U.S. Labor Department posts
FeedPosted Feb 12th 2009 9:15AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Employees, Economic data, Recession
Well, at least the U.S. Senate passed the fiscal stimulus package this week, because there was no statistically-significant improvement in U.S. jobless claims, according to the U.S. Labor Department
announced Thursday. Claims remained above the troubling 600,000 level.
Initial jobless claims fell 8,000 to 623,000 for the week ending February 7. Claims for the previous week were revised to 631,000.
Initial jobless claims remain more than 90% higher than they were a year ago, as companies continue to cut employees amid falling demand.
Economists
surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected this week's initial jobless claims to total 610,000. The 4-week moving average also rose 24,000 to 607,500.
Continue reading The song remains the same, regarding U.S. jobless claims
Posted Feb 5th 2009 6:30PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Employees, Indices, S and P 500, DJIA
It looks like tomorrow could very well become yet another "hang on to your hat Friday" or another edition of "As The U.S. Economy Turns."
Still, hopefully it won't become another 'down goes the Dow' day with an extended visit from our old friend, you guessed it, Dow 8,000. But analysts and economists haven't ruled the latter out.
The reason? The January 2009 jobs report, to be released by the U.S. Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. EST.
Following nearly a week in which a Fortune 500 company announced a major downsizing daily, and on the heels of December 2008's loss of 524,000 jobs, most professionals in economics and public policy circles are preparing for another sobering jobs report.
Continue reading Traders preparing for another 'hang on to your hat' Friday
Posted Feb 5th 2009 12:45PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Good news, Economic data
Inflation -- the bane of earnings -- must always be watched, lest it rob the nation of return on investment.
Further, while the inflation hawks have been out in force, given the U.S.'s likely, record fiscal stimulus package and the Federal Reserve's doubling of its balance sheet, so far inflation remains tame.
Unit labor costs -- a key gauge of inflation, and one the Fed watches closely -- rose at a 1.8% annualized rate in Q4 2008, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday. Meanwhile, productivity in Q4 2008 rose at a 3.2% annualized rate.
Productivity measures output per hour worked. Economists say rising productivity usually leads to increases in income, as businesses can increase salaries/wages paid without increasing their per unit costs.
Continue reading So far, despite Fed, congressional actions, inflation remains tame
Posted Feb 5th 2009 9:15AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad news, Employees, Economic data, Recession
Yet another difficult data point for the U.S. economy: initial jobless claims surged 35,000 to 626,000 for the week ending January 31, the U.S. Labor Department
announced Thursday, as companies continued to cut employees amid falling demand.
Initial jobless claims are now more than 90% higher than they were a year ago.
Meanwhile, continuing claims rose 20,000 to a another record: 4.88 million. It was the highest continuing claims level since record keeping for the statistic began in 1967, the U.S. Labor Department said.
Continue reading U.S. initial jobless claims surge to 626,000
Posted Jan 29th 2009 10:00AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad news, Employees, Recession
The key stat is this week's U.S. unemployment data. Continuing claims, which rose 159,000 to a record 4.78 million Americans.
It was the highest continuing claims level since record keeping for the statistic began in 1967, the U.S. Labor Department
announced Thursday.
Economists note that the high continuing claims level reflects labor market stress, and the long time it takes for those downsized to find comparable employment. Few companies are filling vacancies, many major corporations have announced large lay-offs, and even temporary work assignments are declining, another negative sign for the labor market.
Continue reading U.S. continuing unemployment claims rise to record 4.78 million
Posted Jan 28th 2009 1:45PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Bad news, Employees, Economic data, Recession
When times are bad, and the news is bad, business journalists are frequently accused of being 'so negative' or publishing 'only bad news.'
When times are good, and the news is good, business journalists are frequently accused of being a propaganda organ for the current U.S. president, or Congress.
Lately, the former charge has been en vogue, amid the U.S. recession, and a recent survey by the U.S. Labor Department does not provide encouragement for a reversal: the department found that all 50 states in the U.S. registered an increase in their unemployment rate in December 2008,
The Associated Press reported. Continue reading All 50 U.S. states saw increases in unemployment in December
Posted Jan 22nd 2009 1:30PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad news, Employees, Economic data, Recession
No doubt Labor Department statisticians and media relations pros would love to release more pleasant news regarding jobless claims. But alas, they can't, if the job survey indicates otherwise.
U.S. weekly jobless claims approached 600k, rising 62,000 to 589,000 for the week ending January 17, the U.S. Labor Department
announced Thursday. Equally distressing: weekly claims are now an astounding 82% higher than the same period a year ago.
Economists
surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected this week's initial jobless claims to total 524,000. Claims for the previous week were revised to 519,250.
