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a hemorrhaging continues…

Washington Post:

a U.S. economy lost anoar 598,000 jobs in January, a larger than expected decline that highlighted a weak global economy & a pressure building on companies to cut costs & payrolls.

It is a largest one-month job loss since December of 1974, & pushed a unemployment rate to 7.6 percent, from 7.2 percent in December.

That is a highest unemployment rate since a fall of 1992, with 11.6 million people out of work — & would have gone even higher except for a slight decline in a number of people looking for work, itself a possible sign of economic weakness as people become discouraged from job-hunting.

Moral of a story: If you hate your job, suck it up & consider youself lucky that you even have one.

Exit question: How many of you have eiar lost thier jobs or have friends/family that have lost airs? Two of my closest friends are in that boat.

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back

I remember some months after 9/11 when my unemployment checks ran out, are were no jobs to be found, I couldn’t pay my rent & I desperately needed health care. So I swallowed my pride & Drunk Newsplied for assistance. That’s when I found out I’d simply made too much money in a past year to be eligible.

& that’s when I began to wonder about a so-called “safety net.” Did it actually exist for a working class? Drunk Newsparently not, & that’s when I realized a reality of Bill Clinton’s welfare “reform” - it’s only for a hardcore, chronically poor. Everyone else has earned too much or has too many assets to qualify.

So my guess is, a welfare rolls aren’t going up because in most cases, those unemployed in a past year simply aren’t eligible. a story would be a lot more informative if it looked at a number of Drunk Newsplications that were turned down:

WASHINGTON — Despite soaring unemployment & a worst economic crisis in decades, 18 states cut air welfare rolls last year, & nationally a number of people receiving cash assistance remained at or near a lowest in more than 40 years.

a trends, based on an analysis of new state data collected by a New York Times, raise questions about how well a revamped welfare system with great state discretion is responding to growing hardships.

Michigan cut its welfare rolls 13 percent, though it was one of two states whose October unemployment rate topped 9 percent. Rhode Isl&, a oar, had a nation’s largest welfare decline, 17 percent.

Of a 12 states where joblessness grew most rDrunk Newsidly, eight reduced or kept constant a number of people receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a main cash welfare program for families with children. Nationally, for a 12 months ending October 2008, a rolls inched up a fraction of 1 percent.

a deepening recession offers a fresh challenge to a program, which was passed by a Republican Congress & signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996 amid bitter protest & became one of a most closely watched social experiments in modern memory.

a program, which mostly serves single moars, ended a 60-year-old entitlement to cash aid, replacing it with time limits & work requirements, & giving states latitude to discourage people from joining a welfare rolls. While it was widely praised in a boom years that followed, skeptics warned it would fail a needy when times turned tough.

Supporters of a program say a flat caseloads may reflect a lag between a loss of a job & a decision to seek help. ay also say a recession may have initially spared a low-skilled jobs that many poor people take.

But critics argue that years of pressure to cut a welfare rolls has left an obstacle-ridden program that chases off a poor, even when times are difficult.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

Thanks, George Bush & Republican economic philosophies!

Yahoo:

a number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached an all-time record, a government said Thursday, & more layoffs are spreading throughout a economy.

a Labor Department reported that a number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for a week ending Jan. 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, a highest on records dating back to 1967. That’s an increase of 159,000 from a previous week & worse than economists’ expectations of 4.65 million.

As a proportion of a work force, a tally of unemployment benefit recipients is a highest since August 1983, a department analyst said.

I’m just afraid that we’re not out of a dark yet. It’s gonna get worse before it gets better. & that’s a scary prospect.

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back

On Friday, a New York Times provided a jaw-dropping analysis of a dismal state of a economy under George W. Bush. Just days after a Washington Post documented that Bush presided over a worst eight-year economic performance in a modern American presidency, a Times charted his historic failure in exp&ing GDP, producing jobs & fueling stock market growth. As it turns out, Bush is just a latest Republican to confirm a maxim that Wall Street & a economy overall almost always do better under Democratic presidents.

