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Subscribe to RSSNew claims for unemployment benefits were unchanged in the latest week, foiling expectations that they would rise and providing further evidence that the job market was slowly healing.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that seasonally adjusted jobless claims were unchanged at 351,000, the lowest level in four years. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast initial claims rising to 354,000.
The last two weekly readings have been the lowest since March 2008. The four-week moving average for new claims, a measure of labor market trends, fell 7,000 to 359,000 - also the lowest since March 2008.
With weekly claims approaching levels last seen before the recession that began in December 2007, economists say employers might be close to ending a long cycle of heavy layoffs, laying the ground for more hiring.
"For the past 16 weeks, first-time filers consistently posted beneath 400k, with just two irregular readings of 404k last November and 402k last month interrupting the pattern. Having adequately moved past that benchmark...claims will be pushed to push past another, lower barrier for 2012," said economist Vimombi Nshom of IFR Economics. "That would exemplify continued momentum in the labor market as indications of layoffs try to crawl back to a level resembled during expansion in the business cycle, as opposed to these 300k-400k readings becoming the 'new normal.'"
Already, the jobless rate has fallen sharply, dropping to 8.3 percent in January from 9.1 percent in August. Job gains have exceeded 200,000 for two straight months.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has left benchmark interest rates near zero since December 2008 to coax companies into hiring, and the recent improvement in the labor market has dampened expectations of further monetary stimulus.
A Labor Department official said there was nothing unusual in last week's data, although claims were estimated for three states, including California.
The number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid fell 52,000 to 3.392 million in the week ended February 11 from a revised reading of 3.444 million. The drop left continuing claims at their lowest level since August 2008.
Economists had forecast continuing claims falling to 3.460 million from a previously reported 3.426 million.
The improvements in the labor market have helped President Barack Obama's reelection bid because voters consider jobs to be the most important issue in the November presidential election.
But considerable slack still remains in the jobs market, with 23.8 million Americans either out of work or underemployed. There are no job openings for nearly three out of every four unemployed.
A total of 7.503 million people were claiming unemployment benefits during the week ended February 4 under all programs, down 178,619 from the prior week.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Unemployment has dropped sharply...yeah, right...
As usual, they fail to mention the reason for the "sharp" drop is because so many workers have left the work force, and the labor utilization rate is the lowest in fifty years...
California among three states "estimated"...hmmm...California is among the states with the highest unemployment rates in the country...ya think there will be the usual "downward" revisions?
I hear Jon Corzine is hiring.
No Jobless claims really have dropped, significantly! What they are not telling you is the reason that the they have dropped. PEOPLE ARE NOT GETTING JOBS!!! THEIR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS ARE RUNNING OUT!!!!! These people are now being left with no job and no income!!! BUT the jobless claims have dropped drastically because what is the point of putting in a claim if your benefits have run out and you are not going to get anything!!!
So true Mike
Even better is the stupid "8.3 and 9.1" percent numbers, which anyone with half a brain knows these numbers are totally bogus. Just a spin on the numbers so "the heard" of people that get all their information from the 5 O'clock news don't smell what's really cookin.
I wish we had real media that would hold Washington accountable and ask real questions. We'd all be better off if Capitol Hill had to justify their decisions on a daily basis.
lolololololol Wow!! Currently the GOP is on a war against the birth control,abortion and Gay marriage so voting on anything that is related to Job or infrastructur is off the books. Dont worry tho in November they will get voted out and the Dems will be able to get back to work on the economy.
Unless you are one of the Americans who think Santorum of Romney will save us lolololololololololololool Good Luck you will need it!
There is no news in this article. So many have totally dropped off the govt. radar when their benefits ran out. Using this as a "plus" in the spinning in this article is pretty pathetic. Anyone with half a mind knows what's really going on. And I'm betting most folks know someone who fall into the "no longer on the radar" category. How about reporting the "rest of the story?"
The Democrats had more than 4 years when are they going to start working?
Are you looking for work, Mike?
"NEW" claims for unemployment. That has nothing to do with people who stop looking for work. Are you guys hoping the country gets in worse shape? I would think that all Americans would be hoping for people to stop being laid off.
You do realize that after the Great depression unemployment stayed in double digits for 12 years. To turn around what W. did to the country in basically 3 years with more progress coming is nothing short of amazing. There is still lots of room for improvement and we can debate about priorities, but the fact remains that we have that luxury because the economy's free fall off the cliff has been stopped.
Please stop looking for negatives always for anything that Obama does. Willowbrook you must not have half a brain then because these statistics are NOT talking about people who have stopped looking for work, it is FIRST TIME jobless claims.
It'll all get adjusted by next month - upwards. Happens all the time. Same as with housing stats.
That's exactly what they're hoping, Naptown. A failure for America is the only tiny chance these clowns in the GOTea have of getting back in the White House. They would love to see unemployment numbers up, foreclosures up, stock market down, etc. As Santorum proved last night with his stupid statement about "politics is a team sport" they are more concerned with which team is "winning" than they are with America moving forward.
