Here we go again… another week, another “unexpected” rise in new jobless claims: The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance unexpectedly surged last week, while producer prices increased sharply in January, raising potential hurdles for the economic recovery. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 31,000 to 473,000, the Labor Department [...]
Unemployment Rate Drops to 9.7%
February 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I was going to post this yesterday, but there was something about the numbers that just didn’t make sense to me so I decided to hold off until I could dig through the report. Anyway, the Associated Press got to use it’s favorite adverb, “unexpectedly“, again today: The job market is lurching toward improvement. It [...]
First-time Jobless Claims Rise Unexpectedly… Again
February 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This is getting ridiculous, and as predictable as sunrise… Just how many times can new jobless claims rise “unexpectedly” before the Associated Press realizes there’s nothing unexpected about it: The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, evidence that layoffs are continuing and jobs remain scarce. The [...]
Train Wreck: Retail Sales Fall, Jobless Claims Rise, Foreclosures set Record and the Dollar Crisis
January 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Whew, I can’t believe I got all that in headline! Anyone who has read this blog for any period of time knows I’m a pessimist on the economy, in short I don’t see any reason to be hopeful: Retail sales unexpectedly fell in December, leaving 2009 with the biggest yearly drop on record and highlighting [...]
Commerce Department Revises 3rd Quater GDP Downward… Again
December 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Two months the media and Obama Administration were trumpeting the announcement that third quarter GDP had grown at an annualized rate of 3.5%. Unfortunately, their celebrations were a bit premature the Commerce Department today announced their final estimate of third quarter GDP… Not surprisingly third quarter GDP was a lot lower than they originally estimated: [...]
Ouch: Unemployment Climbs to 10.2%
November 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Ouch, unemployment climbed to a 26 year high in October as as more than 558,000 Americans lost their jobs in October: In another sign that workers are being left out of the budding economic recovery, the U.S. unemployment rate climbed to 10.2% in October, topping the 10% mark for the first time in 26 years. [...]
Third Quarter GDP Rises to 3.5%… But…
October 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment
From Reuters: The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter for the first time in more than a year as government stimulus helped lift consumer spending and home building, fueling an unexpectedly strong advance. Signaling the end of the worst recession in 70 years, the Commerce Department on Thursday said the economy expanded at an [...]
Nancy Pelosi: Value-Added Tax is “On the Table”
October 7, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I’ve mentioned before that the Democrats were laying the groundwork for a European style Value Added Tax or VAT… I wish I could tell you I was wrong but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed that a VAT tax is “on the table” during an appearance on the Charlie Rose show Monday night: A new value-added [...]
Train Wreck: GDP Decline Twice as Bad as Obama Admnistration Forecast
August 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Ouch, this isn’t good news for President Obama’s agenda… The White House has been using some pretty rosy economic forecasts to sell his agenda. However, those rosy forecasts have finally crashed head-on into economic reality. In short, GDP declined roughly twice as much as they predicted and their out year deficit forecasts will be roughly [...]
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