Jobless claims jump to 16-year high.
By at 9:32 am
Jobless claims jump to 16-year high.
New claims for unemployment jumped unexpectedly to a 16-year high last week, the Labor Department reported, with 542,000 new claims for jobless benefits being filed. “Claims above 400,000 are generally considered a sign of recession, and claims have been above that level for 17 weeks,” the AP reports, adding that last year, “claims stood at about 320,000.” The number of people continuing to claim unemployment insurance is expected to reach 3.9 million, its highest level in 25 years.
Update Bob Geiger reports, "The United States Senate will vote this week -- and very likely today -- on a bill that will extend unemployment insurance benefits by seven weeks for the jobless whose benefits have run out and a total of 13 weeks for those in states with an unemployment rate higher than six percent."
Update The White House said Bush would sign an extension of unemployment benefits, reversing its previous opposition.
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This, of course, is President elect Obama’s fault!
November 20th, 2008 at 9:36 am(right wing talking point/snark)
New claims for unemployment jumped unexpectedly to a 16-year high last week
“Unexpectedly”??? Who didn’t expect it?
Oh, wait — we’re talking about the Bush administration here, aren’t we? They weren’t able to anticipate the levees failing in New Orleans. They said “no one could have anticipated” our enemies using airplanes as missiles, even though they had been explicitly warned about it.
So I can see how they wouldn’t have expected a jump in unemployment figures.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:48 amAnd watch the Republicans try to stop it. And if they threaten a filibuster, make them do it damn it. Make them show the people in this country how little the Republican party cares about them and their lives.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:48 amGiven the fact the Dept of Labor no longer considers one unemployed after benefits have been ‘used up’, it makes one wonder what the REAL unemployment rate is…
15%?
20%?
One thing is for certain…don’t expect straight answers from Bushco
November 20th, 2008 at 9:52 amGee… you’d think the GOOPers would be FOR an extension of unemployment benefits, seeing how many of them are going to be unemployed come 1/20/09.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:53 amJust wait until the auto industry and their suppliers go belly up, then the ripple effect. UE claims will jump into the MILLIONS.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:02 amWhat ralph said.
I would think that the surprise would be that the unemployment rate wasn’t HIGHER.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:02 amJoblessness of Bush I & Bush II.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:08 amYou want to see an “unexpected” jump in unemployment?
November 20th, 2008 at 10:08 amWatch what happens in Michigan with Detroit’s Big Three if they don’t get some sort of bail out.
The trickle down effect of lay-offs could be staggering. It’s not just the workers, but the businesses surrounding Detroit and it’s outlying areas.
Detroit and parts of Southeast Michigan could cease to exist.
Scary, my friends. Fcking scary.
I gleefully await the moment Dick & W are unemployed.
Arraignment can’t come soon enough, either.
Bush can’t pardon himself, nor can Cheney.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:11 am“The United States Senate will vote this week — and very likely today — on a bill that will extend unemployment insurance benefits by seven weeks for the jobless whose benefits have run out and a total of 13 weeks for those in states with an unemployment rate higher than six percent.”
In Industrialized Nations, people get full salary benefits for as long as a year.
It would be nice to live in an Industrialized Nation where our tax dollars are actually used to help us.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:17 amIt is AWFUL here in Ohio. I just passed someone in the hall and heard her say, “No one is hiring right now.” I see so many people who have worked for years, want to work, and there is none. Unemployment benefits should be extended. People are in a world of hurt in this country.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:21 amUncle Ho Says: Just wait until the auto industry and their suppliers go belly up, then the ripple effect. UE claims will jump into the MILLIONS.
I saw a non-biased estimate of 3 million jobs (not quite the 15 million the auto-industry has suggested), which is not acceptable.
I am against bailing them out, but think we have no alternative and must bail them out in order to save main street jobs and prevent further deepening of this Recession.
It just needs to be a LOAN and not a bail out, and it must come with conditions that require re-tooling for energy efficiency and a brand of car that isn’t being made elsewhere to help increase our export rate.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:24 am16 years ago would be 92-93. I remember it well.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:28 amMy little company’s clients were all multimillionaires who stopped spending on their multiple homes because of the Bush41 recession that was the inevitable result of the Reagan deficit economy.
We went from out best year ever ($500,000 sales with 5 employees) to no work at all literally overnight. We all took home only what we needed to pay rent utilities and food, for five months, whilst our overhead stayed steady at about $15,000 a month.
If the auto makers go under, it will be immediately followed by their suppliers, (tire, glass, spark plug makers, etc), then it won’t be long that retailers, restaurants, bars, tourism, sporting venues, etc to start laying off, since people out of a job won’t be patronizing these and other establishments.
