The U.S. Department of Labor released the Weekly Claims data for Unemployment Insurance yesterday. Initial claims were at 481,000 for the week ending November 1st. This is up from the previous week's number of 479,000 but down from the recent high of 499,000 reached for the week ending September 27. The four week average of initial claims, which is not as volatile, was at 475,250 the same as the previous week.
Continued claims for unemployment insurance increased to 3,843,000 for the week ending October 25th up from the previous week's number of 3,721,000. This is the highest it has been since February 1983. The four week average for continued claims was also up to 3,754,000 from 3,711,000.
Initial claims is faster to move up and signals increases in the unemployment rate. Continued claims take longer to go down than the initial claims once the unemployment rate is elevated. The Unemployment rate doesn't drop until continued claims start to come down.
Unemployment is on the rise. According to "The Employment Situation" for October 2008 released today by the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate was 6.5% in October up from 6.1% in September. Since 1948, the unemployment rate has never risen by more than .5% in a 12 month span without entering into a recession. The unemployment rate is now up 1.7% in the last twelve months and is up 1.8% from its recent low. Nonfarm payrolls decreased by 240,000 in October, by 127,000 in August and 284,000 in September. They also revised up the number of jobs lost in August and September significantly. The previously reported jobs lost were 73,000 in August and 159,000 in September. Not only did the economy lose 240,000 jobs this month, but 179,000 more jobs were lost in the previous month than was reported earlier.
Nonfarm payrolls have declined for 10 straight months with a net loss of 1,179,000. Last month the reported number was 760,000 jobs over 9 months. That is a huge increase. Over the last ten years, nonfarm payrolls have increased by an average of 107,000 jobs a month to keep up with the increasing population. Nonfarm payrolls rarely decrease outside of recession periods and it is even more rare for consecutive declines. Excluding periods right before, during and after recessions, nonfarm payrolls have declined consecutively only two times: 3 consecutive times in 1951 and 2 consecutive times in 1952. At least in regards to employment, the U.S. is in a state of recession. Some sectors, like manufacturing, are just now starting to slow down. The unemployment rate will most likely continue to rise at a fast pace in the coming months.
Sphere: Related Content
1 comment:
Jobless rates today bolted to an eye-popping 6.5 percent. This tells of many things but 2 things in particular – 1) Businesses both large and small are struggling and 2) after we reach the bottom of this recession, there will be many positions to be filled by companies, large and small.
Listen to the tone of airwaves, minus the recent election of President-elect Obama, everything has been so negative! Honestly, think about how negatively our society portrays almost every situation. Acquiring a negative perspective is easy, but stand up and make a statement about yourself – tell yourself you will not victim to this negative jargon! If you find yourself in a hole, ask yourself this question: what will more likely improve your chances of being successful – continuing with a negative outlook or transforming your thought patterns into a positive outlook?
I work with many high level c-level executives that have experienced tremendous success in their life. The one binding characteristic between all of them is that they do not let external, uncontrollable factors influence their inner dialogue and visions for future success. In fact, many of these people use a vision board – a collage of images that symbolize personal goals success - to help them keep focused on their positivity and desired outcomes. I might suggest using one yourself if you are currently in a rut. You should look at the helpful information on how to make one over at www.TheVisionBoardKit.com.
Post a Comment