Political Economy category archive

For all practical purposes, stasis with slight hints of improvement.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell by 31,000 to 292,000 in the week ended Sept. 7, which also included the Labor Day holiday, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 330,000 applications.

The decrease in filings doesn’t signal a change in job-market conditions because most of it was caused by computer-network conversions in the two states, according to a Labor Department spokesman.

(snip)

Estimates for jobless claims in the Bloomberg survey of 50 economists ranged from 315,000 to 350,000. The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, fell to 321,250 last week, the lowest since October 2007, from 328,750.

I was late checking the news of the jobbed and jobless because I had somewhere to go and something to do.

I remember when employees first were given the right to shift their funds about in their IRAs.

Something would happen and, the next day, some folks would be on the phone moving money from “high-risk” to “low-risk” funds or vicey versey.

It was silly, stupid, and often self-defeating. Closing the barn door after the horse etc.

At MarketWatch, George Sisti explains to whom to turn:

They (investors–ed.) need advice from Mr. Perspective. He understands that 99% of this week’s news stories are isolated, random events that will never make it into the history books. He knows that the endless predictions offered by the media are not only worthless, they suffer from a profound lack of imagination. He’ll remind us that Armageddon has been a no-show and that the odds are pretty good that the world won’t end anytime soon. He warns of the danger of fixating on what is possible instead of what is most probable.

More from his expert at the link.

Via C&L.

For all practical purposes, the patient is stable, but not improving.

Jobless claims declined by 9,000 to 323,000 in the week ended Aug. 31, less than the lowest estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, from a revised 332,000, according to Labor Department data issued today in Washington. Another report showed productivity climbed more than previously estimated in the second quarter.

(snip)

The jobless claims report showed the four-week moving average, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, declined to 328,500 last week, the lowest since October 2007, from 331,500.

The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits declined by 43,000 to 2.95 million in the week ended Aug. 24. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.

When I worked for Amtrak, I had the privilege of knowing and working with some of the old Pullman porters and waiters. I did not know them well, but they worked hard and took pride in their work.

At least, with Amtrak, they had their own names.

Ron Pedersen, Jr., reminds us that Labor Day is about Labor, not beer and skittles, and finds precedent:

According to the beliefs of my other job, God invented time off by instructing the ancient Hebrews to rest for a whole day, a Sabbath. And not only them, but their employees, too; something unheard of at that time. It applied to everyone, rich and poor alike, so it probably ranks as the first equal-opportunity mandate.

It is not uncommon to find American businesses today that, like Pharaoh, always demand more. More sales. More production. Beat last year’s or last quarter’s figures. Work harder; work faster. We even have an entire industry of energy drinks dedicated to help make it happen.

But the deeper relevance of the Pharaoh story for today is the question of who benefits from the increased production. What did the Hebrew slaves get in return for their extra labors? Nothing. Egypt’s splendor was built on their backs.

Read the rest.

For all practical purpose, flat.

Jobless claims in the week ended Aug. 24 dropped 6,000 to 331,000 from a revised 337,000 the week before that was higher than initially reported, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The median forecast of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a drop to 332,000.

(snip)

The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits dropped by 14,000 to 2.99 million in the week ended Aug. 17. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figures, rose to 331,250 last week from 330,500 the previous week.

Bloomberg’s “experts” were pretty close.

As my old boss used to say, “Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.”

Slight positive trend and one surprise:

The fewest workers in more than five years applied for U.S. unemployment benefits over the past month, indicating the labor market continues to improve.

The number of claims in the month ended Aug. 17 declined to 330,500 a week on average, the least since November 2007, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. Compared with a week earlier, claims rose by 13,000 to 336,000, in line with the median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

(snip)

The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits increased by 29,000 to 3 million in the week ended Aug. 10. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.

(snip)

Those who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments decreased by about 51,800 to 1.5 million in the week ended Aug. 3.

The surprise is that Bloomberg’s “experts” were in the ballpark.

A. P. Ticker on the attempts to destroy public schools in Philadelphia:

It’s not just in Philly, pholks.

Just what is the fascination of Ayn Rand?

Thom tries to figure it out.

Marginally better:

Claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly dropped last week to the lowest level in almost six years, signaling the U.S. job market continues to mend.

(snip)

The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits dropped by 54,000 to 2.97 million in the week ended August 3. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.

As near as I can reckon, sequestrian “furloughs” are not taken into account, as the “furloughed” do not qualify as “unemployed”; statistics on “screwed” are harder to collect.