I would galdly give a proportion of my paycheck to the truely unemployed. But if, and only if, the administration does their share with unburdening companies with regulations. Also, the pipeline needs to be built from Canada to Texas.
onejulia
didn't you say that in dec and jan? hmmmm, I guess it doesn't happen all the time.
What part of 'New' claims do you republicans not get? It has NOTHING to do with people falling off the radar or their benefits expiring. You can say that about the unemployment rate and it is true, but this is for NEW claims, and it IS good news though I know how you baggers hate good news for the masses, you asses.
Repubelickans/baggers won the majority in the House a year ago . So, for them to turn around what the Democrats have done to the country since 2007 ( basically 1 year 2 months ) is nothing short of amazing.
I know how you Demorats hate to apply the same logic to the other side.
Jobless claims unchanged at four-year low.
Jobless rate has fallen sharply, dropping to 8.3 percent in January from 9.1 percent in August
Housing market perks up!
Amazing how splitting the balance of power between the 2 cults in Congress slows the growth of Gooberment resulting in improvements for the people.
bobdividedtgeys: Oh waaaahhhhhh....The sky is still falling!! THe sky is STILL falling!!!! the labor dept. has suddenly been taken over by CONSPIRACISTS who cook the numbers (joined by every employer who reports hiring figures and every state that reports jobless numbers...suddenly all taken over by DEMOCRATS???)---it's comical. Go ahead, whine and moan. The rest of America that isn't hiding under the bed will applaud the recovery and enjoy this comic relief by the "rightards"...whining all the way to 2017....
So, what is the REAL unemployment rate ? 8.3 or 15.1 % ?
More spin from the spin doctors.
Ooohh..Libbies... Once the Christmas job spike is over you will all be crying in your soy milk.
<sigh>
Leiya,
Why do you want a pipeline that crosses our country? The jobs are minimal, the risk is great and the oil is an export for Canada not the US. If it is going to cross your back yard you can give them permission, but I will not. Oh that is right you dont care if this monstrosity fails and leaks into the water supply of many states. You should think before you speak it would do you well.
Ooohh..Libbies... Once the Christmas job spike is over you will all be crying in your soy milk.
<sigh>
Christmas was two months ago, Dogma. Don't let facts bite you in that special place...
Dogma, do you not realize 'Christmas' hires are let go the first week of January?
robiscoole
I appreciate your opinion. But when you said "jobs are minimal", I disagree. It has been estimated that 20,000+ jobs would be realized is construction was to begin. Further more, that does not count the affiliated jobs created.
I live in Texas and I can tell you that I have no problems with a 'pipeline' in my backyard. The benefits of a pipeline out-way the dictation of our CIC regarding it. Way too many EPA and private evaluations have proven that the pipeline is SAFE. Please open your mind.
If I felt that the studies PROVED that it was a bad idea, I would be on your side of the discussion.
Leiya.
Estimated by whom, Leiya? The Canadian company that wants to ship their filthy, toxic product right across the heartland of OUR country admitted that there would be 2-4,000 temporary construction jobs in this country and less than 50 permanent jobs for CANADIANS as a result of this job. The refined product is already slated for export, so our benefit is nil as far as oil goes. Tar sands are different from the oil and gas product that is currently moved via pipeline across this country. It's a viscous, highly toxic, abrasive material - you know what happens when tons of sand move constantly? They abrade whatever is containing them. The possibility of leak or spill is great, and the damage done to our environment would be catastrophic - it's why Canadians won't approve a pipeline in their own country. I don't suppose that ever occurred to you.
Pollute Texas all you want - when you start talking about affecting a water source that provides millions with drinking water, you better have more than "it has been estimated..." as a back-up.
After 3 straight years of the administration and the media he runs putting out stories about how things are turning around and getting better one would think that there should be full employment and everyone making $200,000/year by now. Mean while, out in the real world..... we know better. Heck, these amateurs aren't even very good liars. Just take their spin from December to January: Unemployment dropped from 8.6% to 8.2% (or something like that); Jobs created were touted at 138,000 during that period. But, the total number of employed people dropped from 133.2 million to 131.7 million. I guess that is the "new math" at work. Of course, neither the administration nor it's PR machine pointed out that small little fact. So... life goes on as usual.
data from the same people that tells us that inflation is only going up less than 3%! So if you pay increase is above 3% you all should fell like you are getting ahead, right....
both parties play this "smoke and mirror" game, do they think the American people are that stupid.
I will take the good news that unemployment rate is falling, for what ever reason. But, I am not fooled that things are that much better, but this IS better than the numbers going up.
This is the information the GOP want to keep from the voters. That's why they keep trying to switch the conversation to bs social issues. The economy has steadily improved since Obama got elected. Why would anyone want to go back to the GOP's failed economic policies?
You lie about the economy. You attack women. You attack education. You attack ACA. In short, you are the party of the top 1%. And everyone is onto you. Epic fail GOP. You may even lose the House if you keep betting against the American people.