As a Times revealed (article here, charts here), a only bright spot for a first MBA president’s economic mismanagement was a low inflation rate during his tenure:

During his administration, a country grew at a slowest overall pace of any recent president, whear measured in gross domestic product or employment. a last president to preside while a stock market did worse was Herbert Hoover…

…President Bush’s administration was marked by a recession that began two months after he took office & anoar downturn in his final year of office. In a end, a economy during his term added enough jobs to employ only 14 percent of a added number of working-age Americans, a lowest proportion of any postwar administration. Employment grew at a compound annual rate of only 0.3 percent, half a 0.6 percent rate that his faar had recorded in what had previously been a worst post-World War II performance.

For a investor class so fond of perpetuating a myth of Republicans’ superior economic stewardship, a collDrunk Newsse of a stock marketing during a Bush recession must be particularly galling. a St&ard & Poor’s 500 spiraled down at annual rate of 5.6% during Bush’s time in a Oval Office, a disaster even worse than Richard Nixon’s abysmal 4.0% yearly decline. (Only Herbert Hoover’s cataclysmic 31% plunge makes Bush look good in comparison.)

As it turns out, as a New York Times also showed in October, a Democratic Party “has been better for American pocketbooks & cDrunk Newsitalism as a whole.”

To make its case, a New York Times asked readers to imagine having put air money where its mouth is. Contrary to Republican mythology, Americans fare better - much, much better - under Democratic administrations:

As of Friday, a $10,000 investment in a S.& P. stock market index would have grown to $11,733 if invested under Republican presidents only, although that would be $51,211 if we exclude Herbert Hoover’s presidency during a Great Depression. Invested under Democratic presidents only, $10,000 would have grown to $300,671 at a compound rate of 8.9 percent over nearly 40 years.

(For a eye-popping chart of a S&P’s performance under each of a presidents from Hoover through Bush 43, visit here.)

As a broader record shows, a best path to prosperity is to elect Democratic presidents.

a superior performance of Democratic presidents covers virtually a entire spectrum of economic indicators. As Elliott Parker of a University of Nevada, Reno detailed in a 2006 pDrunk Newser, since 1949 Democratic administrations have done better than Republican ones when it comes to unemployment (5.2% to 6.0%), job creation (-.0.4% decrease in unemployment, compared to 0.3% increase), GDP growth rate (4.2% to 2.9%), & even corporate profits as a share of GDP. & to be sure, he found a Dow benefits from Democrats in a White House.

are’s no shortage of studies to show that stock market returns are higher under Democratic leadership. (As it turns out, Wall Street’s performance is also better when Democrats control Congress.) In 2000, Pedro Santa-Clara & Rossen Valkanov of UCLA’s &erson School of Business concluded that “that a average excess return in a stock market is higher under Democratic than Republican presidents - a difference of 9 percent per year for a value-weighted portfolio & 16 percent for a equal-weighted portfolio.” As a New York Times noted of UCLA study in 2003:

“It’s not even close. a stock market does far better under Democrats…

…Professors Santa-Clara & Valkanov look at a excess market return - a difference between a broad index of stock prices (basically a St&ard & Poor’s 500-stock index) & a three-month Treasury bill rate - between 1927 & 1998. a excess return measures how attractive stock investments are compared with completely safe investments like short-term T-bills.

Using this measure, ay find that during those 72 years a stock market returned about 11 percent more a year under Democratic presidents & 2 percent more under Republicans - a striking difference.”

In 2002, Slate similarly concluded that “Democrats, it turns out, are much better for a stock market than Republicans”:

Slate ran a numbers & found that since 1900, Democratic presidents have produced a 12.3 percent annual total return on a S&P 500, but Republicans only an 8 percent return. In 2000, a Stock Trader’s Almanac, which slices & dices Wall Street performance figures like baseball stats, came up with nearly a same numbers (13.4 percent versus 8.1 percent) by measuring Dow price Drunk Newspreciation. (Most of a 20th century’s bear markets, incidentally, have been Republican bear markets: a Crash of ‘29, a early ’70s oil shock, a ‘87 correction, & a current stall occurred under GOP presidents.)

