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"Jobless claims hit 8-month high"

But don’t worry: if the media keeps telling us that the economy is recovering, and that we have Barack Obama to thank for that (when he’s not killing terrorists, or making the wetlands safe for silverfish or some such), then it really must be so!

The rest is just racist TEA Party types being all divisive and extreme and whatnot. Reuters:

The number of Americans filing for jobless aid rose to an eight-month high last week and productivity growth slowed in the first quarter, clouding the outlook for an economy that is struggling to gain speed.

While the surprise jump in initial claims for unemployment benefits was attributed to factors ranging from spring break layoffs to the introduction of an emergency benefits program, economists said it corroborated reports this week indicating a loss of momentum in job creation.

New claims for state jobless benefits rose 43,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474,000, the highest since mid-August, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists had expected claims to fall to 410,000.

Each and every month we’re told of the latest “surprise” numbers, which aren’t ever a surprise, except, I suppose, to those who believe an economy actually does run on Hope and Change.

The rest of us know that there never was — and never can be, under this President — an economic recovery, precisely because “progressives” adopt and implement disastrous policies that of necessity strangle said economy, stifling growth, killing jobs, overburdening tax payers, over-regulating businesses, and wracking up debt.

The constant suggestion by the mainstream press that the newest numbers are a bit of a “surprise” is meant to leave readers with the impression that what they are reading about is but a minor hiccup, an ordinary bump in the road on the way to sound economic recovery. It is rhetoric meant to distract and misinform, buying this administration more time as it mounts its re-election campaign.

We can only hope Americans have finally reached that point where their eyes are open to what precisely is happening. I fully expect, in the months leading up to the 2012 elections, some attempt to manipulate gas prices — or else, some manufactured distraction meant to give the President a platform to play at conscientious leader; because the progressive agenda is only one election away from taking permanent root in our government, and the left senses this. They also sense a major backlash coming, which they’ll try to forestall.

They’re going all in.

If the majority of Americans — fully 51% now who don’t pay any federal income tax — don’t wake up in time, the US as it was conceived will be dead.

Simple as that.

13 Replies to “"Jobless claims hit 8-month high"”

  1. cranky-d says:

    It’s not just the “surprise” jumps, it’s also the non-reported figure of how many people have simply given up on finding work, as well as those who are underemployed. We won’t see any of those numbers for a while, if ever.

  2. Squid says:

    Anybody remember the “jobless recovery” from a few years back? Anybody wanna guess what the Good Men at Reuters and AP and ABCNNYTMSNBCBS would call the current “recoveryless recovery” if there were a Republican in the White House?

  3. dicentra says:

    Not just gas prices: food is up and up and up.

    I mean, cripes. Last week the mint brownies in the cafeteria were a buck. This week they’re two. Never mind that the cafeteria switched ownership and that now they’re wrapped in cellophane…

  4. mojo says:

    “Unexpectedly”

    “I think your expector’s on the Fritz, pal.”

  5. geoffb says:

    Getting rid of that damned middle class is a dirty job but someone has to do it if the special ruling class is to flourish.

    There are 8.5 million people receiving unemployment insurance and over 40 million receiving food stamps.

    – At the current pace of job creation, the economy won’t return to full employment until 2018.

    – Middle-income jobs are disappearing from the economy. The share of middle-income jobs in the United States has fallen from 52% in 1980 to 42% in 2010.

    – Middle-income jobs have been replaced by low-income jobs, which now make up 41% of total employment.

    – 17 million Americans with college degrees are doing jobs that require less than the skill levels associated with a bachelor’s degree.

    – Over the past year, nominal wages grew only 1.7% while all consumer prices, including food and energy, increased by 2.7%.

    – Wages and salaries have fallen from 60% of personal income in 1980 to 51% in 2010. Government transfers have risen from 11.7% of personal income in 1980 to 18.4% in 2010, a post-war high.

  6. Bob Reed says:

    It doesn’t matter, because dreamy President O! got Osama!

    Duh, Winning!11!1! Weimar style…

    Seriously though, it’s going to get much worse; 5.5 million people are due to exhaust their 99 week unemployment benefits during this month. That’s just under 2% of the total US population!

    And think about it, due to “circumstances” (forclosure gate, etc), real forclosures are on average running 18 months behind. That gap will close soon, and then another source of phony revenue, in the form of people buying stuff instead of making their contractual payments on their underwater mortgage, will be removed from the economy-‘cuz they’ll have to pay rent somewhere, no?

    This will get worse, I’m sorry to say, especially with ObaMao’s failed economic policies. So they’ll try to get by lauding his foreign policy “expertise” and “decisiveness”; which will be the talking points they use in an attempt to rehabilitate his entire failed foreign policy on the back of Sunday’s successful SEAL operation.

  7. motionview says:

    Here’s another surprise – while everyone is focused on Bin Laden, our “leadership” is trying to quickly and quietly cave in and get back to business as usual.

  8. Vlad the Impala says:

    Perhaps the experts were surprised that there’s any jobs left at all.

  9. cranky-d says:

    In reference to motionview’s link in #7, let me just say, Fuck all of them. Swordfish. Sideways.

    Going Galt, baybee. Going Galt.

  10. bastiches says:

    House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is denying a published account claiming Republicans are preparing to ditch Rep. Paul Ryan’s ambitious plan to revamp Medicare in pursuit of a debt ceiling compromise with Democrats — but both sides have begun seeking common ground on oil subsidies, sources say.

  11. cranky-d says:

    The GOP really thinks we won’t leave them, doesn’t it? If they’re not going to do what’s necessary, why would we vote for them?

    Idiots.

  12. zino3 says:

    Let me tell you. Obama is a fuckibng disgrace to this country.

    He is doing everything he can to destroy personal responsibility. Shame does not exist in the new America.

    Excuse me if I am pissed off at Obama and his Marxist cadre.

    I used to make $150,000 a year as a painting contractor, and am now working at Home Depot for $10/HR.

    I am a “tits” painter, with many years of experience, but I have been crowded out by illegal aliens, who live in a beehive, and work for $10.00 an hour. Fuck those contractors who paid ten dollars an hour, and charged out at sixty dollars an hour.

    Know what? They fucked me and themselves, because as soon as those illegals learned how to paint ( or more commonly, throw paint), they started bidding at $10/ HR.

    This is NOT the America that I grew up in. It is Obama’s HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

    P.S. John McCain. Illegal aliens only take the jobs that Americans won’t do????

    GO FUCK YOURSELF, ASSHOLE WAR HERO!!!!!!!

  13. Patrick Chester says:

    Hm. I did run a search for help desk jobs near my location (Houston) and found… one entry. This was on Monster.com.

    Normally there’s a bunch of them, so either I made an error in the search or there just aren’t that many openings right now.

    I could expand the search, but I’m really not planning on leaving this current job. It’s mostly stable.

Comments are closed.