Durable Goods Orders Down, Jobless Aid Up

[La_Serpiente]

Durable Goods Orders Down, Jobless Aid Up

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for expensive U.S. factory goods dropped unexpectedly in January while claims for jobless aid rose a bit last week, according to government reports on Thursday that offered mixed economic news.

Orders for durable goods -- items meant to last three years or more -- slid 1.8 percent last month after an upwardly revised gain of 1.6 percent in December, the Commerce Department said.

Demand for cars and aircraft fell sharply. Excluding transport equipment, orders were up a solid 2.0 percent.

While overall orders were much weaker than expected on Wall Street, where economists had looked for a 1.4 percent rise, the report suggested further gains ahead for business spending, which is seen as crucial for a sustained recovery.

more...

Durable Goods Orders Down, Jobless Aid Up

[mhr]

1. 239,454 American Jobs Lost In January Per The BLS

For all those that continue to claim the economy is getting better consider the latest from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

".... the number of workers involved totaled 239,454. ... This marked the most events for a January and the third highest January level of mass-layoff initial claims since the series began. Both the number of layoff events and initial claims were higher than a year ago.January 2004 marked only the third time in the last two years that initial claims had increased over the year."

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.nr0.htm

[GainesT1958]

4. Hmmm...with that stat, I guess it means that Dub will now have to wait...

Until May 2008 to show any "net gain" in jobs during his squattage...hopefully, though, May 2008 won't BE during his squattage!:D

B-)

[Frodo]

7. Does a job loss hurt more or less if 50 people lost it with you?

This stat only seems to reflect the number of people who lost their jobs in "mass layoffs". If the "initial filing" figure is essentially unchanged over the last several weeks, does this mean that fewer people are being laid off individually and more are being laid off in groups of 50 or more?

If so, what difference does it make?

[GainesT1958]

2. Only Wall Street could look positively at THOSE numbers...

After all, when companies cut jobs en masse, Wall Street thinks it means those firms are getting "leaner and meaner". Yet those same companies just add the jobs back overseas. Wonder what would happen if the big INVESTMENT FIRMS suddenly decided to do that? :eyes:

B-)

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. Hopefully, this will lead to President # 44, John F. Kerry!

:bounce:

Bush, the jury is in, you are a MISERABLE FAILURE!

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[Renew Deal]

5. Wow. Durable goods was supposed to go up.

Watch the markets. Consumer confidence went down too.

[hatrack]

6. You know, if I were leading a platoon in staging an ambush . . .

I couldn't hope for a better target than a group of economists and Wall Street analysts.

Every time you turn around, they're being surprised by reality.