Ah, this new GOP. Troubled by their candidates, troubled by any positive economic news, troubled by all the statistics, facts, and history that decry their positions and ideals. Nothing left for them here but incessant whining and rants to try to make any good news go astray.
Best not to try to reason with them. No logic, facts, or history will be accepted. They just refuse to believe it. Their talking points have turned them into talking heads, spewing whatever comes to mind.
Romney summed it up best in the debate last night, 'you can ask me any question you want, but I'll respond with whatever I want to say'. Answers? The American people want answers to their questions?
We don't need no stinking answers as far as the GOP is concerned.
Hey JustSlapMe, did you flash back to the Palin Biden debate when Mrs. Palin said "I may not answer the questions that you or the moderator want to hear'' when Romney said that? I thought I'd die...
Yes, Obama's administration IS LYING.
Forbes ran the numbers using the formulas that the government is supposed to be using.
UNLESS THE FORMULAS HAVE CHANGED THERE IS NO WAY THE NUMBERS RELEASED BY THE ADMINISTRATION CAN BE VALID.
The formulas have not been changed. Obama's administration has already shown they would do ANYTHING to get re-elected (superpacs, anyone? lower corporate taxes?)
So why would anybody doubt they would manipulate the unemployment rate? Here is the article from Forbes. He even shows how he calculates the UE based on the govts own statistics. The govt's math does not add up.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2012/02/09/dont-be-fooled-the-obama-unemployment-rate-is-11/
Well when Pepsi and the postal service are done with their layoffs I guess the claims will go up again.
It's kind of funny reading these post the Dems slam the Repubs and the Repubs slam the Dems. What you Democrats think of the Republicans and their thoughts are the same as what the Republicans think of the Democrats thoughts. Has anyone ever thought of looking at both sides of the coin instead of just one side. Neither side is right or wrong. It's a stupid game that keeps us pitted against each other and as long as we continue this game our elected officials (both sides) will continue screwing us....we the people. They have us where they want us.
The Democrats occupied the White House only 3 years and one month ago......the nation was in turmoil and in free-fall.
Obama ended one of the wars of George Bush, bailed out the US Auto industry,killed Bin Laden and Al-Awlaki, saved AIG and bailed out the mega banks to prevent further decay of the American economy...AND the US turned a profit when the value of those banking stocks rose in value,due to the bailout.....
Today,Obama is getting us out of Bushs other war in Afghanistan, has lowered the unemployment rate, and he provided longterm unemployment benefits to the jobless,which allowed them to hold on to their homes,thus saving hundreds of thousands of more homes from going into foreclosure.......His re-election,now,is a SURE thing, because we are finally heading out of the mire,created by 8 years of awful Republican misrule.
The Fricking truth hurts doesn't it Liam??? Good Post dude...
@ stull, when those layoffs happen, rest assured the govt. will spin it into some sort of plus, just like they did with January.
liam: Thanks for the laugh! I needed one. Oh... you are serious? Well, could you tell me where all those jobs are? Also, since Obama got us out of Iraq are Iraqis now firmly assured of freedom and democracy? Hmmm... trying to recall the 8 Bush years. I do recall that the the lib media kept telling us that everything was in the tank in spite of things rising. In fact, things were flowing along pretty good until until Paulsen convinced Bush to push the panic button less than 2 months before the election. Of course, the panic button pushed was the same one that he tried to warn against since taking office and the dems kept dismissing. IE: The subprime mortgage mess. But, I never was very good at re-writing history. The dems are definitely the best at that!
Then they should get a job it is not that hard.
It is called looking Have you ever tried it?
Yes he did and the only reason it succeeded is because of the troop surge that he opposed.
Yes I think it is nice that he fallowed republican advice and had them go throw chapter 11.
No they are still at a 26 billion loss.
IT is the privet sector that has made the jobs not him. He is still one of two presidents with negative job. He has just 1.4 million more jobs to go to be even. We still have no economic drive and I don't think it will be their for another 4-6 years regardless of president.
That was sarcasm, Ped. Only sarcasm aimed at those who used the comment as a mantra. ;-)
That was sarcasm, Ped. Only sarcasm aimed at those who used the comment as a mantra. ;-)
liam, Agreed.
Auto 101, a little "flip" on the attitude, don't you think?
Obama ended one war and is ending the other in spite of the GOP. Yes, he dovetailed off whatever Bush did, but OBAMA was the one that truly ended one and now another. Are you claiming McCain would have done the same in the same or sooner time-frame?
Chapter 7 is where the auto industry was headed had the feds not financed the chapter 11. And if your memory gets a little better, you may even remember the bitching about the management changes demanded by Obama. No, the auto bailout and it's success is Obama's. The majority of GOP said "let 'em fail".
Still at a loss, but trending correctly... and besides, with the mess we were in because of Bush... $500 Billion in unfunded Bush actions per year and another $500 Billion in less revenue each year due to the economic collapse (equals a $1Trillion Bush deficit that's still hitting us), you're really gonna bitch about $26 Billion? I'd say that's quit a save for Obama.
