'Horrific' Jobs Report Renews Fears of Double-Dip Recession

[OhioChick]

Friday, 8 Jul 2011 | 10:42 AM ET

June's miserable jobs report has put the fear of a double dip recession back into the markets.

he U.S. economy added a paltry 18,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent from 9.1 percent as laid off government workers continued to join the ranks of the unemployed. There were also 44,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported for April and May.

"Even the hours worked slipped. It's just a horrific report. Unemployment going up is not good," said Marc Chandler, Brown Brothers Harriman chief currency strategist.

Stocks were battered, and bond yields slumped as investors rushed to the security of bonds. Investors also sold oil futures, which were rising before the report, and drove up the price of precious metals.

More: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43683875

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. "fear" of??? FEAR of??????

as in afraid we MIGHT be in a...recession?
MIGHT be?
who the hell thinks we have ever been OUT of the recession for the past few years?

What dimension do these people live in, for god's sakes.

[Carni]

2. NO KIDDING!

I must have missed the entire recovery because things have been freaking MISERABLE for the last 10 years.

[Fearless]

11. +10000

[locahungaria]

3. Maybe now the PTB will get a clue????

This is where the rubber meets the road.

[Doctor_J]

4. They've had a clue the entire time

This is going just the way they wanted it to.

[locahungaria]

5. I certainly won't disagree with you there!

I suppose my question was really more of a rhetorical one.

[Doctor_J]

6. The question is actually "Will the people get a clue"

since hate radio pretty much runs the country now, the answer is no.

[rbixby]

7. Isn't unemployment always higher in the summertime?

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. That is not the issue. Overall , employment has been dropping like a rock every year.

The issue is:

*the population increased by 176,000 but the household survey says that only 101,000 jobs were added.
That is, 75,000 fewer people were working when one adjusts for population change.

* both the workweek and hourly earnings decreased.
That is, while prices go up on commodities, including food and energy, your earnings are going down not only in inflation-adjusted terms but also in nominal terms!




source:

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?blog=Market-Ticker&page=2

[bhikkhu]

12. So the real problem is population

or rather that population is increasing steadily, while the economy has more or less sat still for ten years.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. uhhh..those are also different issues.

the population has increased steadily all thru this century, yet we have had periods of high employment during that time.

We could have much less unemployment if jobs were kept in this country, if OUR money were spent on domestic needs instead of being used to play world wide militaristic monopoly with real countries, etc.

Plus, the WORK age cohort of the population is actually dropping as the bulge of the "boomer" demographic begins to grow.
So in reality, this country claims an inability to employ even a smaller % of the population than it did prior to the last 40 years.

[bhikkhu]

15. Of course its possible to have a growing population and good employment

...as long as you have an economy that grows more or less at the same rate as population.

What is missing in the usual outlook is that economic activity is almost entirely dependent on energy inputs. On a planet of finite resources, there is a point where the rate of production can't be increased anymore, and so economic activity levels off. Its different everywhere, but in the US energy production has been on a plateau since the mid '70's, and our growing economy has been a combination of global sleights of hand - our reserve currency status, militarism, etc - and mechanical efficiencies. Most of our the ways we increase productivity, for instance, are by using automated systems that eliminate workers.

Generally speaking, there are no large energy supplies left that are capable of growing the economy in a way that would provide jobs for a population growing at current rates. Simply treading water at this level, as we have been for the past 10 years, is a heroic effort!

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. Indeed. Funny there is not much "public" discussion of this.

[Doctor_J]

9. The reported numbers are usually seasonally adjusted

so that's already taken into account.

[pscot]

10. There was zero jobs growth from 2000 to 2010

That's looking more and more like the new reality.

[bemildred]

14. Gee, who could have predicted this? nt