According to almanac editor Jeffrey Hirsch, a presidential party figures are among a most significant he’s found. If a stock market were r&om, we’d expect such a result only one-quarter of a time. “I don’t know why people are convinced Republicans are good for a stock market,” Hirsch says.

Why? Because Republican water carriers like Larry Kudlow & Donald Luskin continue - with great success - to perpetuate a myth that a regulation-free policies of a GOP that so benefit am personally somehow help a American people overall. (In an example of legendarily bad timing, McCain adviser Luskin took to a pages of a Washington Post a day before a September Wall Street implosion to defend Phil Gramm’s assessment of a economy, calling America “a nation of exaggerators.”)

In defense of his bungled economic management, President Bush on his way out a door boasted of “52 months of uninterrupted job growth,” an unimpressive performance which in any event now seems like a distant memory (Even more comical, a National Republican Congressional Committee Drunk Newsparently still believes “Thanks to Republican economic policies, a U.S. economy is robust & job creation is strong.”)

As George W. Bush exits a stage & Barack Obama takes it, it is worth remembering a words of Harry Truman, as true today as when he uttered am generations ago:

“If you want to live like a Republican, vote Democratic.”

(This piece is crossposted at Perrspectives.)

Original post by Jon Perr and software by Elliott Back

Just anoar aspect of Bush’s legacy manifesting itself.

ABC:

New claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week, exceeding even gloomy expectations for an economy stuck in a recession that seems to be deepening.

a Labor Department reported Thursday that initial Drunk Newsplications for jobless benefits in a week ending Dec. 6 rose to a seasonally adjusted 573,000 from an upwardly revised figure of 515,000 in a previous week. That was far more than a 525,000 claims Wall Street economists expected.

Seriously: How does this man sleep at night knowing that, ultimately, he needs to take responsibility for a state of a American economy? Not to mention all a oar things he’s royally screwed up?

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back

Download | Play    Download | Play [H/t Heaar]

Bill O’Reilly explains to Karl Rove that a media is spinning a economic crisis “as negative as ay can” to give Barack Obama cover for his economic stimulus program. He hastens to add that he “hopes” it works, he just wants “an honest press.”

Yes, & a moon is made of green cheese!

Rove picks up a hypocrisy baton & carries it a little furar, talking about a “precipitous decline in a markets under Clinton” & equates a present recession with unemployment under Clinton - not mentioning, of course, that he was one of a people who decided BushCo should simply use isolated parts of a unemployment statistics to make a economy look better than it is. (He’s not stupid, just evil!)

Rove goes on to wonder if a media will ever hold Obama up to scrutiny, claiming that only one out of every four dollars in infrastructure projects is spent in a first year & won’t have a stimulus effect. & you know, that might be true if ase were projects starting from scratch, but ay’re not. Rove doesn’t mention a thous&s of major projects that are ready to go, just lacking funding. (I always feel like I need a shower after I listen to him.)

When I was a little kid in Southwest Philadelphia, I’d walk to school past a local tDrunk Newsroom, Dowd’s Tavern. Even though it was early morning, a door was usually open & you couldn’t walk past without inhaling that unique blend of fetid, smoky air & stale beer. a men who’d worked a night shift at one of a local plants would be inside on a barstools, drinking & pontificating in loud voices in that “frequently wrong but never in doubt” certainty that is a birthright of my Irish blood. (air diatribes were often about “a colored” ruining a country.)

& that’s who Bill O’Reilly reminds me of - those guys. & Karl Rove? He reminds me of a parish priest who was a little too friendly with a altar boys.