And anyone that counts the numbers without considering the trends handed him by Bush, is being disingenuous at best. In other words, the FOX news notions of unemployment, debt, and spending is pure BS.
And they still make the crappiest cars on the road. No it would have been chapter 11 they were asking for the bailout so they wouldn't go to chapter 11 because no one would buy their cars.
Bush sadly was a better pick then the Dumbo dems they had last time(2000 and 2004).
That would be only hypothetical he lost and will never be the president. and it is mostly no republican will be the next president. Why don't you worship you Obama Christ. You think he just walks on watter and will pay your rent and put gas in your car.
Sorry I didn't know posting facts was bitching? HE said we made a profit when we lost 26 billion that was That must be a Democrat thing -26 billion is now a profit.
The article does specifically state that these numbers are for first time filers. That said, it shows that in the three states poled, employers have slowed the shedding of labor, nothing more. The jobless rate is still way above 10% but that is a number that the administration and the media that supports them want to keep in the closet. Why? Because the truth hurts! Another interesting fact is that this is an average of three states, not the entire fifty. What would the numbers look like if the average were taken from across the nation? They also point out that these are the lowest numbers since 2008, and since the unemployment rate was on the rise already in mid 2007 this is nothing to really cheer about. Obama has made contributions to the slow recovery, but handing him any more credit than that would be ludicrous, because many of his so called "fixes" have failed miserably. I do not know who I will vote for in November yet, but it will definitely not be for another 4 years of trillion dollar deficits and the piles of BS the Obama administration has piled on us for the last three. At this point "Snoopy" is looking like the best prospect in the race over all the legitimate candidates.
LMarcT
I marvel at your math skills! How could a grown individual make his way through life not knowing how to add or read? 500billion in deficit and 500 billion in lost revenue? Bush's largest deficit was projected for the 2009 budget, the year Obama took office. That projection was around 460 billion. The Bush tax cuts had been in place for 8 years at that point and all his other deficits over his term average out to around 300Billion per year. It may seem that if you simply remove the tax cuts, and add in that 500 billion in lost revenues, his numbers might look better, but you'd probably be wrong. The tax cuts were put in place to reverse the rising unemployment and spur investments. they did have a positive short term effect because from 2003 to mid 2007, unemployment dropped from over 6% to 4.7%. In 2009 Obama took office and took a projected 460 billion dollar deficit and turned it into a 1.5 trillion dollar debacle. Since that time, he has posted another 1.3 trillion and is projected to reach 1.5 trillion again this year. When Bush left office, the national debt was about 10 trillion, Obama just started the process to raise the debt ceiling again to over 16 trillion. He has increased the national debt by nearly 5 trillion in 3 years where Bush had a total of 5 trillion over 8 years including two unfunded wars and medicaid part D. I am not saying what Bush did was not contributory to the collapse, but he did have help as the economy took its worst turn south in late 07 after democrats won back congress and started pushing their agenda. It is interesting that so many want to credit Obama as the savior, but after three summers of recovery, the jobless rate is still high, the national debt and deficit are still out of control, Obama is still campaigning every time he opens his mouth,(that is when he is not apologizing to Muslims) and his blueprint for hope and change hasn't changed despite not working. If you look back on previous recessions, they seem to bottom out and turn themselves around in about the same amount of time this one has been around so "the Obama effect" has been nil. We do need to invest in renewable energy and not only repairs but new infrastructure to help us transition into renewable energy means, but the strategy he is using is detrimental to the country. He is keeping oil prices artificially high so that fossil fueled energy is more expensive rather than supporting ways for renewable energy to become cheaper. When Alcohol started being added to gas as an alternative energy source, congress supported the new industry with subsidies, those subsidies recently ended without a major surge in fuel prices. By keeping fuel costs high he is effectively shrinking the economy by removing disposable income and instead forcing everyone to pay increased fuel, heating, and electrical costs. The Oil companies and Utility companies continue to make money but everywhere else markets are shrinking. Nice strategy huh. The companies he is choosing to push his renewable energy strategy have not turned out very well at all. Seems that either they are unable to compete or were just out to bilk the tax payers out of government backed loans. Obama said shortly after the gulf spill that BP would be held accountable, but he said nothing after his pet California energy company that received huge government backed loans went belly up 6 months after getting the money! The health care law was supposed to put everyone on equal footing to help bring down medical costs, yet his first actions were to sign waivers to his union supporters so they could have an extra two years to begin to comply.
THANKS MUCH archangel...finally a sane post on msnbc
Really. It was exactly the same? What a coincidence. What are the odds of that taking place? And the four-week moving average moved down? Huh. Could that possibly be a consequence of the completely discouraged giving up the search for work here in Obamatopia?
"New claims for unemployment benefits were unchanged in the latest week, foiling expectations that they would rise and providing further evidence that the job market was slowly healing." Nice no slant, unbiased reporting with the use of the words "foiling expectations". I would have received an F in journalism for that errror. Report the news don't slant it.
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media."
--William Colby, former CIA Director, quoted by Dave Mcgowan, Derailing Democracy
"You could get a journalist cheaper than a good call girl, for a couple hundred dollars a month."
