Thursday, August 13, 2009

Oops--New Jobless Claims Increase

So much for that recovery in employment.

When it comes to economic recovery, there are only two things that matter to the average American--jobs and wages. When those start to increase that is when Americans will believe that an economic recovery is in the offing.

Apparently the number of continuing claims continues to fall. But there could be a number of reasons for that:

1. Some people are getting jobs. I don't know how many, but at the rate that jobs are being lost, I am not convinced that there is a large number of people getting jobs.

2. Some people's benefits are running out. My evidence for this is the plan by the Obama Administration to extend unemployment benefits.

3. Some people have made changes in their lives such that they are no longer in need of benefits. This could be that the person who is unemployed is now staying at home, taking care of children.

The fact is we don't know, but I suspect that numbers 2 and 3 tend to take much more precedence in the reduction in continuing claim.

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