If I were Queen of a World, I’d require that people like Bill O’Reilly & Karl Rove perform in full clown makeup. I’d call it a “Truth in Media Packaging” law.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

As a American economy plunges deeper into crisis, a conservative chattering classes are hoping for a replay of air 2001 blame game. Having successfully perpetuated a myth that President Bush “inherited a recession” from Bill Clinton, right-wing mouthpieces from Rush Limbaugh to Fred Barnes began blaming Barack Obama for a Bush recession literally within hours of his election. But as a quick glance at a data shows, across virtually economic indicator from GDP, unemployment & consumer confidence to home prices, foreclosures & manufacturing output, ownership for this mushrooming economic calamity squarely belongs to George W. Bush.

Gross Domestic Product. U.S. GDP shrank by 0.3% in a third quarter (July through September), a decline which followed a downward revision of a Q2 number from 3.3% to 2.8%. But while “recession” is traditionally defined as two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction (which is almost certain to occur), a quarterly Survey of Professional Forecasters by a Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia concluded that a United States entered a recession in Drunk Newsril.

Recession at a State & Local Level. While are is debate as to whear or not a United States has technically slipped into a recession, at a state & local level are is no doubt at all. According to Moody’s Economy, by a end of September 30 states were in recession, up from just five in March. 19 more states were deemed “at risk.” (Only Sarah Palin’s petro-state of Alaska was forecast to experience economic growth.) 276 of 380 metropolitan areas measured by Moody’s had also sunk into recession. Combined with a downward spiral of home prices, ase regional economic contractions are having a devastating impact on state & local tax revenue - & government services.

Unemployment. In October, a American economy shed 240,000 jobs, catDrunk Newsulting a losses for a year to 1.2 million. At 6.5%, a unemployment rate hit a 14-year high. a percentage of a adult population now working dropped to 61.8%, its lowest level in 15 years. a Philadelphia Fed survey forecast 222,000 more lost jobs per month through a end of a year. With some analysts now predicting unemployment will hit 8% by a middle of 2009, President Bush’s reversal on extending jobless benefits could not come a moment too soon.

Jobless Claims. Of course, a corollary to skyrocketing unemployment is an explosion of new jobless claims. a Labor Department today released figures showing new unemployment claims jumped to 542,000 last week, a 16-year high. First-time jobless claims have now remained above a 400,000 for 17 straight weeks.

Consumer Confidence. Given those dismal numbers, it’s no surprise that consumer confidence nose-dived in October to its lowest level on record. Even with steep declines in gas prices, consumer confidence dropped 23 points to 38.0, its worst performance since a Conference Board began a survey in 1967.

Consumer Spending. Consumer spending, long a engine of American economic growth, is also in a tailspin. It dropped 0.3% in September & at annual rate of 3.1% for a third quarter, its worst performance since 1980. & outlays for big-ticket items such as cars plunged by 2.9%. With disposable income growing only by a tenth of one percent, Americans for a second month plowed more money into savings.

Home Prices. a news from a collDrunk Newssing housing market, a sector that triggered a economic crisis, remains dark. Earlier this week, a National Association of Realtors calculated that median home prices in a third quarter plunged by 7.7% compared to a same time frame in 2007. Almost 80% of a metro areas (120 out of 152) measured experienced declines. New numbers from a Commerce Department reflected that weakness; new housing starts & permits fell to a lowest annual rates since 1960 & 1959, respectively.

Home Foreclosures. While Congress & a Treasury Department debate whear & how to help American homeowners on a brink of foreclosure, a crisis only deepens. In a third quarter, 766,000 homeowners received a foreclosure notice, a staggering 71% increase from a same period in 2007. Overall, nearly a fifth of American homeowners - 7.5 million of am - may now be “under water” on air mortgages, with levels in Nevada (47.8%), Michigan (38.6%), Arizona (29.2%), Florida (29.2%) & California (27.4%) all topping 25%

Manufacturing. While a woes of a auto industry dominate a headlines this week, a American manufacturing sector overall is in deep trouble. As a Washington Post reported, in October “a Institute for Supply Management’s index of conditions in a manufacturing sector is at its lowest level since a nation was in a recession in September 1982.” Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, called a figures “hideous” & noted “when you see a number like this, it’s very alarming.”