--CIA operative, discussing the availability and prices of journalists willing to peddle CIA propaganda and cover stories. Katherine the Great, by Deborah Davis
"There is quite an incredible spread of relationships. You don’t need to manipulate Time magazine, for example, because there are [Central Intelligence] Agency people at the management level."
--William B. Bader, former CIA intelligence officer, briefing members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, The CIA and the Media, by Carl Bernstein
"The Agency's relationship with [The New York] Times was by far its most valuable among newspapers, according to CIA officials. [It was] general Times policy ... to provide assistance to the CIA whenever possible."
--The CIA and the Media, by Carl Bernstein
Just like the idiotic right insists there is no bias in the media, bodivided?
and what pitchforks are you preaching to?
bodi, Fox spins their news too. Until you admit that you are just talking out of both sides of your mouth. Fox is hardly the paragon of Mass Media outlets, not even close. MSNBC here also spins their news, so does CNN and ABC.
Why then, if all other outlets spin, do you state that Fox is exempt from that title? Only logical prove is you want to discredit everyone while proving your own opinions as facts. Anyone with a brain can see through your tactics a mile away.
Fox spins as much news as MSNBC does, that is a fact; though they also spin their opinions into facts as well so they are worse in some regards. At least Maddow, Ed, and the like actually talk about facts that pertain to the news they are covering. Fox has some talk shows that do that however most of them are like Hannity and Rush where their opinions matter more then fact checking.
Economists say, my aching fanny.
We still have 1,100, 000 more people unemployed than We had when Obama took office.
Business is leaving the USA in a small steady stream
They bare not going to stay here and be forced to fund Obama's entitlement set programs, fund his green fantasies and end up paying for the insurance farce, as well as the increased taxes.
His current campaign proposals, ie, lowering the corporate rate is common seen by business people as an attempt to get rid of all of the breaks and them raise the corporate even higher than it is now.
They aren't buying
As usual, you Repugs fail to mention when Obama took office this country was bleeding 780.000 jobs a months caused by King George???
This country is most definately turning around, I see it everywhere I travel and as an American I'm glad it is........
No it is the result of piss poor business decisions. Loan money to poor people they did pay so people lost houses on a large scale. then people stooped spending and business cut jobs and people lost there houses causing house prices to drop causing people to leave their homes because they were dumb and thought their house was a investment. causing the housing prices to drop more.
Our Government is flat out lying! Called cooking the books! Greece is going to look like Disney Land if this @!$%# keeps up!
Obama just got re-elected.
bod; I filled up yesterday at 3.399 at the BP!!!! And then their card gets me another 5% off, Life is Good in this DEMOCRAT CONTROLED COUNTY!!!!
Hahahaha, glad i could get your blood pressure up. Obama 2012!
Hahahaha, did it again. Have a good day.
Gas prices is not going to matter to Half of the population that the GOP wants to force unneeded medical procedures on in almost every state. Its not going to matter to the part of the population that use birth control that the GOP wants to ban. Abortion has been legal for a long time now and that is the what the GOP is fighting against again! Every 4 yrs the GOP screams voter fraud, abortion and gay marriage. Thats it!! They fight for tax breaks for the rich and they want to justify any tax breaks for the middle class and poor.
Every month more and more Jobs are coming back and the housing market had a 4.3% jump in home sales for the first time in a long time. We do not need to travel back to the 1900's that the GOP wants to go .
Obama/Biden2012 - Going Forward!!!
i JUST FILLED UP AT 4.159 bp WAS 4.189. the DEMOCRATS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.
It seem like you forgot how we got here.When Bush started his terms we had a surplus and we did not have a deficit.Bush policies got us here.Obama started his terms with wall street crashing and Detroit car makers free falling .It takes more than three to change unemployment.
Jenny;
Tremendously misinformed. Bush turned into a Democrat in his last year and a half to 2 years of office with ALL kinds of spending, and your buddy Obama voted YES to every single one of the bills he sent that spent any money at all. Obama takes office and spend 10 times the amount of money Bush spent. Obama has placed more debt on us in his three years than all the 2 term Presidents combined and then some. Think about that for a moment.
Secondly, the biggest domino that started this whole mess is the housing crash which effected every aspect of business in the US. There is absolutely no dispute that this is a direct result of the Clinton administration's policies regarding lending to people that should not have the credit lines. My wife has been in banking 20+ years and predicted this would happen before Bush even took office, because of the volume of baloon notes and shady loans people were getting, knowing that they would not prepare themselves for 5 - 7 years down the road.
And before any of you reply and say that people were "duped" into the loans, if you cannot read and understand the terms of the paper you are signing, DON'T SIGN A LEGAL DOCUMENT!!! If you cannot understand them or don't have the intelligence or money to hire someone to break it down for you, you should get a $85,000+ loan.