Q. If 400,000 UE claims = recession, just how many would it take to make it another Great Depression?
November 20th, 2008 at 10:29 amThe Heritage Foundation will soon issue a report proving this is all Bill Clinton’s fault.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:30 amPerry; You are soooo out of touch. Bill Clinton is so yesterday. Doncha know, this is all the fault of Obama.
Please keep current.
snark
November 20th, 2008 at 10:32 amThose Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 really did the trick for job creation…uh…job destruction!
And McBane wanted to make them permanent!
It is time, Mr. Bush, to own your FAILURE!!!
November 20th, 2008 at 10:34 amunbelievable: It just needs to be a LOAN and not a bail out,
By rights the Big three should be going to the BANKS for a loan, not the taxpayer.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:38 amWasn’t the Fed bailout supposed to “unfreeze” credit and encourage re-investment?
Now that the taxpayers have saved the financial system from collapse they are hoarding the money,propping up only their own businesses and investing elsewhere whilst waiting for everything to hit rock bottom so they can take advantage of the ultimate fire-sale.
The finance industry bailout was absolutely ass-backwards.
This is what I’m not hearing enough of. Bush was handed a good economy with a budget surplus and the debt clock was running backwards.
bush and the republicans did this to us and they need to own it…….100%
November 20th, 2008 at 10:50 amBack in 2000 a good friend of mine told me he had decided to vote for Dubya because he was tired of the Clintons and all the scandal on television. I remember telling him that if Dubya were to win that we would be in a world war and a depression before he got out of office. Too bad I didn’t push him for a bet.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:59 amEvery other country with an auto industry is bailing out their manufacturers because people aren’t buying new cars and even if they want to many of them aren’t qualifying for loans. This is not the time for tough love with the big three.
November 20th, 2008 at 11:00 amIf a private company is “too big to fail” or even “too important to fail” then they have NO RIGHT to be a for-profit company. The ONLY, absolutely ONLY institution that can be “too big to fail” is the government. A corporate aristocracy by default is unacceptable — however, it IS where we are right now. And the big corporate interests are kicking, conniving, and doing everything in their power to remain the corporate aristocracy that they have become. We may affect some stop-gap solutions to some of the issues, but as long as every one of these “too big to fail” industries remain for-profit ventures there will be no viable and sustainable solutions. Every single institution/company that is “too big to fail” needs to become federally operated public enterprise (NOT-for-profit), or reduced to a size where they can fail if they make poor business choices.
Corporate welfare is a white collar crime.
November 20th, 2008 at 11:02 amIf 542,000 is enough to send the market into a tail spin like this, you wait until the Big Three go under. How much greater will the effect of 1.2 million jobs lost be?
And as others have said, other countries are bailing out their automakers given the current market conditions, Toyota and Nissan among them. What would Sen.s Shelby and Sessions say to that?
November 20th, 2008 at 11:07 ampinget Says:
If 542,000 is enough to send the market into a tail spin like this, you wait until the Big Three go under.
It would seem to be unimaginable stupidity for them to directly ALLOW any “too big to fail” companies to actually go under, unless they want the unemployment reprocussions. It would also seem unlikely that they will impose any reasonable limitations or requirements on them (since they haven’t done so with anyone else bailed out yet). There is not opposition to maintaining the industry as far as jobs go — the opposition is focused on the Calligula decadence and the sense of entitlement that the big money makers (CEO, etc.) have. How many executives will lose their jobs and benefits and such to help save the company? Compare that with how many floor workers will lose their jobs and benefits. And compare the separation packages (if they exist). THAT is where the problem is, and an unconditional bailout (CORPORATE WELFARE) does NOTHING to change the disparity.
Corporate welfare is a white collar crime.
November 20th, 2008 at 11:22 amSo you’re, like, saying the Unemployment is the highest for 16 years, which was just before Clinton took office.
May I ask who was prez then ? Did the prez support trickle down ? Did the prez successfully run in the next election ? (It’s the economy stupid – does that ring a bell ?)
November 20th, 2008 at 11:56 amAt some point during the last 8 years, it would have been nice if someone would have challenged the meaning of the term “Jobless Recovery.” What the hell does that really mean anyway? If you’re not creating jobs and someone isn’t actually making something or providing some tangible service, you’re simply moving paper around and creating phony, paper wealth.
November 20th, 2008 at 11:58 amPeople, people… don’t cha know we are not in a recession, that the experts will tell you we are not in a recession, and that no one is predicting a recession?
I know it’s true because Bush (and Dana Perino) said so.
Silly libruls…
/sarc off
November 20th, 2008 at 1:28 pmBush’s Neocon’s legacy…
November 20th, 2008 at 1:54 pmIf those greedy “workers” didn’t insist on getting payed they wouldn’t have these problems.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:02 pm