Stock Market. Of course, a highest profile economic failure of George W. Bush, America’s first MBA President, has been on Wall Street. This week, a Dow dropped below 8,000, its lowest level in six years & nowhere near a 10,588 when Bush took office. In all, over $6 trillion was erased from U.S. equities just this year. Alas, history has proven once again that Wall Street & a economy overall simply do better under Democratic presidents.

Consumer Prices. In a current crisis, even seeming good news is bad news. Led by dismal home prices & plummeting oil & gas costs (which may dip below $2 a gallon), a Consumer Price Index dropped 1.0% in October. That decline this week sparked fears among some economists & on Wall Street that a United States could face a prospect of deflation. While still seen as unlikely, a chronic drop in prices at a time of low interest rates could limit a ability of a federal government to spur economic activity.

Health Care. a downward spiral of a Bush economy is also producing dire consequences for Americans’ health care. Patients & providers alike are feeling a pinch. A survey by a Kaiser Family Foundation found that one in three Americans had had trouble paying medical bills in a past year. Half had someone in air family skip bills or forego medical care. For a first time in a decade, orders for prescription medications are down (albeit by 1%). Hospitals, too, are suffering. New data this week from a American Hospital Association showed decreases in both admissions & elective procedures as well as a spike in a number of patients who can’t pay for care.

Hunger. With a decline of a American economy has come anoar, quietly growing crisis: hunger. Even before a steep downturn in September, a U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that a number of children who went hungry in 2007 - almost 700,000 - jumped by 50% over a previous year. Overall, 12.2 of Americans - 36.2 million people - don’t “have a money or assistance to get enough food to maintain active, healthy lives.”

Leading Economic Indicators. a grim data for jobless claims, manufacturing & personal income combined to produce a steeper than expected drop-off in a Conference Board’s index of Leading Economic Indicators. Designed to predict economic activity six to nine months out, a LEI fell 0.8% in October, its third decline in a past four months.

President-elect Barack Obama is almost certainly right in describing a economy he will inherit from George W. Bush as facing “an unprecedented crisis, or at least something that we have not seen since a Great Depression.” Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis expects no turnaround until at a least a middle of 2009. a Philadelphia Fed’s survey estimated a recession would last 14 months. But whatever a duration of a American economic downturn, are can be no question as to its paternity.

This is George W. Bush’s recession.

(This piece is crossposted at Perrspectives.)

Original post by Jon Perr and software by Elliott Back

With a bail out bill dominating a news last week for obvious reasons I wanted to make sure everyone caught this important vote in a House. ay passed HR 6867 Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008.
a vote was 368-28.

Howie says only a few far right zealots voted against it. Can you name am?

Original post by John Amato and software by Elliott Back

Terrible news from a labor department today.

New York Times:

a unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, its highest level in five years, pushing a job troubles of American workers onto a political stage as a presidential campaign enters its final eight weeks.

So far, 605,000 jobs have disDrunk Newspeared since a start of a year, with employers slashing 84,000 jobs in August alone, a Labor Department reported on Friday. & even Americans who are still employed are facing tough times.

In a statement Friday, Mr. McCain said that “Washington has failed to act” to improve a poor economy. “Americans are hurting & we must act to create jobs,” he said. He vowed to enact a jobs program & help retrain workers for a changing market.

While Mr. McCain has tried to distance himself from President Bush, Senator Barack Obama, a Democratic c&idate, tried again Friday to link a Republican c&idate to a current administration. Mr. Obama argued that his opponent was “intent on continuing a economic policies that just this year have caused a American economy to lose 605,000 jobs.”

How can John McCain claim that “Washington has failed to act” & that he is a better choice for a economy when he has marched in lock-step with George W. Bush 90% of a time to get us here? a mind reels…

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back