I was going to post this yesterday, but there was something about the numbers that just didn’t make sense to me so I decided to hold off until I could dig through the report. Anyway, the Associated Press got to use it’s favorite adverb, “unexpectedly“, again today: The job market is lurching toward improvement. It […]
Economy
First-time Jobless Claims Rise Unexpectedly… Again
This is getting ridiculous, and as predictable as sunrise… Just how many times can new jobless claims rise “unexpectedly” before the Associated Press realizes there’s nothing unexpected about it: The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, evidence that layoffs are continuing and jobs remain scarce. The […]
Train Wreck: Retail Sales Fall, Jobless Claims Rise, Foreclosures set Record and the Dollar Crisis
Whew, I can’t believe I got all that in headline! Anyone who has read this blog for any period of time knows I’m a pessimist on the economy, in short I don’t see any reason to be hopeful: Retail sales unexpectedly fell in December, leaving 2009 with the biggest yearly drop on record and highlighting […]
Commerce Department Revises 3rd Quater GDP Downward… Again
Two months the media and Obama Administration were trumpeting the announcement that third quarter GDP had grown at an annualized rate of 3.5%. Unfortunately, their celebrations were a bit premature the Commerce Department today announced their final estimate of third quarter GDP… Not surprisingly third quarter GDP was a lot lower than they originally estimated: […]
AP: What Recovery?
The Associated press has been one of the President’s biggest cheerleaders but with unemployment now topping ten percent even they’re asking What recover? Just when it was beginning to look a little better, the economy relapsed Friday with a return to double-digit unemployment for only the second time since World War II and warnings that […]
Ouch: Unemployment Climbs to 10.2%
Ouch, unemployment climbed to a 26 year high in October as as more than 558,000 Americans lost their jobs in October: In another sign that workers are being left out of the budding economic recovery, the U.S. unemployment rate climbed to 10.2% in October, topping the 10% mark for the first time in 26 years. […]
Third Quarter GDP Rises to 3.5%… But…
From Reuters: The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter for the first time in more than a year as government stimulus helped lift consumer spending and home building, fueling an unexpectedly strong advance. Signaling the end of the worst recession in 70 years, the Commerce Department on Thursday said the economy expanded at an […]
Nancy Pelosi: Value-Added Tax is “On the Table”
I’ve mentioned before that the Democrats were laying the groundwork for a European style Value Added Tax or VAT… I wish I could tell you I was wrong but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed that a VAT tax is “on the table” during an appearance on the Charlie Rose show Monday night: A new value-added […]
Train Wreck: GDP Decline Twice as Bad as Obama Admnistration Forecast
Ouch, this isn’t good news for President Obama’s agenda… The White House has been using some pretty rosy economic forecasts to sell his agenda. However, those rosy forecasts have finally crashed head-on into economic reality. In short, GDP declined roughly twice as much as they predicted and their out year deficit forecasts will be roughly […]
Retail Sales Fall, Jobless Claims and Foreclosures Rise In July
Recovery, what recovery??? There’s no good news in the economic data released today… If President Obama and the Democrats in Congress where hoping improving economic indicators would help rescue their health care reform plans there out of luck. Retail Sales fell 0.1 percent last month, while new jobless claims increased to a seasonally adjusted 558,000, […]
Unemployment Rate Falls to 9.4%… Sort of…
From Reuters: The U.S. unemployment rate fell in July for the first time in 15 months as employers cut far fewer jobs than expected, providing the clearest sign yet that the economy was turning around. Employers shed 247,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said Friday, the least in any one month since last August, […]
Obama Administration Putting Off Budget Update
The Associated Press is reporting that the Obama Administration is putting of releasing the annual mid-summer budget update until mid-August: The White House is being forced to acknowledge the wide gap between its once-upbeat predictions about the economy and today’s bleak landscape. The administration’s annual midsummer budget update is sure to show higher deficits and […]
Joe Biden: ‘We Have to Go Spend Money to Keep From Going Bankrupt’
From CNSNews.com: Vice President Joe Biden told people attending an AARP town hall meeting that unless the Democrat-supported health care plan becomes law the nation will go bankrupt and that the only way to avoid that fate is for the government to spend more money. “And folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today […]
Unemployment Climbs to 9.5 Percent
Unemployment climbed to its highest level in 26 years rising to 9.5 percent in June. All told, 14.7 million people were unemployed in June: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers cut far more jobs than expected last month and the unemployment rate hit 9.5 percent, the highest in nearly 26 years, underscoring the likelihood of a […]
House Passes Cap and Tax Bill 219-212
The House of Representatives passed President Barack Obama’s massive Cap and Trade energy tax bill by a vote 219-212 yesterday… 211 Democrats and eight Republicans voted for the bill. WASHINGTON — Landmark legislation to curb U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions was approved by the House of Representatives in a close vote late Friday, securing an initial victory […]