Jobless claims suddenly jumped to a two-year high

[IronLionZion]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/12/economy/unemployment-benefits-jobless-claims/index.html

New York (CNN Business)The number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits suddenly jumped last week to the highest level in more than two years.

The number of initial claims rose to 252,000 in the week ending December 7, an increase of 49,000 from the number of claims filed the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday.

That's higher than the 213,000 claims economists had expected and marks the highest level since the week ending September 30, 2017.

Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab Chief Investment Strategist, called it "a somewhat-uncomfortable pop up" in a tweet, but said it was "too soon to declare it an uptrend."

Even though the pop in claims was notable, just one data point doesn't make a trend. Last week's data could be an outlier due to seasonal noise, given the timing around the Thanksgiving holiday on November 28.

Looks like some people are left out of the winning economy. Maybe the solution for them is more tax cuts.

[gratuitous]

1. Those newly jobless already got a tax cut!

No income, no tax. See? Winning!

[sandensea]

2. The Trump slump

His trade wars, his deficits, all the mayhem, his using Twitter to yo-yo the market for personal gain.

Economists - those paying attention anyway - have been warning for over a year now that all this could tip the economy into recession.

Even a mild one (and may it be mild) would be enough to deny the Orange Menace a 2nd term.

[Wounded Bear]

3. WE're getting back to where Unemployment pays more than minimum wage...

in far too many places. If you really want to incentivize people to go back to work you have to pay them.



Meanwhile, we've been incentivizing investors to sit on their earnings for decades. There are no benefits to investors feeding money back into the economy by creating jobs any more.

Trickle down economics is working fine, it's a system designed to make rich people richer and shove working people onto the streets.

[Backseat Driver]

4. Fudged numbers all around...

DH was hired for a non-seasonal position in early November and has yet to be notified of a work schedule despite 35 hrs of availability nor has he received notification he's been laid off/terminated and that after checking in with HR/training personnel twice. I'm very suspicious it was just to fudge Labor Dept numbers and/or identity theft of sensitive personal information from payroll forms and who knows if instead of a just passing both the background and a successful drug test they also sent the sample off to the DNA lab.

[marble falls]

5. Its all those GOP leaving the House.

[Johnny2X2X]

6. China Deal!

He's tweeting about a deal with China today as a distraction. The US and China aren't even talking but the markets still respond to his bullshit distractions.

[Wellstone ruled]

7. Have been screaming about the Juiced Numbers for

two plus years.

The Orange Anus said he would make those Jobs numbers look "beautiful".

[kimbutgar]

8. The trucking company Celadon going bankrupt, Sears closures, Dress Barn and Forever 21

All being closed down in the next few months are gonna to make those numbers rise I. Jnauaryand February. The economy is slowing down and Christmas shopping numbers are not going to be great. The stores are not crowded like in the past.

[IronLionZion]

9. We've seen job losses in retail, trucking, coal, oil,

and more sectors. I bet a lot of people believed Trump's lies in those fields. One would think oil jobs would be booming with a Republican administration that claims to put America first. Jobs are more plentiful in big cities and harder to come by in small cities, towns, and rural areas.

We have not seen job losses in big liberal cities who have raised the minimum wage to help their lowest paid workers.