing education. The President also issued "America's Homeownership Challenge" to the real estate and mortgage finance industries to join in his effort to increase the number of minority homeowners by taking concrete steps to tear down the barriers to homeownership that face minority families.
The Bush Administration is working to increase homeownership among minority Americans through a number of new and expanded initiatives, as well as through ongoing programs administered by HUD and other federal departments, including
....http://www.policyalmanac.org/social_welfare/archive/wh_minority_housing.shtml
Hey, Amunaka, here is a little secret: Bush wasn't a conservative. Well maybe on the religeous side, but not on the fiscal side. Remember "compasionate conservative"?
To..Bookem""
I'm still trying to figure out what the hell is a "common sense conservative "
Before you file for jobless benefits you need to listen to the speech the President gave Tuesday night. Everything is going to be fine with handouts for all. More food-stamps, free college education for all, massive tax increases on the upper 1%, wealth redistribution at it's finest.
The president knows his proposals will fail. He is just posturing himself to look better than republicans.
yep ...and he's also is having lunch with Elvis tomorrow ....because he's not really dead.
And the government is creating more "government jobs."
government jobs have dropped since Obama took office but don't let facts ruin your delusion.
Read the article. Not according to MSNBC.
Yes ....the situation is hopeful.....tell that to the guy who hasn't worked in 8 months. The jobs will come back when people start investing in America again. Nobody is going to do that until this man and all his uncertainty is out of office......
The job growth numbers sort of refute your talking point.
People have started investing in America, which means there is no such thing as "uncertainty"
damn it.... coffee just came out my nose :(
Matt ...Job growth numbers ?? Really ? Just how many people do you think have stopped looking for work because the job market is so "hopeful" ??? No such thing as uncertainty ....Wow
Now thats funny and its getting a lot worse by the day.
Claims go down, Obama with a glowing halo is presented. Go up? The levels are up but hopeful???
MSNBC - Seriously? I mean I'm busting a gut laughing here.
These weekly jobless claims are always a hoot. I love how they modify the "previous weeks claims" and they always seem to inch upward. Oh well - good to know that all is well in Obamaworld.
I'm reminded of those musicians that keep playing on the deck of the Titanic as she slowly sinks. Keep it up boys!!
I wonder why MSNObama isn't covering this story:
Taxpayers still owed $132.9B from bailout: report
"If Treasury plans to sell its stock in the three companies at or above the price
where taxpayers would break even on their investment — $28.73 a share for AIG, $53.98 for GM — it may take a long time for the market to rebound to that level, the report says. AIG's shares closed Wednesday at $25.31, while GM ended at $24.92."
http://news.yahoo.com/taxpayers-still-owed-132-9b-bailout-report-051822679.html
What a great "investment" in bailing out the unions(GM), huh?
Until the repugnicrite/corporate elite get their wins in November, you might as well just live with the fact that they will not allow any jobs to be created, offered or kept if they can help it....and we all know they can help it. The 'let's create Obama's failure' strategy is in full swing with just 10 months to go.
I can see it now.....WE WON!!!!......everyone can come back to work for us in just a minute.....first we have to repeal the minimum wage laws.
Obama's failure strategy was summed up in his policies. One of which was raising the minimum wage. There are very few working adults in this country making minimum wage. All it does is prevent small business's from hiring teenagers and college students looking to get some work experience.
To Skup"""
Like China..
In 2010, 72.9 million American workers age 16 and over were paid at hourly rates, representing 58.8 percent of all wage and salary workers. Among those paid by the hour, 1.8 million earned exactly the prevailing Federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 2.5 million had wages below the minimum. Together, these 4.4 million workers with wages at or below the Federal minimum made up 6.0 percent of all hourly-paid workers.
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2010.htm
4.4 million people is hardly "very few".
Your numbers included those 16 and over. How many of those 4.3 (1.8 + 2.5 = 4.3 - even the BLS where you copied from cannot add) million are between the ages of 16 and 18? According to the report you cite, you did not go on to show that almost half of that 4.3 million are under 25.
There are 1.14 million between the age of 20 and 24 and 994 thousand between the ages of 16 and 19.
Your numbers didn't lie, according to the BLS - other than the inability of the BLS to do math, but they didn't tell the whole story.
Not allow jobs to be created? Wow, I hope the hook you swallowed eventually rusts away because you've been completely blinded by the OB light
If Jobless claims are up how the heck can you be hopeful about an economic recovery!!!!
"...claims still held below the 400,000 mark that is usually associated with labor market healing."
He Re-Elect - Go out there. Look up how many jobs must be created to just sustain the economy, not grow it. You may feel stupid. Now, what is not measured is the QUALITY of the jobs created. Mac Jobs, Wal-Jobs, Target-Jobs most PT with no bennies will NOT sustain a recovery.
At this point I simply don't get it. Even those of you whom still have good paying jobs the economic tide is pulling at your feet. You believe the spin at your own peril. Move to a guarded gate community where they have armed guards at the fences because the masses WILL finally explode.
It's a powder keg right now. Just need the spark.