Hey BO. It takes a surplus to pay down the deficit. So yes a surplus is a good thing, if it is used to pay down the deficit. The surplus was used to finance a tax cut. That tax cut increased the deficit. In a realistic world, the government would not spend more than it collects. In the real world, sometimes the economy is not doing so good. The government can be used to even out those economic ups and downs. During a recession, the government should run a deficit. During economic good times, the government should be paying down those bills. Just like your finances. You put those unexpected medical bills on the credit card, but you pay off that credit card as soon as possible.
We must be living in LaLa land. These politicians are buying votes with tax cuts and other hand-outs. The voting public is too stupid to see thru the games. They seem to be more interested in demonizing the other team. Some of them even demonized Clint Eastwood for saying that american can come thru this.
That being said. Why are these people insisting on blaming any government entity for our jobless situation? If these people would make an effort to buy american products, american factories would hire more people to make these products. I already know what they are going to say. "I would rather save a few dollars buying cheap imported crap than support my country and my fellow americans."
Let's ask all those FORD Explorer owners WHY they bought a vehicle MADE in VENEZUELA or RUSSIA????
As a "former Explorer owner" I am NOT buying anything made in Venezuela.
Or Chrysler owners why they buy an ITALIAN vehicle.
Not to mention the "staggering amount" of Foreign MADE parts in all those "so called American cars?"
What a complete scam.
Ironically, it is the Japanese and the South Koreans that manufacture, build and assemble millions of their vehicles "by employing tens of thousands of AMERICAN workers" right here in the USA.
These people who say "Buy American" may want to "define what made in America really means today?"
Most Americans have NO idea where there "American in name only" product is manufactured.
I am proud to support any hard working, "non union person" in any "right to work state" any day.
"If UNION made" products were "so wonderful" Detroit Michigan would be the "City of the future" and an example of what happens thanks to "union philosophy"...
So, please explain why the entire world has NOT been so impressed with "Detroit and America's Union made vehicles and products" for decades???
Sadly, Detroit, Michigan IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE of the FAILED RESULTS of UNION controlled labor!
THAT is a disgusting shame and one of America's most embarrassing examples to the world.
Thanks unions!
If it were not for unions the working man and women would be so much worst off. The stats show us that fewer union jobs has coincided with average working people making less, losing more jobs and unless you are one of the very few who are making incredible money, why would you not want a union to help protect your rights as a worker. Stop with the slave mentality and get a clue.
I am so disgusted with republicans right now, you have gone to far and are taking my country from me. I want my country back where working people were respected. I want my country back that voted for equal rights. I want my country back where earning a fair wage was expected. You people are the ones trying to change a great country into some kind of top down oligarchy.
According to Gallup, the unemployment rate was at 8.3% in mid-January but rose to 9% in mid-February.
The percentage of working age Americans that have jobs is not increasing. The employment to population ratio has stayed very steady (hovering between 58% and 59%) since the beginning of 2010.
If you gathered together all of the workers that are "officially" unemployed in the United States into one nation, they would constitute the 68th largest country in the entire world.
When Barack Obama first took office, the number of "long-term unemployed workers" in the United States was approximately 2.6 million. Today, that number is sitting at 5.6 MILLION.
Obama and Company the Kings of Spin and Funky MATH...
One can only claim bennefits for a determined period. After that they are on their own so numbers are droping as they run out of bennefits and out of the system.
Of course with millions of Americans unemployed, the IRS fighting against identity theft, illegal immigrants still come in by the hundreds daily and the federal government demands that you tolerate it. Why you ask, due to the income they generate for the fed, a worker is a number, no matter at what payscale. If you deport 20 million illegals, does that not free up at least 10 million jobs ?
TEA tards,you speak with FORKED tongue,under your messiah GWB's last 5-6 months in office saw the unemployment rate growing substantially with the highest losses coming in Nov/08-Jan/09 some thing like 750,000-800,000 per month.the Bush unemployment rate was at 8.2 % on his watch and continued to increase until PRESIDENT OBAMA and the DEMOCRATS passed the AMERICAN RECOVERY ACT! STOP REPEATING the talking points of the LIARS network and check the labor dept. statistics.
The Labor Dept. statistics there is a quality source!
Oh tee,tee, tee,the democrat majority was ham strung by the dim wit occuping the office of the PRESIDENT besides ,THE OBAMA BUDGET was not enacted until late 09 his AMERICAN RECOVERY ACT was not the BUDGET but a PARACHUTE to keep the ECONOMY FROM CRASH LANDING, DIM WITS !I guess LABOR DEPT sats are only viable when the REP/TARDS are in charge.
So then you could say with all of Obama's spending, recovery summers, shovel ready jobs, high speed rail, heath insurance (not health care), jobs - jobs - jobs, bailouts, contraceptive sevices, etc. we have a stagnate economy.
smokeinmyeyes - yup, your posting lives up to your screen name. The employment numbers began to tank as soon it was clear Obama would be the next President. Business could see the writing on the walls and since it is the goal of business TO STAY IN BUSINESS, everyone "battened down the hatches"to prepare for the anti-business govt. we've now "enjoyed" (sar) for the last 3 years. This is not the first time this has happened, but was more devastating due to the increased number of jobs that have left the country coupled with the Illegals, who are now taking good jobs and sucking up lots of entitlement money from Americans, not just seasonally picking fruit and vegetables.
