Bloomberg: Jobless Claims Decrease More Than Forecast

[flpoljunkie]

Jobless Claims in U.S. Decrease More Than Forecast
By Bob Willis

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Fewer Americans than forecast filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, a sign job losses are slowing as the economy begins to recover.

Initial jobless claims dropped by 20,000 to 512,000 in the week ended Oct. 31, the fewest since January, from 532,000 the prior week. The number of people receiving jobless benefits fell to the lowest level since March, while those who had exhausted their allotment and were receiving extended payments climbed, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington.

Government stimulus measures such as the homebuyer tax credit are boosting consumer demand, helping to pull the economy out of its worst recession in seven decades. The government may report tomorrow that employers last month cut the fewest jobs in more than a year.

“We’ve been on a pretty solid downward trend of initial jobless claims,” Ellen Zentner, a senior economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., said in a interview with Bloomberg Radio in New York. “The recovery has taken hold.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0xr7KV9z2hQ&pos=2

[Clio the Leo]

1. We have to keep these numbers in mind for .... gulp......

..... whatever happens tomorrow.

[CoffeeCat]

4. What's going to happen tomorrow?

...and why didn't I get the memo? :-)

Is there supposed to be some important economic data released tomorrow?

[Clio the Leo]

6. Well, hopefully it WONT'T happen but....

http://seekingalpha.com/article/171467-friday-s-jobs-report-unemployment-bumps-10

[CoffeeCat]

11. Wasn't the official unemployment # announced today...

Someone told me it was 10.2--and that this was the number released today.

That's not good--at all. We weren't supposed to breach "10" until November.

USA Today had a good article today (11/6) about deflation and the unemployment
situation. Apparently, 36 percent of the unemployed, have been unemployed for
an extended period of time. That's what's so scary about the jobs situation.
Once people get unemployed, it's very difficult to find work again.

[SKKY]

12. Or perhaps we reached it earlier than expected, which means...

...we've bottomed earlier than expected, and will begin real recovery earlier than expected. I've seen that assertion made as well.

[CoffeeCat]

15. There's no basis...

...for believing that we've "bottomed out."

Foreclosures are expected to rise as creatively financed mortgages explode. We're still hemorrhaging jobs.

Consumer psychology is a huge problem. People aren't spending because they see reality--their friends, neighbors
and relatives unemployed and dealing with a financial shitstorm. Everyone is afraid they're going to be next, so
they're not spending as we once were.

I think our economy is permanently contracting--due to people coming to their senses about spending wisely and
being wise about their finances. How we were living and spending before was a magical fairy land--unsustainable.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. RiF: 20K expend UI benefits

[onenote]

8. what does RiF stand for?

Thanks.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. Reading is Fundamental

RummyisFrosted

[LiberalEsto]

3. J&J just announced 8000 layoffs

And the pre-Christmas Grinch layoffs, such a traditional way for companies to ruin workers' holidays, are coming soon.

[Craftsman]

5. When you cut a pigs throat eventually the bleeding slows

[Aramchek]

14. that wasn't the case in the Great Depression, the pig just kept bleeding

like it or not, Obama's actions have saved this Country from disaster.

[Jennicut]

7. Job losses may have slowed but now we have lots of people still out of work

Especially if we have lots of people exhausting their claims. The main thing is, when will we stop losing jobs?

[onenote]

9. the correct question is when will we see a net gain in jobs

We will always see several hundred thousand new jobless claims a month. The issue is when the number of people getting jobs will outnumber those losing them. That, I'm afraid, may be some time to come.

[SKKY]

13. When the number of jobless claims drops to 400K or below...

...that is an indication that the economy is creating jobs.

[Fire1]

16. There's a BIG difference in "unemployment claims" and the

ACTUAL number of unemployed.