jobless claims
Initial Jobless Claims totaled 565k, much better than the consensus of 603k and it’s the first reading below 600k since Jan 23rd. The key factor in the lower than expected # has to do with the auto sector. Historically in July automakers normally shut down plants but because Chrysler and GM had plant shut downs over the past few months due to their bankruptcies and just restarted them, we aren’t going to see the seasonal July shutdowns, thus the claims data was skewed lower artificially. Continuing Claims rose 159k from last week, were 173k more than expected and rose to a new record high and is evidence that while some people’s claims are running out, more people are filing initially and still many are having a tough time finding new jobs that are still collecting.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Unemployment:
Headline:
March 652,000 actual 853,000
April 504,000 actual 682,000
May 322,000 actual 631,000
June 467,000 actual 698,000
Source:http://economicedge.blogspot.com/2009/07/thunder-road-report-stop-inflation-or.html
whitepaper within
July 9th, 2009 at 11:17 am
PS Another way to look at it is this: In 2007 150,000,000 employed, now 26,000,000 are unemployed or under employed.
That is 17%.
Another thing to consider: Those auto jobs AREN’T coming back.
IMHO “much better than the consensus of 603″ is not something that should be within. First these numbers make the former Enron book cookers green with envy, second THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A JOBLESS ECONOMIC RECOVERY, third: This like derivatives has systemic risks, more jobs will be lost.
I’d stick to shadow stats for my job loss numbers – this BLS stuff is really BS
July 9th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Didn’t the holiday Friday have an impact on this number?