Time to clear away the smoke and learn what's really going on........
P.S. Every program sponsored byt the Pres/Dems have been wasteful failures.
Oh tee ,tee,tee, the ANTI-AMERICAN REP/TARDS have blocked ever JOBS initiative presented by the OBAMA adm. the polices that saved our economy was enacted by the DEMS with I believe 2-3 AMERICAN Republicans PATRIOTS in the SENATE .THE TEATARDS in the HOUSE HAVE CUT funding to all GREEN PROJECTS and HIGH SPEED RAIL so don't BITCH about lack of new energy jobs, THE TEA BAGS are not going to BITE the hands that feeds them {BIG OIL& GAS}WAKE UP TE-TARDS
Ask yourself how did all of those dang republicans get into the house and the senate? Who put them there?
quit toking so deep smokeinmyeyes......you are losing all grasp of reality........
To date, Obama has proposed no jobs initiatives, (except ideas where it costs a million for a job that pays $45000 a year, which no business would ever do as it is soooo unsustainable.) That is no initiative, only a fool and his party wasting our tax money.
P.S. there are over 20 jobs bills sitting dead under Harry Reid's do nothing butt. Guess we know who the real obstructionist is........
You really think the high speed rail, (which is pretty much dead) and those "green jobs" (where the companies who got the money are going under) are really going to save our ecoomy????? sheesh!
Willowweed,ah yes the jobs bills rubber stamped Thu the TEATARDED H.O.R. with all of the asinine amendments attached.Are they going to create jobs?DUDE, take a walk and get some fresh AIR your mind is smouldering and I fear you might be on the brink of total TEA-TARDATION !
Are you a OWS tard?
Unemployment is on the rise and media constantly reporting it is falling is helping no one! I wonder if they included the 15,000 airline employees in those numbers!
Wait until the gas hits $6 a gallon, businesses will start laying off again and stop hiring.
pink; No we the people will just quit bying any more gas than we have to!!!! Just because you threatened me with $6.00 gas I am sending the OBAMA campaign another $100.00 bucks in your name!!!!
That's the TEATARDED way of thinking ,BTW Mr.BONER and CANDI TOR where are your jobs?Oops buried in all the social re-engineering plans y'all put forward! my mistake.
You guys are allover the map... from one side of your mouth you say that EVERYONE (labor dept, DOJ, Media etc) is somehow tricking everyone and lying about everything..and that the sky is falling (fear mongering)...Then from the other side of your mouth your use stats and quotes from these same sources to show how great things use to be.. (weren't the numbers phony then too)
sarcasm - Clinton did indeed achieve a surplus (oops I mean Gingrich did) and Bush did indeed blow it all (oops I mean the Democratic Congress did) give me a break, give me some consistency
But first, get a clue
Gas prices may raise to $10/gal but one thing won't be stopped: The endless line of cars going into your local Starbucks!
Try looking. Some reason people just insist the president get them a job. Must be a democrat thing.
we need more GOOD jobs. this story does not take in to account all the underemployed.oh i forgot , the greedy corporations with help from greedy politicians and law makers shipped them overseas along with leaving our borders open for cheap labor and giving out work visas to foreigners like candy at a parade.i'd love to hear one of these useless people who campaign for higher office talk about the US unemployed needing good jobs not just jobs.close the borders, term limits, no more lifetime politicians,no more lobbyists for startters.the american dream is eroding into dust thanks basically to greed.
FUZZY MATH at its best folks...
Most employment taking place is for part time, and in most cases minimum wages..
Cant raise a family on that folks...
Time to vote this so called POS president, and his agenda OUT...!
"Jobless claims unchanged at four-year low"
TRANSLATION: "The number of homeless, unemployed Americans continues to rise as the total economic collapse of the United States comes nearer.
Unbelievable once again. Where I live everyone around me is just got layed off including me and it just happened it the last 2 months! And it is a state that has been voted one of the wealthiest.So the media is a farce-the government is a farce. Our nation is weak. You do not hear the current president blaming anybody but congress for not being able to move the country forward. He is laughing all the way to the bank to. The Democrats are the ones who threw us under the bus-Clinton getting rid of the bill that was in place to keep us safe from the greedy banks after the 1st depression so the banks could not screw the american people like they did in the great depression. Yes, let's give government more of our money/power to do what they will. Wake up people!
Like I have said a million times, the government owns the unemployment number and it is election time. And the Judas journalist has sold out to the government for thirty pieces of silver. Watch too how low the unemployment percentage will go. I am thinking about 8%, before election.
You mean re-election.
Probably a different set of morons than the ones that voted for Bush twice....
cattycat,the republicans in the SENATE namely the great progressive SENATOR PHIL GRAHAM and his colleagues pushed for the repeal of the GLASS/STIEGEL ACT they whined about letting our FINANCIAL INDUSTRY compete with the FOREIGN MARKETS.HOW did that work out for the AMERICA!
