Celebrating 11,000 Lost Jobs a Week
565K new jobless claims, lowest level since Jan. By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER The Associated Press Thursday, July 9, 2009 8:55 AM WASHINGTON -- The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits last week fell to lowest level since early January, largely due to changes in the timing of auto industry layoffs. Continuing claims, meanwhile, unexpectedly jumped to a record-high. While layoffs are slowing, unemployed workers are having a difficult time finding new jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent last month and is expected to top 10 percent by the end of this year. New claims for unemployment insurance plummeted by 52,000 to 565,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's significantly below analysts' expectations of 605,000, according to Thomson Reuters. The last time new claims were below 600,000 was week of Jan. 24.
__________________________________________________ Well, there you have it. We're out of the woods. The number of employed Americans no longer employed, fell to its lowest level. It not only fell, it plummeted. Dropped like a rock, fell off a cliff, did the old layin-down-an-rollin-over thing. Of course it's a little more complicated if you're the fallee, of which there have been some 11,000 per week.
That means, on a 24/7 basis, some dude or dudette has lost their means of support and (no doubt) health insurance, if they even had any. Not pretty news to bring home and drop at the feet of the spouse like a tattered mouse. Bad kitty. But the market will no doubt be up tomorrow, because this astounding number was less than analyst expectations. Analysts are defined these days as the same guys who couldn't find their ass with both hands over the past two years. Elsewhere in the article, we are informed that "the non-seasonally adjusted figure increased by about 17,000 to 577,506 initial claims." Lest we forget, like Congress has forgotten, these are human beings-- fellow wrecked Americans--that we treat like statistics. How would you like the crashing and burning of your life to be described as a "seasonally adjusted figure?" Send a note to Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, or the Representative of your choice, to let them know. Perhaps even Mr. Obama. They just don't seem to understand it as much after an election as they did before.