Average for US jobless claims at fresh 5-year low

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid barely changed last week, while the average over the past month fell to a fresh five-year low. The decline in layoffs is helping strengthen the job market.

Weekly unemployment benefit applications rose just 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 336,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Over the past four weeks, the average number of applications has dropped by 7,500 to 339,750. That's the lowest since February 2008, just three months into the recession.

Separately, sales of previously occupied homes rose last month to their highest level in more than three years, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. And a measure of future U.S. economic growth increased in February for the third straight month, according to the Conference Board, a business research group.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130321/DA55ISE80.html

[SleeplessinSoCal]

1. Speaking with Charlie Rose, Leonhardt brought up that despite growth in housing construction,

Few jobs come with it as machines are now taking the place of many workers. Until we talk about this nationally, problems will divide and destroy us.

"David Leonhardt, the New York Times Washington bureau chief and author of the e-book: "Here's the Deal: How Washington Can Solve the Deficit and Spur Growth” and Alan Blinder, Professor at Princeton University and former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve"

reference to good news on construction: http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Paper-Economy/2013/0319/Housing-construction-shows-broad-growth-in-February

reference to treatment of workers: http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2012/01/the-workers-are-animals-lets-replace-them-with-robots.html

How does "Capitalism" work for people in the future?

[Safetykitten]

2. Yes, all those people that left the rolls because they can't find work are almost all gone.

Happy Days!

[pediatricmedic]

3. Millions have dropped off the rolls to make the numbers look good

[Proletariatprincess]

6. you are correct, pediaticmedic

I am always skeptical of any employment statistics in this country. I have read that we do not keep records as accurate as those in Europe and that is by design. This way we can brag that unemployment is not as bad here as it is there. We don't have a safety net here that is as effective either. In fact, making the minimum wage here is less rewarding than collecting unemployment in some Eurpean countries.

[BootinUp]

8. This is a better measure

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12300000

Basically it shows a slow painful recovery that could go on for a long time. But we already knew that.

[pediatricmedic]

10. Yes, that is a better measure

I think the recovery is also going to last a long time. I thought we were in for a Japan style lost decade, but I think it will be even longer.

All those people that dropped from the rolls have families that are hurt by this.

[HiPointDem]

15. This is a better one, i think. It shows employed people; there are fewer than in 2009.

and employment has basically plateaued since 2000 (IOW, the 'lost decade' began with bush, and is moving into a lost two decades):




The one you posted is not as transparent because that's a ratio of employed to total population, and includes children and elderly in that ratio -- the percentage of elderly is getting bigger and not sure what's going on with kids.

[UrbScotty]

4. More proof of Barry Soetoro Muslim Obumbum's socialist antics!

[lib2DaBone]

5. If you are willing to work 80 hrs a week for $7 an hour....

Ya.. you can find a job if you are willing to work for $7 an hour.

Problem is... you can't feed a family of 3 on this wage. And of course, there are no benefits.

American workers sat silent and said nothing, while their jobs were sent to China. The politicians aided the corporations and the News media said nothing.

Now we are seeing the results.

[Third Doctor]

12. This is what I've been saying for a while.

People are finally waking up when the problem has hit the crisis point. Now it may be too late.

[DotGone]

13. I can't even get a job for $7/hr

and I've been unemployed for over 4 years. Even if I could work 80 hrs a week, they'd just garnish it to pay my student loans.

[BootinUp]

7. Any Teapublicans lurking that wish to comment?

Come out come out wherever you are.

[magic59]

9. Yes those high paying burger manufacturing jobs are finally paying off

Now if we could just get the bed pans in production we will really be set.

[Rozlee]

11. I was hoping that the ACA would create more jobs.

With more than 5 million people being eligible for healthcare around the country now, you'd think you'd need more people to care for them, more supplies to be shipped to them, more products healthcare specialists would need produced, more ancillary services that would spring up to supply the demand and more personnel that would be trained and hired to take on the larger numbers of newly insured. But, I don't see any budge in the job numbers so far. Maybe it's too soon or the services are being underserved or overwhelmed. Some of the old timers in nursing I know told me that when Medicare/Medicaid first came on the scene, within a year, the job market was crying for more doctors, nurses, ward clerks, and all types of personnel. They had to hire from overseas to keep up with the need for some professional workers.

[HiPointDem]

14. The aim of aca is to save money. Ergo, it's not going to create many jobs. Health care

is already 18% of US GDP, the highest in the world.

Like most everything else that's wrong with the US, the large proportion of GDP devoted to healthcare (without any recognizable improvement in actual health) began in the reagan years and was a function of privatization.