Obama Fails Again on Jobs: Loses 1,756,000 Jobs in Four Weeeks

Yes, Thursday's usual data on inintial unemployment claims (a measure of job LAYOFFS) came out this morning. There was no way (despite media lies and incompetence) for it to be "good" news, and it was not. The four-week TOTAL of gross new unemployment claims (seasonally adjusted, and not really a concrete, "hard" number) ROSE to 1,756,000. The four-week average (which the media reports as the more reliable number, EXCEPT whenn it does not fit their agenda) ROSE to about 439,000. This is the largest four-week average of new unemployment claims in at least six months. We are ALMOST (as explained in last week's article on this blog) back to the range we were in from November of 2009 to the fall of 2010. Last week's reported number was "revised" UPWARD to 438,000, from the previuosly reported 434,000--continuing a pretty consistent revision every weeek of about 4,000 MORE jobs lost than innitially reported. Yes, this week's REPRTED number (subject to next week's revision--up 4,000?) was 409,000. That is the media headline "drop" in new unemployment claims--a one-week "drop" which means NOTHING, other than that the 478,0000 reprted two weeks ago was not a real number (as the 409,000 reported this week might not be a real number, which is why the weekly number means NOTHING unless put in context OVER TIME).


Here are the weekly new unemployment claims for the past 4 weeks (gain, as adjusted): 431,000 (revised from 427,000); 478,000 (revised from 474,000); 438,000 (revised from 434,000); and 409,000 (to be revisded next week). The number before that was 404,000, showing that we are NOT IMPROVING, and have deteriorated from the beginning of this year all of the way back to levels not seen since last fall. You should be able to see just how absurd it is to report today's 409,000 number as "good news", or even to report it as a "drop" (although, on a one week basis, that is technically true). You will note that next week's number will finally drop the 4-week average (if perhaps only slightly) IF the number is under 431,000. That is because we are finally beginning to drop some of the larger numbers off of the four-week average, as even the four-week average is only a rough indication of where we are rather than immune from fluctuations based on the timing of the weekly fluctuatons. For example, the week after next we will drop the 478,000 number from the 4-week average. If the average does not improve that week, we are IN BIG TROUBLE.


You should again be able to see why these numbers are INCONSISTENT with the "reported" ( again, not a "hard" number) 244,000 job GROWTH in April. Beginning in April, the weekly jobless claims number has DETERIORATED. Further, the GDP growth for the first quarter was almost NONE (1.8%, which can be traced totally to the Federal Reserve and deficit spending). The unemployment RATE went UP to 9% in April Q.E.D. The supposed "growth" in net jobs is very suspect, and inconsistent with the other numbers. By the way, my headline refers to GROSS JOBS--a satire on the Obama Administrationi's atteempt to "measure" GROSS jobs "created or saved" by his FAILED "stimulus" bill.


Want more? Well, today's "index of leading economic indicators", which is supposed to measure the trend in the economy for the futre, DECLINED .3% in April, which MarketWatch said was an indicationi of possible "choppy" economic 'growth" this summer.


All indications are that the economy has decelerated again. As this blog has repeatedly shown you, what we have done is make a SUSTAINED economic recovery impossible. When I say "we", I mean the Obama Administration, Ben Bernanke (Federal Reserve) and Democrats in Congress (because they had control of this debacle all of the way from January of 2007). The Federal Reserve has INFLATED the currency in an attempt to maintain an ILLUSION of economic growth and stability, and therefore any attempted recovery is SHUT DOWN by immediate rises in the price of oil and other commodities, as things like FOOD spiral in price. The only way REPORTED inflaton remains low is ecause parts of the economy are so WEaAK. Housing numbers, for example, have been TERRIBLE, and were terrible again last week. We are on the verge of Carter-style "stagglaton". We already have the stagnation, and the inflationi is occurring in a stealth way (helped by the way these numbers are now calculated and reported).


No, tody's economic news was again bad, as it has been consistently bad--except for a blip up last fall (mainy not evident until after the election, and not much of a blip anyway). The Federal Reserve (failure Bernanke) has been pumping TRILLIONS into the economy, along with the trillionis in deficit spending the Federal Government has been pumping into the economy (crowding out the private economy). We have LITTLE to show for mortgaging our future this way, except for a crushing debt AND a situation where we have made a true economic "recovery" IMPOSSIBLE.

P.S. No proofreading or spell checking (bad eyesight).