Jobless Claims Drop to 502,000

Reuters via FoxBusiness ^ | 11-12-09 | Staff

[Anti-Bubba182]

WASHINGTON-- The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless insurance fell for the second week in a row and the four-week moving average of claims was the lowest in nearly a year, government data showed on Thursday, pointing to improvements in the labor market.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped last week to a seasonally adjusted 502,000, the lowest since January, from a revised 514,000 the prior week...........

[Anti-Bubba182]

This could be due to seasonal hiring for the holidays. The article went on, "..The number of those collecting long-term unemployment benefits also fell, to 5.631 million in the week ended October 31..". That could mean their benefits ran out.

[Tenacious 1]

So only another half a million people lost jobs in the past week. And this is good news. America shed another 500,000 jobs but since we are losing jobs slower we should rejoice.

We should all get wee-weed up because the ship is taking on water slower than it was last week.

[fortheDeclaration]

Exactly. These are NEW claims and they are just looking at the rate of that INCREASE.

Kind of like how they handle 'budget cuts' calling it a 'cut' when they slow down the INCREASE.

[cripplecreek]

I think it means more people went on welfare because their benefits are gone.

Cloward Piven.

[Brugmansian]

43 days until Christmas and the media tells us half a million Americans losing their jobs is good news.

Unreal.

[Freddd]

And last week the number being spouted was 190,000.

[andy58-in-nh]

Wall Street interprets this news as evidence of “an improving job market”. Get that? The number of jobless claims from the prior week was revised upwards (because the jobs previously “assumed” to have been created were in reality, not created. And even though more than half a million new claims were filed last week, it was slightly less than the prior week (but more than the week before that - which is already down the memory hole), so everything’s coming up roses. Uh-huh.

[skeeter]

I can’t remember when the media was so bullish on the economy as they have been the past 6 months.

[Red Badger]

Half a million people lost their jobs and that’s good news in a liberal’s world......................

[evad]

Unemployment is becoming structural.
These jobs aren't coming back
The only growth is in government which means there is no "real" growth at all.

Onward to 13% unemp (actual will be 20% plus).

[evad]

I can’t remember when the media was so bullish on the economy as they have been the past 6 months.

Heh..they broadcasted a recession when there wasn't one and now they deny a recession when there is one.

Go figger.

[mmichaels1970]

And last week the number being spouted was 190,000

I think that is the NET job loss. The 500k jobs lost could be considered the GROSS jobs lost. But, to get an accurate reflection of how many more have lost their jobs, you need to subtract the people that have actually FOUND jobs.

Under healthy circumstances, 300k people would still be filing for first-time unemployment every week. However, the economy would be snapping back up...say 350k. So the unemployment rate would go down even though america "lost another 300 thousand jobs".

Of course the rate is much higher than the 10.2% since people who have stopped looking drop off the roles, and people who are working only part-time when they desire full-time aren't calculated as well.

At least that's the way I interpret it.

[evad]

Great quote..

"What I find interesting is that no one looks back to when the Democrats took control of Congress. In January 2007 the economy was strong, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood above 10,000 and was rising, and unemployment was 4.3%. The mess that Mr. Obama is now trying to clean up is the result of the 2007 Democratic Congress. And if you think that is bad, wait until you see the mess created by this Congress."

[syriacus]

There gets to be a point where employers find it unhelpful to get rid of more employees.

[cripplecreek]

There gets to be a point where employers find it unhelpful to get rid of more employees.

Yeah, it usually happens right before they find it unhelpful to keep the doors open any longer.

[Gaffer]

The one true unemployment number that REALLY counts is the vacancy statistic of the White House. Things will NOT improve until Obama is unemployed no matter how many worthless gambling markers he throws out (formerly called US Currency).

[cameraeye]

How low can they go? There is no one left to lay off or fire. I got the clue. Did you?

[org.whodat]

And how many fake start up businesses, not existing, on this weeks guesstimate. A voodoo 80,000 are more.

[Neoliberalnot]

We should all get wee-weed up because the ship is taking on water slower than it was last week.””

Not to mention that the additional 500K is a larger fraction of those that once had jobs. As the number of people still working continues to shrink, there are fewer workers available to lose jobs.

[jersey117]

Why are the reports worded to say "Jobless Claims Drop to..." instead of JOBLESS CLAIMS ARE 502,000. This is B.S. cover for obama.