The mainstream media is bought and paid for. They will report what they are paid to report. Fewer people are drawing unemployment, because they have used up all of their benefits. Fewer people are filing for ther first time, due to fewer layoffs...BECAUSE SO MANY COMPANIES HAVE CLOSED OR LAID OFF MULTIPLE TIMES ALREADY. Things are not better. Don't be fooled.
bodivided:
Are you a roboprogram for faux news ? You certainly seem to have all of their talking points down pat ! A budget surplus is NECESSARY to pay down the deficit that came from repug (starve the beast ) policies ! The economy is large and complex and usually lags behind a few years. Give the President a chance to repiar the problems caused by the (dis)loyal opposition !
just blue: bo is just the latest name for this crazie. he has posted the same insane spam for years under jerry, rob, rufus, etc,etc. Every day or so he is kicked off and re registers. You might want to report him by clicking on his identity and going to the bottom of the page to "contact us" and selecting" malicious user." Below is a summary of his post for the last few days since he was kicked off and re registered
bodividedtheus' Comments Archive: February 2012
Viewing:February 2012
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Jobless claims unchanged at four-year low
Thu Feb 23, 2012
US Secretary Clinton says it's 'false analogy' to compare UN action on Syria to Libya
Thu Feb 23, 2012
Taliban to Afghans: Kill foreigners over Quran burnings
Thu Feb 23, 2012
As others isolate Syria, Chavez ships fuel to it
Wed Feb 22, 2012
After two wars, drums beat again over Iran
Wed Feb 22, 2012
Obama offers to cut corporate tax rate to 28%
Wed Feb 22, 2012
Affirmative action in college admissions? Supreme Court to hear case
Tue Feb 21, 2012
Zimbabwe's Mugabe: 'I have beaten Christ'
Tue Feb 21, 2012
ANOTHER mindless LOONEY BIRD, CHIRPS in.
If you think that voting in one of these republicans or the surprise entry at the brokered convention is the better way to go, than you certainly have my blessing, but, do you really believe all the crap the comes out of Gingrich's mouth? Do you really want the American Taliban Rick Santorum making the calls. You people do not even like Romney but you will insult the one man who really is trying to make it better, and, oh yeah how about that war with Iran? Do you think that will bring down the gas prices? They would be absolutely harmless with a nuclear weapon, they will not use it. We have them surrounded and would anilate them in seconds and they know that. Of course the only one talking about Pakistan is the current President because he understands they have hundres of nuclear bombs and are a very shaky nation.
I understood that it has actually risen from another media. Which one of you is right? I read it was reported closer to 9% again
I am one of the first baby boomers, born in 1946, having just retired and now living on Social Security for the rest of my life. No longer will you have my tax to count on, instead you will have to support me on your taxes. Over the next 20 years 10s of millions of BB's like me will be doing the same. You will rue the day that Obama gave you an extra $20 to buy 5 gallons of gas to help you look for jobs that don't exist.
A great many baby boomers will still be paying taxes as they will still have income.
Hey Yankiwi-3498450 - Don't take the damn money then, if your so against social security. Just keep on working until you are dead as that is what the republicans want. From the crib to the cemetary, they want you working your whole life with no way out.
This also doesn't count for the thousands of people that can no longer collect unemployement. The jobs just aren't there.
Exactly. Google for "Unemployment Kondratieff Wave" to see a chart that shows the percentage of population that is actually employed. Such charts do not show an increase.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the U6 Unemployment Rate at 15.1%
This number accounts for unemployed, underemployed and those that are no longer receiving benefits.
Readers should demand that MMfA/MSNDNC start actually printing facts instead of campaign talking points.
Fact check people
And that U6 number has declined over 2% in the last year.
As this article is about the weekly trends, your post is irrelevant. Unless your point is, that you don't care if employment is improving. That you'd rather just focus on the the negative, rather than see that things are getting better.
I'll just assume that IS your point, thank you.
The concept of improving employment apparently doesn't fit the hired shills hit list.
What has changed since 2008? Well, unemployment rose dramatically with the election of Jimmy Carter Obama and an increase in the number of Democrats infesting D.C. The Democrat led Senate hasn't submitted a budget in the past 1030 days (they are REQUIRED by law to do it annually- for you waiting for some of yours from Obama's stash, that's once every year) Then comes November 2010. Obama lost a lot of his power when the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives and the Democrats lost their near supermajority in the Senate. Many if not most states are no longer controlled by Democrats. The overall color of the US map is less blue than ever. I would say that reducing the number and influential effectiveness of Democrats around the country has done more to help the economy than anything else in the world.
Your spin is what most republicans will use as the economy continues to improve. They have already returned to the 3 G's and hatred of Mexicans and Muslims. Things are slowly returning to normal.
To say the economy is improving is either ignorant or deceitful
Just great, a typo on the most important word in my statement, lol
People saying the economy ISN'T improving are either dumb or lying
The grape flavor is making the writer's lips purple.