Also, continuing claims rose 97,000 to 4.607 million from last week's revised total of 4.51 million. Economists note that the high continuing claims level reflects labor market stress, and the long time it takes for those downsized to find comparable employment. Few companies are filling vacancies, and even temporary work assignments are declining, another negative sign for the labor market.
Continue reading U.S. weekly jobless claims approach 600k, now up 82% from year ago
Posted Jan 16th 2009 10:15AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Economic data, Recession
Worried about inflation? Cross that concern off your list, at least for the immediate quarters ahead.
Inflation at the consumer level remains lame, after consumer prices fell 0.7% in December 2008, the U.S. Labor Department
announced Friday, driven lower by an 8.3% plunge in energy prices and an 0.1% decline in food prices.
Even more important, for the year, consumer prices increased a minuscule 0.1% -- the consumer price index's smallest increase since 1954, when the CPI increased 0.7%.
Economists
surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected consumer prices to decrease 0.9% in December 2008, and 0.2% for all of 2008.
Economist David H. Wang told BloggingStocks Friday that even though massive amounts of dollars are being added to the U.S. economy via monetary policy and various stimulus packages, investors have to remember an enormous amount of money has been destroyed as a result of the financial crisis and the U.S. recession.
Continue reading U.S. records lowest yearly inflation since 1954
Posted Jan 13th 2009 7:00PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Bad news, Employees, Economic data, Recession
Yet another ignominious statistic to close out the nation's decade of descent. The United States now has 3.8 job seekers for every job vacancy, the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics
announced Tuesday.
What's more, the 3.8 job seeker stat in November 2008 is more than double the 1.8 job seekers per job vacancy stat recorded a year ago, in November 2007. The nation had 3.4 job seekers per vacancy in the previous month, October 2008.
Stat echos 1981-82 Reagan recessionEconomist David H. Wang said the large increase in the job seeker to vacancy ratio is bad news for the U.S. economy.
"These ratios are reminiscent of the Reagan recession [1981-1082], which was a bad recession, with unemployment rising above 10%," Wang said. "The large and increasing number of unemployed adults unable to find employment will substantially increase social service costs in the states, and lead to a host of other economic problems, including a continuance of a high number of home foreclosures."
Continue reading U.S. now has 3.8 job seekers for every job vacancy
Posted Jan 8th 2009 9:05AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Bad news, Employees, Economic data, Recession
There's an upside / downside to this week's jobless claims data.
While U.S.
weekly jobless claims actually fell 24,000 to 467,000, the total still is more than 40% higher than a year ago.
Meanwhile, continuing claims rose another 101,000 to 4.61 million -- the highest continuing claims total since December 1982. Economists note that the high continuing claims level reflects labor market stress, and the long time it takes for those downsized to find comparable employment. Few companies are filling vacancies, and even alternate and temporary work assignments are declining -- another negative sign for the labor market.
Economist Peter Dawson called the continuing claims level "horrible, indicative of extremely weak job creation conditions. The continuing claims level is approaching Reagan era recession totals, which was a bad recession."
Continue reading 'Horrible' jobless claims level remains at 26-year high
Posted Dec 18th 2008 10:55AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Employees, Economic data, Recession
U.S. weekly jobless claims fell 21,000 to 554,000,
the U.S. Labor Department announed Thursday, but economist Peter Dawson said the sticker is the elevated overall total.
"Any level above 500,000 is a recessionary total, and unfortunately, the 6-month outlook for a drop below that level is not promising," Dawson said.
Economists
surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected this week's initial jobless claims to total 560,000. Claims for the previous week were revised to 575,000.
In addition, the 4-week moving average rose 2,750 to 543,750. Economists view the 4-week average as a better indicator of unemployment conditions, as it smooths-out anomalies for strikes, holidays, or other idiosyncratic events.
Continue reading Little change in recession-level jobless claims
Posted Nov 20th 2008 9:55AM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad news, Employees, Economic data, Recession
What's the most-riveting statistic in this week's jobless claims report? Continuing claims, which surpassed 4 million for the first time.
Continuing claims rose 109,000 in the week ended November 8. Economists pay close attention to continuing claims because it provides them with a comprehensive indicator of long-term job market conditions.
Continuing claims have risen more than 45% in the past year, which is not good news for job aspirants or for corporate revenue and earnings moving forward, so says economist Peter Dawson.
"The 4 million continuing claims total means those laid off are having a hard time finding suitable, comparable employment. There are very few jobs available, which is the major reason behind the rise in the unemployment rate," Dawson said. "Further, without falling continuing claims, it's really hard for corporate revenue and earnings to increase, and of course the stock market's low level reflects this."
Meanwhile, U.S. initial jobless claims rose 27,000 to 542,000 for the week ended November 15, the U.S. Labor Department said. Claims for the previous week were revised to 515,000. Economists
surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected this week's initial jobless claims to total 505,000.
Continue reading Tell-tale stat: 4 million continuing U.S. unemployment claims
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