AP: Unemployment-claims data signal job gains are near

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100107/D9D34A700.html

Jan 7, 3:33 PM (ET)

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) - A government report Thursday on claims for unemployment aid signaled that layoffs are easing and that the economy could be on the verge of posting the first monthly gain in jobs in two years.

The number of people claiming first-time unemployment benefits barely rose last week, the Labor Department said, after falling to its lowest level since July 2008 the previous week. And the four-week average of claims fell for the 18th straight week - to its lowest point since September 2008, when the financial crisis intensified with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

The four-week average of first-time claims is nearing the roughly 425,000 that many economists say would be a sign the economy will start creating jobs.

The Labor Department will issue a more comprehensive snapshot of the job market on Friday, when it releases the monthly jobs report for December. Overall, economists forecast that the unemployment rate will rise to 10.1 percent from 10 percent and that employers will have shed a net 8,000 jobs.

The steady drop in first-time unemployment claims, and other signs of economic improvement, have led some analysts to predict slight job growth. Even a small net gain in jobs, though, wouldn't be enough to lower the unemployment rate anytime soon. Nor would it go far toward restoring the estimated 8 million jobs lost during the recession.

"We are in for a long, hard slog in the labor market," said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities.

Still, a gain in jobs could improve consumer confidence and spur greater spending, fueling the economic recovery.

FULL story at link.

[Skittles]

1. I truly hope so

[Don Caballero]

2. Great news. The economy is surely on the mend due to the stimulus package.

[GreenTea]

3. AP & big business feeding us crumbs because we are peons nothing but stupid & we'll kiss their asses

[Larkspur]

4. I'll be contributing to the unemployment numbers in March

My current contact ends the last business day in February 2010. Not sure if there will be a job for me in March.

I was laid off in November 2008 and was rehired back by the business group who used the IT environment I managed for them on a temporary basis to fix the mess my overworked replacement made. Not all his fault. It was Systems management's fault. The mess is cleaned up but there is 1 more big enhancement to make. Will have to do it before I leave in February.

[struggle4progress]

5. Shrinking U.S. Labor Force Keeps Unemployment Rate From Rising

January 08, 2010, 03:45 PM EST
By Bob Willis and Courtney Schlisserman

... Had the labor force not decreased by 661,000 last month, the jobless rate would have been 10.4 percent, say economists including David Rosenberg at Gluskin Sheff & Associates in Toronto and Harm Bandholz at UniCredit Research in New York ...

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-08/shrinking-u-s-labor-force-keeps-unemployment-rate-from-rising.html